Lyons Township High School senior Griff Powell only lost to one wrestler from Illinois the entire boys wrestling season. The second defeat to Marmion Academy senior Zach Stewart 7-3 was for the Class 3A state championship at 138 pounds Saturday in Champaign.

This one stung even more for Powell (44-5) – despite having to beat three all-staters simply to earn the rematch of the state’s top-two ranked 3A wrestlers in their weight class.

“You don’t see that often. (But) it’s just hard to get my mind off that loss in the finals,” Powell said. “It just didn’t go my way. Just a little bit more nerves. Other than that, it was fun being in the state finals. I just remember the lights.”

Stewart (25-3) used a takedown with 14 seconds left in the first period and a critical takedown with three seconds left in the second to open a 6-1 advantage. Powell let Stewart escape at the start of the third period but couldn’t get a takedown as Stewart remained low and dug down defensively. Stewart was called for stalling three times, giving Powell two penalty points in the final 14 seconds.

At the 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional, Stewart won the first meeting 4-2 in the semifinals. Powell went on to finish third. 

“He had a little bit more of a game plan going into the state finals, just like I did. His head and hands defense was very good,” Powell said.

“I’m so proud of him. He did a great job,” said LTHS coach Griff Powell, also his father. “He came up a little short of the goal he wanted. He wanted to win it, but he wrestled well and ran into a great opponent. Zach’s a great wrestler and wrestled a great match.” 

Last season, Powell was an all-state sixth at 132. Stewart was second at 144 last season and was the 138 state champion in 2024. This season’s losses were only to out-of-state opponents.

Powell opened state with a 19-3 technical fall over fifth-place Glenbard West senior Alejandro Aranda (36-13), followed by decisions of 12-6 over fourth-place Grant senior Erik Rodriguez (41-8) and 7-4 in the semifinals over third-place Joliet Catholic junior Adante Washington (46-5).  

Powell now will compete for Illinois, just like as father did, and probably will see Stewart again. Stewart is headed to Purdue, another Big Ten Conference school.

“We’ll wrestle each other in the duals probably,” Powell said. “(My father has) done a tremendous amount. He’s been with me (as a wrestler) since I was 5. He’s always helped me with the little details, picking me up when I was down.” 

Besides multiple all-state honors, Powell finishes among the Lions’ all-time leaders with 149 career victories. Prior to this high school season, Powell added freestyle and pre-season national meet titles.  

“He was able to check off a lot of his goals. The big one he wanted to get was (state),” coach Powell said. “He’s definitely going to use it as motivation going into his next chapter. Like I’ve said to other people, he’s just getting started.”