Column: Tears flow as Joliet Catholic's Ryan Cumbee coaches Grace and Matt Laird at state. ‘Just icing on the cake.'
Hilltoppers coach Ryan Cumbee led the boys team to the third state trophy in program history — all coming in the last four years under his direction — with a third-place finish in Class 3A.
Cumbee's stepson, Matt Laird, was part of the roster.
At the same time, Cumbee's stepdaughter, Grace Laird, took third at 130 pounds in the girls state meet at Grossinger Motors Arena.
Grace Laird's performance was historic. The senior is Joliet Catholic's only female wrestler, and she became the program's first medalist in the sport.
'It's been really great,' Grace said. 'I'm the only girl on an all-boys team, I'm the first girl wrestler for our school, and I'm really proud of that.
'It's definitely been really hard, but I'm so grateful for everything it's given me. It's made me so much tougher. This is just icing on the cake.'
Cumbee is a hard-nosed coach. I've been at a few of his practices, and they sure get intense.
But Cumbee was a big softie on Saturday. I made him cry twice during our interviews.
Of course, there was good reason to be emotional. Cumbee coached his stepdaughter for the final time and saw her reach the podium for the first time.
'It's been the greatest experience of my life,' Cumbee said. 'Coaching my own daughter, I didn't want her to wrestle because I knew I'd have to be tough on her for four years straight.
'But she showed up every day, wrestled with the boys, got yelled at with the boys, and she handled it well. I have no doubt that this sport has given her every tool she's going to need the rest of her life.'
Grace Laird competed in gymnastics for 10 years. When she quit her freshman year, she considered wrestling. There was plenty of skepticism in her family.
'I grew up around wrestling and I just decided I wanted to do it,' she said. 'None of my parents wanted me to wrestle, but I started and here I am.'
Grace has treasured her time as one of her stepfather's wrestlers.
'It's been great,' she said. 'Obviously, it's hard coaching your own kid, but he's one of the best coaches I've ever met. He's been so encouraging. I wouldn't be where I am without him.'
Matt Laird, a sophomore 126-pounder, earned a major decision in the Hilltoppers' 38-29 quarterfinal win over Oak Park-River Forest to make his mark on the team's third-place finish.
The family's banner day even extended outside of Joliet Catholic as Cumbee's nephew, Max, was part of the Class 2A championship team at IC Catholic.
Ryan Cumbee, meanwhile, was the busiest man in Bloomington. In between the Hilltoppers' boys duals, he was in the corner for all of Grace Laird's matches.
'It's been a little bit of chaos, but I wouldn't have it any other way,' he said. 'There was never a question of where I'd be when it came time for her to compete.'
Podium pride
Senior Maggie Zuber became Mother McAuley's first wrestling medalist with a runner-up finish at 140. Zuber was a four-time state qualifier but had never won more than one match at state until this breakthrough performance.
'It means a lot to me,' Zuber said. 'I'm really excited that I can leave that legacy there.'
Lincoln-Way co-op's Zoe Dempsey, a junior at Lincoln-Way West, took third at 110, improving on a fifth-place finish from last season.
'I do feel like it's going in the right direction,' Dempsey said. 'I have full faith in myself that I can win this whole thing next. Honestly, I had full faith that I could do it this year, but that's just more reason to work. Losses are good for a lot of things.'
Oak Lawn's Charvelle McLain finished fifth at 155, Homewood-Flossmoor's London Gandy took sixth at 110, Hillcrest's Christiara Finley placed sixth at 140 and Oak Forest's Isabel Peralta was sixth at 190.
Congrats to all the Southland medalists and special kudos to two-time individual champion Claudia Heeney of Lockport and all the wrestlers of Andrew co-op, the area's first girls wrestling state championship team.
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