Champaign will practically be swarming with Spartans this week after St. Joseph-Ogden had four wrestlers advance from the Robinson sectional to the state final.

Moving on to the final at the Assembly Hall in Champaign are seniors Andy Bensyl and Kenny Lindsey, junior Austin Upton and sophomore Austin Hedrick. Coach Richard Vetter was amazed by how well the quartet wrestled.

“They all did the little things well and made their opponents wrestle our style,” he said. “They took advantage of others’ mistakes and stayed within themselves. Our hard work and hard schedule paid off.”

Lindsey came the closest to winning a sectional championship for SJ-O. The 195-pounder went to three overtimes with Levi Ulmer of Vandalia. In the end he lost by one point, 4-3, but fought a good match according to Vetter.

This is the second time Ulmer and Lindsey have wrestled each other this year, and the second time they have required extra periods. After his hard work to get second in the regional, Vetter believes Lindsey can go far at the state meet.

“He’s ready for state,” he said. “Kenny’s done well this year and he has a good draw.”

Lindsey (31-3) wrestles Logan Staver (36-4) of Lena in the first round on Thursday.

Both Upton and Hedrick won in wrestle-backs at the sectional. After losing earlier in the tournament each of the wrestlers had to put in an extra effort to get third place on the losing side of the bracket. Each of them came up with pins in their third-place matches.

Hedrick had “the best tournament of his life,” Vetter said. He took his loss against the eventual 145-pound champion, and was dealt defeat in the very last second on what the SJ-O coach called a controversial decision.

Though the loss was difficult to stomach, Hedrick kept his focus.

“I told him, ‘If you do wrestle like that again you will be a state qualifier,’” Vetter said. “He controlled the center of the mat and had no fear. Now he has a chance to upset some people at the state tournament.”

At 29-12, Hedrick has the most losses of anyone in his class. But Vetter is confident he should not be overlooked. He will take on Talon Paul (27-3) of Stillman Valley in the first round on Thursday.

Upton lost a tough match in his semifinal but rebounded to beat quality opponents from Herrin and Robinson to win third place and advance to the state final in the 160-pound weight class.

“Austin wrestled well as a freshman and sophomore, but really made huge improvements this year. I’m really happy he qualified,” Vetter said.

In the state tournament Upton (35-4) has a difficult draw. First he faces T.J. Lowe (28-4) of Riverdale. If he wins he could face an undefeated wrestler in the second round.

Though SJ-O had a terriffic day at Robinson there was a cloud that hung over their celebration. Bensyl, a 182-pound wrestler, injured his ankle in  overtime of his semifinal match. He gutted it out to make it to third place match and automatically qualify for state, but opted not to wrestle the final match.

The senior will rest and undergo treatment before his first match on Thursday. Bensyl (32-3) will take on Jalen Beebe (38-8) of Quincy Notre Dame in the first round.

“He’ll go really light this week,” Vetter said. He added his hope he would be at or near 100 percent and said that no practice this week would not be an issue for Bensyl, as his conditioning level is very high.

Also competing last weekend for SJ-O was Jordan Hartman. The sophomore 220-pounder did not win any matches at the sectional but Vetter was equally proud of his effort.

“He did well and hopefully it helps him in the future,” Vetter said.

The state final tournament begins Thursday at the Assembly Hall. The Class 1A matches begin at 2:30 p.m.