Hub captains shine at state championships

Harvey medals in fourth place, Villalobos earns top-8 finish

Russell Hodges
Posted 2/20/17

Rochelle junior Alex Harvey and sophomore Eddie Villalobos medal at state tourney.

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Hub captains shine at state championships

Harvey medals in fourth place, Villalobos earns top-8 finish

Posted

CHAMPAIGN — Over 400 matches between nearly 700 competitors were conducted at the IHSA State Finals this past weekend, with Rochelle junior Alex Harvey and sophomore Eddie Villalobos joining in on the three-day tournament with the support of family and friends.

Harvey (33-5 at 182 pounds) qualified for the state championships after finishing third at the IHSA Class 2A Individual Sectional at Sterling High School two weekends ago, while Villalobos (33-11 at 132 pounds) placed fourth at the sectional to earn his place in the state finals. The two Hub captains began the competition this past Thursday, with Harvey taking down Elmwood Park’s Olsi Rama (34-6) and Villalobos wrestling a tough match against Marian Central’s Anthony Randazzo (36-7) by falling by 5-4 decision.

“That was a match I should have won,” Villalobos said. “I got lazy around the circle and all of his takedowns were toward the edge of the mat… I think I could’ve beat him if I wrestled the way I should’ve.”

Randazzo won his next match in the championship bracket to guarantee Villalobos a wrestleback against Oak Forest senior Dom Stump (34-17) on Friday. The sophomore took advantage of his new life in the state tournament and won by fall over Stump at the 1:43 mark to reach the consolation quarterfinals. The win was the first ever at the state level for Villalobos, and he said he’s hoping to bring home more of them in the future.

“Getting a pin at the state tournament was very exciting,” he said. “You’re pinning one of the top wrestlers in the state so it was a great feeling.”

The victory moved Villalobos one step closer to earning a top-6 medal, with only East St. Louis senior and third-ranked state wrestler Tyler Dunn (41-4) in the way. Dunn lost to Bloomington’s Savion Haywood (44-3) by injury default before defeating Fenwick’s Adam Aguilar (22-16) by 3-2 decision on Friday.

But both boys would have to wait until Saturday to wrestle for a spot in the consolation semifinals, and Dunn used the extra rest to bounce back from his injury and take down Villalobos by 11-5 decision.

“I wish I could’ve wrestled him the day before because I had a lot of momentum going in,” Villalobos said. “I was feeling good about myself… The next day was a brand new day and for him I think he excelled off of that and I didn’t really. He was a really strong kid but he was beatable.”

Villalobos didn’t officially place in the tournament, but his victory over Stump meant he was one of the final eight competitors left. With two more years of varsity wrestling to come, the sophomore said he’s ready to work hard over the offseason and use the experience he gained at the State Farm Center to level up his game for future matches.

“Now that I know the guys I’m wrestling are the top guys in the state… It gives me a boost,” he said. “It just shows where I’m at and going into next year we’re going to shoot for making it again and hopefully winning it.”

As for Harvey, the junior advanced to the championship quarterfinals after his victory over Rama and faced off against Carbondale’s Cameron Caffey (41-0), the top-ranked wrestler in the state. Harvey fought hard against the tournament favorite, but Caffey proved his worth with a victory by fall in 3:07 to send Harvey into wrestlebacks.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” Harvey said. “He was a different type of wrestler than most kids so that was something I had to keep in mind. It wasn’t the result we wanted but it was a good learning experience.”

But Harvey wasn’t taken back by the loss, and even though it was the first time all year the junior had lost by fall, he surged right back in consolation play, winning three consecutive matches to string together a run similar to the one he constructed in the sectional tournament, where he won four straight wrestlebacks to claim third place.

“I just knew I had to stay with my stuff and that I had to place,” he said. “That loss was tough but it helped me realize that I needed to get back after it so I could make the place match.”

Harvey’s first victory came by technical fall over Hinsdale South’s Tyvell White (25-18), and he then beat back-to-back ranked opponents in Crystal Lake Central’s Liam O’Donnell (No. 10, 32-12) and Urbana’s Arnold Fox (No. 6, 36-7), an opponent Harvey defeated for first place in the Mahomet-Seymour Invitational earlier this season, to reach the consolation finals against Kaneland’s Riley Vanik (40-4, No. 2).

Harvey and Vanik wrestled twice earlier this year, with the Kaneland senior winning both times by sudden victory in the first overtime period. The third union between the two Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference foes was another tight one, but Vanik held on just long enough to win by 5-4 decision and seal third place. Harvey said he was disappointed he lost the match, but he also said he was happy to know he could call himself a top-4 wrestler in the state.

“It felt really good to know that I medaled,” he said. “That was the goal the whole season to get on the podium and I did it. I wasn’t as high as I wanted to be but it was still a good accomplishment for me.”

The tournament strikes an end to the individual season, and both Harvey and Villalobos will join their teammates for a match against the Dixon Dukes in the IHSA Class 2A Team Sectional at Rochelle Township High School on Tuesday. The Dukes pummeled the Hubs 54-20 earlier this year, but the boys are hopeful their team can show how far they’ve come since their defeat back in November.

“We have to be confident and we need to wrestle hard,” Harvey said. “None of the matches are going to be given to us so everyone has to be ready.”

“We need to win the matches we aren’t supposed to,” Villalobos said. “We need to keep the matches as close as possible and avoid getting pinned or majored.”