Family, Coach Remember Illini Wrestler Killed In Hit-And-Run

The Manhattan family of an Oak Forest High School graduate and University of Illinois wresler killed this week in a hit-and-run accident outside of Champaign are still waiting for answers concerning the 21-year-old's tragic death. Francis Edelen was fatally struck by an unknown vehicle Wednesday night while potentially trying to flag down help following a two-car accident along Interstate 57.

"We have a family painstakingly going through why doesn't someone turn themselves in," Tim Kratovil, Edelen's uncle and legal guardian, told CBS 2 Chicago.

Edelen was an all-state wrestler at Oak Forest, where he graduated with honors, according to his obituary. As a high school wrestler, he set a record at 2014 meet with a 10-second pin in a preliminary rounds. He was a junior at Illinois and competed on the Illini's wrestling team as a redshirted sophomore.

Illinois wrestling coach Jim Heffernan told the News-Gazette in Champaign that he recruited Edelen after a call from Oak Forest Principal Brad Sikora, an Illini letterman in the late '90s. With most of the team on spring break, the coach has been contacting wrestlers about Eleden's death.

RELATED: Oak Forest Grad, Illini Wrestler Killed In Hit-And-Run Crash

"I’ve never been through this before," Heffernan told the News-Gazette. "Hope I am never through anything like this again. That’s an awful thing for his family, his friends, his high school coaches. It’s a terrible thing."

Competitive wrestling provided an outlet for Edelen, his aunt, Debbie Kratovil, told CBS 2. As a foster child with nine siblings, he had a hard childhood, she said.

But that didn't stop him from forging a deep connection with his younger brother, Jacob.

“He got me out of a lot of bad situations where I put myself at risk. He was the one who talked me out of it,” Kratovil told CBS 2. “I’d do anything to give him his life back. I’d give my own life for him.”

"I don't know whether at this point to be angry or sad," he added.

A funeral service for Eleden will be Sunday, March 25. Family will receive friends at Kurtz Memorial Chapel, 102 E. Francis Road, New Lenox, from 2 p.m. until the service at 7 p.m. Interment will be private.

For more information, go to the Kurtz Goodale Memorial Chapels website.

More via CBS 2 Chicago and the News-Gazette

Francis Eleden (Photo via University of Illinois)