‘It’s a great sport’: Longtime Petersburg PORTA wrestling coach savors honor of lifetime

CHAMPAIGN — Jeff Hill had been on the floor previously for the heralded Grand March.

But this time he was one of the four grand marshals leading the parade of wrestlers and their coaches to kickstart the IHSA wrestling state finals at the State Farm Center on Saturday.

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The longtime Petersburg PORTA wrestling coach said he never anticipated to achieve such an esteemed honor upon assuming control of the Bluejays 33 years ago in 1991.

“I just knew that we would be competitive, make it fun for the kids and make them fall in love with wrestling,” Hill said. “That’s what I’ve done.”

Decorated career

Hill has forged one of the area’s most distinguished wrestling programs over that time.

At 56, he holds the most dual wins in IHSA history with 804. His stellar résumé also includes the team state title in 2010 as well as second place in 2014.

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He has also guided three individual state champions: Shelby Stockton in 1999, David Devine twice in 2008 and 2009 and Trey Hild in 2018.

With more than 100 state qualifiers to his name, he was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame in 2011.

“The stories are what you do it for,” Hill said. “I could sit all night long and tell stories about wrestling, ‘Hey, remember when this happened?’ It’s a great sport.”

He has additionally helped turn the area into a wrestling destination with the renowned Abe’s Rumble dual tournament at the Bank of Springfield Center.

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He cooked up the annual holiday tournament with Auburn coach Matt Grimm in 2016. The event now includes a staggering 60 teams and 1,000 wrestlers.

Grimm and Auburn senior wrestler Joey Ruzic participated in the Grand March behind Hill. Ruzic subsequently won his third state title overall in Class 1A and first at 126 pounds with a 6-1 decision over Coal City’s Brody Widlowski.

“This was a great weekend for central Illinois wrestling with Jeff being a grand marshal and you’ve got a three-time state champ (in Ruzic),” Grimm said. “Jeff and I are really good friends. It was an honor to be in the tunnel and have him walk us out there. It was a really cool experience.”

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For the love of wrestling

Hill wrestled under Joe Cliffe while attending Plano High School. Although he never qualified for state, Hill’s affinity for the sport was cemented.

Cliffe, who was inducted into the IWCOA Hall of Fame in 1993, not only passed on the love of wrestling, but he also underscored the team concept, Hill said.

Hill later wrestled at Wartburg College in Iowa.

“He was a great coach,” the 1985 Plano graduate said. “He was fiery. I never wanted him to get fiery at me, so I stood in line and did what I should do to make him happy.”

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Hill certainly takes a more laid-back approach.

“If I yell something or question an official, they know there’s something wrong because I don’t do that,” Hill said. “I usually get, ‘Hey, did I mess up?’ from the official and that’s a good feeling because some coaches chirp and chirp and you get deaf ears.

“It’s been a great ride and Petersburg has been great to me. I couldn’t ask for any better of a community to be a wrestling coach in.”

Hill will retire as the high school vice principal and athletic director at the end of this school year, but not as the wrestling coach.

Hill said he has inherited generations of wrestlers who know what to expect, and it’s those relationships that keep bringing him back to the mat.

“We’ve got good kids,” Hill said. “We have 40 kids out for the team this year. Our junior high had 40 kids. Kevin Molohon is my junior high coach and he keeps feeding me good, quality kids who love wrestling. I have great assistants and a great wrestling community.”

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Jeff Hill serves as grand marshal at IHSA wrestling state finals