Wrestling: Four Hubs medal at Sycamore Invitational

Villalobos leads Rochelle with third-place performance

Russell Hodges
Posted 1/10/22

The Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team finished 15th out of 26 schools with 271.5 points at the XLVI Sycamore Invitational on Saturday. Eleven Rochelle wrestlers competed in the tournament for the Hubs, with four wrestlers bringing home medalist honors.

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Wrestling: Four Hubs medal at Sycamore Invitational

Villalobos leads Rochelle with third-place performance

Posted

SYCAMORE — The Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team finished 15th out of 26 schools with 271.5 points at the XLVI Sycamore Invitational on Saturday. Eleven Rochelle wrestlers competed in the tournament for the Hubs, with four wrestlers bringing home medalist honors.

Freshman Xavier Villalobos (18-2) medaled in third place in the 113-pound bracket. Villalobos won by fall over St. Charles North’s Jackson Karsten in the preliminary round before opening the quarterfinals with an 18-2 technical fall against McHenry’s Jimmy Norris. Villalobos faced Mundelein’s Bryce Durlacher in the semifinals, conceding a 6-3 decision but bouncing back with a 12-1 major decision over Rock Island’s Samuel Niyonkuru in the third-place consolation bout.

Freshman Kaiden Morris (17-5) medaled in seventh place in the 220-pound bracket. Morris scored two victories in the preliminary round, defeating Kaneland’s Jacob Nonnemacher with a 12-2 major decision before pinning McHenry’s Luke Zunkell. Morris lost back-to-back matches by fall before closing out with a pin against Kaneland’s Nate Diaz in the seventh-place bout.

Sophomore Tommy Tourdot (14-6) medaled in seventh place in the 106-pound bracket. Tourdot won by fall over Portage’s Cole Beckett in the preliminary round before conceding a 18-2 technical fall against Mahomet-Seymour’s Caden Hatton and a fall against Belvidere’s Brayden Tenuissen. Tourdot pinned Marengo’s Gavin Prudlick in the seventh-place consolation bout.

Freshman Joseph Nadig (14-7) medaled in eighth place in the 120-pound bout. Nadig edged Hampshire’s Christian Dupris with a 4-0 decision in the preliminary round before losing against Bloomington’s Carson Nishida in an 18-2 technical fall. Nadig fell against Glenbrook South’s Arnold Park before coming just short in a 2-0 decision against Hononegah’s Connor Diemel.

Freshman Grant Gensler (13-8) finished ninth in the 138-pound bracket, winning four consecutive bouts to close out the tournament. After falling against York’s Jack Connell, Gensler scored a 10-3 decision over Portage’s Landon Heitmeier before topping McHenry’s Justin Karcz with an 8-0 major decision. Gensler then pinned Willowbrook’s Noah Brockie and capped off the consolation-bracket run with a 6-4 decision over Yorkville’s Sebastian Westphal.

Junior Weldon Nay took 12th in the 126-pound bracket, winning by fall over Kaneland’s Ethan Nitsche for his lone win of the day. Sophomore Leo Stoffel and freshman Brandyn Metzger placed 14th in the 182-pound and 160-pound brackets, respectively, with Stoffel scoring two wins including a 10-1 major decision over Marengo’s Devin Storti and a 10-4 decision over Portage’s James Peters. Metzger earned a 6-1 decision over Hononegah’s Rose Cassioppi.

Junior Jorge Driggs and sophomore Brock Metzger finished 15th in the 195-pound and 170-pound brackets, respectively, while junior Wesley Brown took 16th in the 132-pound bracket. Driggs won two matches, edging Oak Forest’s John Marusarz with a 6-5 decision and earning a medical forfeit over Hampshire’s Tyler Boyd. Metzger concluded the tournament with a win by injury default over Hononegah’s Morgan Bartlett. Brown went 0-4 over four bouts.