Eddie Villalobos began his varsity wrestling season with two victories against Dixon and Burlington Central this past week, and the Rochelle junior added two more wins to his 2017-18 resume when the Hubs faced Rock Falls and Erie-Prophetstown in a triangular meet at Erie High School on Wednesday.
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ERIE — Eddie Villalobos began his varsity wrestling season with two victories against Dixon and Burlington Central this past week, and the Rochelle junior added two more wins to his 2017-18 resume when the Hubs faced Rock Falls and Erie-Prophetstown in a triangular meet at Erie High School on Wednesday.
Villalobos grinded out a 10-3 decision over Erie-Prophetstown wrestler Calvin Naftzger, and the team co-captain made quick work of Rock Falls grappler Cade Adams, winning by technical fall with a score of 20-5. Both victories came at 152 pounds, and each win helped Rochelle stay close in its 40-33 team loss to Erie-Prophetstown in the first dual and its 39-33 loss to Rock Falls in the second dual.
“It felt good to get two nice victories,” Villalobos said. “The first match was a little sloppy… The first kid was tall and he had different strengths than the second kid I faced who was shorter. It’s tough to get in on those longer guys, and the first guy was definitely stronger.”
Junior Brandon Johnson kicked off Rochelle’s dual with Erie-Prophetstown by pinning 220-pounder Jeremy Huizenga. Sophomore Keegan Davis also battled his way to victory on Wednesday, edging Caleb Swearingen in a 1-0 decision at 132 pounds. Senior Justin Hernandez defeated Owen Abell by 17-10 decision at 145 pounds.
The Hubs had a pair of wrestlers lock down their first varsity wins of the season against Rock Falls including freshman Grant Thompson, who won by fall over Jadyn Osborne at 120 pounds for his first career varsity victory.
“I really needed to help my team out,” Thompson said. “It was a close one but it was there… He was staying heavy on his feet and I thought that pushing his head down would be the right thing to do. The cradle was there, so I took it.”
Senior Ehren Metzger was the other Rochelle grappler to notch his first season victory. Metzger returned to the Rochelle lineup after missing the triangular meet with Dixon and Burlington Central, and the 160-pounder bounced back from a tough loss against Erie-Prophetstown’s Garrett Passmore to quickly pin Rock Falls wrestler Issac Lee.
“I knew that I had to pace myself more,” Metzger said. “That’s what went wrong in the first match… I knew what [Issac] was trying to do. He was trying to be tough on my head so I just shot inside and took care of business.”
Hernandez (15-6 major decision), junior Nick Henson (fall) and senior Alex Harvey (fall) each recorded wins against Rock Falls. Rochelle (1-3) will host LaSalle-Peru for its conference-opener on Thursday.
