LCHS' Caleb Zirkelbach 2026 IHSA
State Qualifier
[February 26, 2026]
4 years ago, Caleb Zirkelbach ended his season as a first-year
wrestler with a losing record. He attended the State Tournament to
see his teammate wrestle in the assembly hall in Champaign, IL and
decided then and there he was going to be wrestling in the same
arena. Fast forward to 2026 and Caleb did just that. He qualified
for the 2026 IHSA Class 2A Wrestling State Championships where the
top 16 Wrestlers at each weight class meet to crown the champion of
Illinois.
Caleb faced Dominic Jackson his first match. A Junior with a 31-3
record. 0-0 after the first period. Dominic chooses down and gets a
reversal riding Caleb for the rest of the second period to go up
2-0. 3rd period Caleb chooses neutral with an opportunity if he
takes Dominic down he goes up 3-2. Caleb took a shot and got in on
double under hooks, a position in wrestling that Caleb is
comfortable with where he has excelled over his 4 years a Railer
Wrestler. He stepped in front and as he was turning to take Dominic
to his back he slipped and Dominic capitalized on the position to go
up 5-0. Caleb continued to fight and received a point for stalling
against Dominic when his foot was stuck and Dominic would not let it
out. Dominic proceeded to lock his hands 2 times giving Caleb 2 more
points to make the score 5-3. After a hard fought match, Dominic
ended up grinding out the win to serve Caleb his first defeat at his
first IHSA State Wrestling Tournament.
Caleb’s second match was against Josh Stahl, a junior from Geneseo
with a 30-10 record. Stahl was a little more seasoned than Caleb’s
previous adversary. Josh got an early takedown with a single leg to
take the lead 3-0. In the second period Geneseo chose bottom and got
an escape to make the score 4-0 early in the second. Blocking off
Caleb from getting back to the center of the mat, the referee hit
Caleb for a stall call. After 2 periods of hard wrestling the match
continued at 4-0 with Geneseo on the lead. Caleb chose neutral at
this juncture. After a hard snap and a go behind, Stahl added to his
score to go up 7-0 where he would ride Caleb tough to win the match
7-0. Caleb’s season would end in the Assembly Hall now known as the
State Farm Center to cap a record in his 4th season as a senior at
33-18.
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Caleb is the first LCHS heavyweight to qualify for the Illinois
State Tournament since world renowned Olympian and Lincoln legend
Dave Klemm in 1975.
Caleb’s coaches were very proud of him and Coach Dietrich had this
to say “Caleb has been a great asset to our program. He has been a 4
year starter and didn’t start wrestling until he was a freshman in
High School. Not many kids in the Illinois State Wrestling
Tournament can say that so it is a great accomplishment and is a
reflection of all his hard work. We are looking forward to seeing
what this young man does in the upcoming years and he will well
represent Railer Nation in his future endeavors”.
With the experience, Caleb had this to say “Wrestling in the State
Far Center was amazing. Having all the lights focuse4d on the mat
and being surrounded by a screaming crowd was insane. After high
school I plan on attending college and becoming a lawyer as well as
being a collegiate wrestler”.
The Lincoln Community High School team finished the season with a
12-10 dual team record and 7-3 in Conference competition.
Caleb Zirkelbach wrestles in state tournament photo slideshow
[Jason Lawrence]
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