Ryan Prater

Plainfield (Central)/University of Illinois

Wrestler

Ryan Prater was a four-time IHSA qualifier, three-time medalist, two-time finalist and Class AA champion at 135

in 2007. While there were many dramatic title matches in the 2007 AA Finals, his 4-2 overtime win over Bremen’s Cartice Lloyd was one of the most memorable and the wild scramble between the two appeared on a highlight video that preceded the Finals for many years. And there were other exciting things to come for the 2007 Plainfield Central graduate.

Ryan was a three-time letterman at the University of Illinois and fell one win shy of earning All-American honors

in 2009. Then after taking a few years off from the sport, he capped his college career by going 23-0 and winning

an NCAA Division III title in his one season at Elmhurst College. He and his former Illini teammate and brotherin-

law Jordan Blanton founded the Relentless Training Center. And then the pair teamed up to become co-coaches

at Marian Central Catholic, where they’ve led three-straight teams to the IHSA Dual Team Finals, and won a

Class 1A title in 2024, took third place in 1A in 2025 and fell in the 2A quarterfinals in 2026.

Ryan finished his career at Plainfield Central as the school’s all-time wins leader with a 169-23 record. He was

the Wildcats’ second IHSA champion, first of its two two-time finalists and first of its two three-time medalists.

Competing for 2018 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee Paul Faris, he qualified for state as a freshman and took fifth

in AA at 112 in 2005 as a sophomore and ended with a 41-4 record. In his junior season, he advanced to his first

AA title match at 125 and lost a 6-4 decision to Grant’s Jimmy Kennedy, a 2024 IWCOA Hall of Fame inductee,

to finish 37-5. As a senior, he finished 42-1 after winning the 135 AA championship in thrilling fashion.

He wrestled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under coach Mark Johnson, a 2010 IWCOA Lifetime

Service Recipient. He started as a true freshman in 2008 and was ranked as high as tenth in the nation. In 2009,

he earned All-Big Ten honors and was an NCAA Division I qualifier but lost in the blood round to just miss out

on being an All-American. He earned his third letter with the Illini in 2010. But then he decided to take a few

years off from the sport.

Ryan returned for the 2013-2014 season and attended Elmhurst College where he was able to compete for coach

Steve Marianetti, a 2022 IWCOA Lifetime Service Recipient. He finished with a 23-0 record and was the NCAA

Division III National Champion at 149. He was also honored as Elmhurst College’s Male Athlete of the Year. He

graduated from Elmhurst with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and stayed on and coached for six years

under Marianetti.

Ryan also co-owns and coaches at Relentless Training Center in Spring Grove along with his U of I teammate

and brother-in-law, Jordan Blanton. They also have coached at Marian Central Catholic for the past four years.

Their Hurricanes beat Coal City 34-27 to win the 2024 Class 1A championship and they took third place in Class

1A in 2025 and also advanced to the Class 2A quarterfinals in 2026. In addition to winning four regional titles,

their teams have had 27 state qualifiers, 19 state placers, five state champions and three Fargo All-Americans.