STERLING — The setting may have been different, but it was business as usual for Rochelle junior Ehren Metzger.

The Hubs varsity wrestling team traveled back to Sterling on Saturday after falling to both the Golden Warriors and the Marengo Indians in a three-team meet on Thursday.  But this time the purple and white were squaring off against nine other schools in tournament play, and Metzger, who was defeated twice on Thursday, immediately made his presence known with three consecutive victories to win the 152-pound title.

“It’s just from working hard in the wrestling room,” he said. “Coach [Rich] Harvey has been great and he’s helped me with everything I’ve been having trouble with.”

Metzger entered the tournament with a 9-2 overall record on the season, and the junior received a first-round bye before defeating Immaculate Conception’s Joseph Bigane by fall to reach the semifinals. He then outlasted Sterling’s Turner Garcia by decision, winning by a score of 10-9 in a rigorous back-and-forth battle to hand Garcia just his third loss of the season.

“He threw in some stuff we hadn’t been working on in practice,” Metzger said. “He was a really tough, lengthy guy and he knew what he was doing on top.”

For his final match, Metzger faced off against Walker Chapman from Iowa’s Clinton High School, winning by a 7-2 decision to finish the tournament 3-0 and claim his second title of the year. It was a thrilling moment for the junior Hub, who knew prior to the match that Chapman’s strength could pose a serious threat to his championship hopes.

“I knew it was going to be pretty tough,” said Metzger, who is now 12-2 on the season. “He looked strong just from watching him and it seemed like he just overpowered every other guy. I knew I had to be smart and be patient.”

The Hubs have a few more days of practice before heading out to Oregon High School for a three-team meet with the Hawks and the Plano Reapers. Rochelle is 3-5 this year and has lost each of its last four matches, but Metzger is confident that some lineup adjustments and the return of junior standout Alex Harvey from an ankle injury will help turn the team’s season around.

“We have Harvey back and that’s going to be huge,” he said. “He’s going to fill in at 182 and Austin Tracey moved down to 170 so we’re going to be really tough there.”
Tracey placed fourth in the Sterling tournament, scoring 14 points with wins over Immaculate Conception’s Dom Krepulec and Rockford Guilford’s Jaydin Jones. Sophomore Eddie Villalobos took second in the 138-pound division and earned 16 points, while junior Justin Hernandez finished third and totaled 14 points at 126 pounds.

Junior Ralfy Mancinas wrestled at 145 pounds, beating Sterling’s Ethan Edmondson and DeWitt’s Theodore Fox but falling to Clinton’s Jess Chapman and Belvidere North’s Kase Meyerson to finish fourth and score 10 points for the Hubs. Senior Jonathan Drilling placed fifth and earned five points at 132 pounds with a win over Guilford’s Dylan Burton, and freshman Keegan Davis landed in sixth place for three points at 113 points.

RTHS finished the tournament in seventh place out of 10 schools with 88 total points.

Junior Varsity
While the varsity team was in Sterling, the junior varsity team fielded several high-placing competitors at the Kaneland Invitational in Maple Park.

Sophomore Edwin Vega placed first in the 220-pound weight division, while sophomores Jacob Fore, Jesse Mohica and freshman Diego Escobar each placed second in their respective divisions. Freshman Gavin Ansteth landed a third-place finish in the tournament, with sophomores Cody Hasz and James Rodriguez landing in fourth and sixth place, respectively.

The junior varsity team will also return to the mats on Thursday.