Rochelle becomes 4-0 after wins over Erie-Prophetstown, Rock Falls

ROCHELLE — A flawless score from the Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team capped off a dominant nonconference meet against Erie-Prophetstown and Rock Falls on Wednesday.

After recording six falls in a 59-18 win over the Panthers to start the evening, Rochelle showcased its skills against the Rockets, notching a season-high 10 falls in one match as the Hubs blanked Rock Falls with a perfect 84-0 victory. Rochelle (4-0, 0-0 Interstate 8) will continue nonconference action against Lena-Winslow/Stockton and Stillman Valley on Thursday.

E-P

Junior Leo Stoffel scored the first points of the dual against the Panthers, recording a first-period takedown and fall over Aeden Thompson in the 160-pound bout. Junior Brock Metzger was all over Jordae Crow in the 182-pound bout, earning three near falls and a takedown in the first period before a reversal and near fall in the second period led to a 15-0 win by technical fall.

“We’re expecting to do really well this season and we want to keep winning,” Metzger said. “We have one win over a ranked team already and we’re getting ready to face another ranked team in Lena-Winslow so we know we’re going to have some really tough matches. We have a lot of young guys and we’re going to keep getting better and better over these next few years. We’ve really come together as a group and we all support each other during every single match.”

Freshman Roman Villalobos as well as sophomore Kaiden Morris and senior Jaden Cook received forfeits from the Panthers for the 170-pound, 220-pound and 285-pound bouts. Erie-Prophetstown’s first win came in the 195-pound bout, where Luke Otten went ahead 4-1 on two takedowns before winning by first-period fall against junior Alexander McBride. 

Freshmen Freddie Hernandez and Anthony Milburn each delivered victories in the 106-pound and 113-pound bouts, with Hernandez scoring a first-period fall over Samantha Kilker before Milburn took down Connor Johnson and earned a first-period fall in only 36 seconds. Sophomore Xavier Villalobos totaled three first-period takedowns in the 120-pound bout, winning by fall over Samual Kilker to give the Hubs a 47-6 lead in the nonconference match. 

Erie-Prophetstown took the next two head-to-head matchups, with Wyatt Goosens holding off sophomore Joseph Nadig for a 3-1 decision in the 126-pound bout and Aidan Jepson taking a 5-0 lead before finishing off the 132-pound bout with a fall over sophomore Weylin Nay. Senior Weldon Nay scored a bounce-back win for the Hubs in the 138-pound bout, taking down and defeating Jayda Rosenow with a first-period fall.

The final two matches occurred in the 145-pound and 152-pound bouts, where freshman Brenden Voight used only 26 seconds to record a fall over Victor Bonnell before sophomore Grant Gensler fought hard but fell just short against Jace Grunder, earning two escapes but conceding the loss by 8-2 decision.

Rock Falls

Brock Metzger and Alexander McBride received forfeits for the 182-pound and 195-pound bouts to start the match against the Rockets. Kaiden Morris and Jaden Cook recorded Rochelle’s first two falls of the match, with both wrestlers earning two takedowns as Morris defeated Pablo Cid in the 220-pound bout and Cook cruised over Jacob Hosler to claim the 285-pound bout.

“Our whole team has picked up the intensity and the atmosphere in the practice room has been amazing this season,” Cook said. “We have a lot of wrestlers who love the grind and it’s fun to see everyone go out there and leave everything they have on the mat. It’s really putting Rochelle on the map as a wrestling school. The work we’ve been doing with our coaches is showing up on the mat and I feel like we’re continuing to get sharper with our techniques.”

Freddie Hernandez and Anthony Milburn took forfeits for the 106-pound and 113-pound bouts. Xavier Villalobos and Joseph Nadig each took just over a minute to win their respective matches, with Villalobos earning a fall over Aaron Meenen at the 34-second mark and Nadig recording a fall over Adan Oquendo at the 43-second mark. Weylin Nay held an 11-3 lead against Logan Williamson before securing a second-period fall to win the 132-pound bout.

With Rochelle more than halfway to earning a perfect score, Weldon Nay continued the team’s dominant stretch of wins, recording a fall at the 26-second mark in the 138-pound bout. Brenden Voight and Grant Gensler followed with a first-period fall over Korbin Oligney and a second-period fall over Ryan McCord to win the 145-pound and 152-pound bouts.

Leo Stoffel and Roman Villalobos each recorded falls to close out the dual match, which ended with a string of eight consecutive falls for the Hubs. Rochelle totaled 16 takedowns in the match.