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Carver James, the No. 11 ranked wrestler at the 160-pound weight class by Flow Wrestling, has given a verbal commitment to Jim Heffernan and the Illinois Fighting Illini.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Excited to announce that I committed & will be pursuing my dreams/continuing my Wrestling & Academic career at the University of Illinois!</p>— Carver James (@thecaarv) <a href="https://twitter.com/thecaarv/status/510257672948436993">September 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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James, a senior at Dakota High School in Dakota, Ill. is a champion through and through having won two IHSA state and individual titles the past two seasons. He is a three-time place winner, having placed third his freshman year with a 40-8 record at 126-pounds.
James put on a clinic this past February in Champaign, recording two tech falls and two major decisions on his way to his second straight individual state championship with a 40-1 record. His one lost on the season came in the championship bout at the Al Dvorak Memorial Tournament in December to Chris Garcia of Montini Catholic, who won the Class 2A state title at 145-pounds.
Last season, the Fighting Illini - coached by Jim Hefferman - had four NCAA qualifiers and Jesse Delgado won his second straight national title at 125-pounds, while the team placed 13th with 41 points at the NCAA National Wrestling Championships.
James practiced with friend and teammate Josh Alber for the past three years, who went 182-0 with four state titles and will wrestle at Northern Iowa this year.
James comes into his final prep season at 122-12.
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