ROCHELLE — Bulking up for the football season forced Rochelle junior Gavin Ansteth to wrestle three weight classes above where he competed last season. The stronger competition hasn’t bothered Ansteth, however, as the 195-pounder picked up two more victories during Rochelle’s triangular wrestling meet with Marengo and Sterling on Thursday.

Sterling cruised over Rochelle 67-10 before the Hubs rebounded by taking down Marengo 49-24 and moving to 2-6 overall this season. Ansteth and sophomore Ben Harvey were the only Rochelle grapplers to win both matches on Thursday, with Ansteth pinning Sterling’s Noah Davis at 195 before winning by fall against Marengo’s Landon Oine at 220.

“Over the summer, I saw myself gaining more weight for football,” said Ansteth, who wrestled at 160 this past year. “Our wrestling team needed somebody at 195 so I stuck with it. I’m facing much stronger kids now. Wrestling at 160 was more about being faster and there was a lot more action on the mat. Kids aren’t as fast at 195 but they’re much stronger.”

Harvey’s 12-2 major decision over Sterling’s J.J. Thompson at 182 was Rochelle’s second win over the Golden Warriors. Sterling won every other match however, with three wrestlers earning forfeits at 220, 113 and 120. Jason Farnham won by fall over Rochelle senior James Rodriguez before Shawn Ramsey pinned Hub sophomore Ivan Pineda at 106.

Drew Kested defeated Rochelle sophomore Grant Thompson by 11-3 major decision at 126, and Brayden Porter won by fall against Hub freshman Ethan Tooley at 132 before Mauricio Garcia edged Rochelle junior Keegan Davis by 9-3 decision at 138. The Golden Warriors won the next four matches (145, 152, 160 and 170) by fall before Harvey’s win at 182.

“I knew coming in that Sterling had a pretty solid team,” head coach Alphonso Vruno said. “I thought we could keep a few matches close and pull out some wins here and there but that didn’t happen tonight. I talked with the kids afterward about how we came out flat and how we weren’t wrestling hard enough.”

Rochelle’s match with Marengo began much differently, with Rodriguez pinning Mason Feldt at 285 to get the Hubs on the scoreboard first. Ricardo Cazares pinned Pineda at 106 before Marengo received a forfeit at 120 to take the lead (neither team had any 113 wrestlers). Three straight Hub victories from Thompson (fall over Joe Resendez at 126), Tooley (fall over Anthony Greco at 132) and Davis (3-1 decision over Jake Doyle) put Rochelle ahead 21-12.

Both teams exchanged pins over the next two bouts, with Cam Miller winning by fall over Rochelle sophomore Osiris Lenker at 145 and Hub senior Jacob Fore pinning Aaron Shepard at 152. Rochelle junior Zeke Horn earned an 11-1 major decision over Stan Dawiec at 160 before Seb Polka pinned Hub sophomore Noah Messer at 170.

Rochelle junior Bryan Garza took a forfeit at 182, and with the Hubs leading 37-24, Harvey pinned Dan Chicoine at 195 before Ansteth pinned Landon Oine at 220 to close out the win.

“Our attitude was different against Marengo,” Vruno said. “Kids were moving their feet more and hand fighting. They were tougher on top and they were able to get away more on the bottom. Those effort-type things in wrestling really improved and I think the kids were excited when they knew they had a chance to win the match.”