Andy Silva’s passion for wrestling began when he caught the attention of Rochelle head wrestling coach Rich Harvey at a Super Bowl party roughly three years ago.

Silva wasn’t a member of Rochelle’s wrestling program at the time, but after messing around with some of his friends at the Harvey household, Silva was approached by Harvey about joining the wrestling team.

“We were just goofing around in the basement and coach Harvey was watching,” Silva said. “He saw me wrestling and he asked me about coming out for the team. He wanted me to try out, so I did and I’ve been in love with the sport ever since.”

Silva played basketball during his freshman year, but he dropped the sport and became part of the wrestling team his sophomore year. Silva wrestled at 106 pounds, and he worked his way into the varsity lineup in just his first season. His efforts helped Rochelle edge LaSalle-Peru to win its first-ever Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Championship two years ago, an achievement Silva said is his favorite moment since becoming part of the wrestling program.

“It’s a really family-oriented sport,” Silva said. “When we won conference for the first time, coach said that I secured the match. I was working on a move called a whip over in practice all week, and I hit the move really quick during my match and pinned the kid. It was a really exciting moment for me.”

Silva admitted that he struggled with nerves throughout his sophomore season, but he said he learned to better control himself throughout his three years with the wrestling program. Now a senior wrestling at 132 pounds, Silva said he’s improved in several areas including his footwork and his hand fighting.

“It was intimidating at first because I was learning a whole new sport,” Silva said. “Everything is so physical with wrestling so you have to watch very carefully to make sure you don’t mess anything up. Coach Harvey is really great with helping new kids. I’m still not totally confident in my shot, but my hand fighting and footwork have improved 100 percent.”

Silva has wrestled at the varsity level for all three years of his high school career. He said coach Harvey and new coach Alphonso Vruno as well as team captains Justin Hernandez, Alex Harvey and Eddie Villalobos have helped him improve the most. His mindset before matches has changed since his sophomore season, giving him more confidence that he can defeat his opponents.

“I was a nervous wreck during my sophomore year,” Silva said. “I would always get nervous before a match and I’d always warm up to try and shake the butterflies out of my stomach. But coach Vruno has really helped us out during warm-ups and we push ourselves really hard… We feel really good and we warm up so hard that we aren’t even thinking about our matches.”

Silva is one of many Hub wrestlers who will be competing for first place at the IHSA Team State Championships this weekend. The senior has been part of many historical achievements over the last three years including back-to-back individual regional titles as well as Rochelle’s first team sectional win, but Silva and his teammates are hoping to add more accolades to the history books in Bloomington.

“It’s really exciting and it’s almost unexpected to be honest,” Silva said. “Becoming regional champions again was such a great feeling, and being conference champs my sophomore year… Breaking new boundaries is such a great feeling.”