Sycamore senior Austin Culton took the first step toward defending his Class 2A wrestling state championship with a victory over Jacksonville’s Nick Hamilton in the preliminary round of the wrestling state championships Thursday in Champaign.

Culton’s teammates Kyle Akins (113 pounds) and Jake Davis (195) also advanced to the quarterfinals with easy wins in the preliminary round. Akins pinned Mahomet-Seymour’s Kolton Taylor while Davis won by technical fall over Hunter Schmidt of Troy Triad.

DeKalb’s Doug Johnson (132) won his Class 3A preliminary round with a technical fall victory over Naperville Central’s Ben Williamson.