While furiously typing away on my computer keyboard late Saturday night at the state wrestling tournament in Champaign, my wife, Gwen, tapped me on the shoulder and pointed toward the Assembly Hall floor.

Each of the championship 285-pound bouts in Class 1A, 2A and 3A were tied 1-1 deep into the third period. It was a fitting ending for the event filled with thrills and spills, heartache and heart-warming tales.

None of the heavyweight bouts involved a participant Sauk Valley Media covers, and quite frankly, I didn’t need another championship to write about. There were six of them, and with this year’s later starting time of nearly 8 p.m., I didn’t wrap everything up until nearly 2 a.m.