ROCHELLE — After taking home a NIB-12 conference championship for the first time in school history last season, the Hubs varsity wrestling team took things one step further this year, winning a first-ever individual regional title and sending eight competitors to the sectional tournament and two to the state finals in Champaign.
And that’s just an appetizer for what could be coming next season.
With only one senior set to graduate (Jon Drilling), the Rochelle wrestling program is loaded with young talent at the freshman, sophomore and junior levels. While head coach Rich Harvey is keeping his expectations tempered, he said Thursday that he’s excited about the depth his program has.
“We have to work in the offseason to get stronger and I think the kids are willing to do that,” Harvey said. “There are going to be a lot of great matches in our mat room next year because we have good depth at a lot of our weights… We’re so young and it’s a nice opportunity for our kids to compete in the mat room and make themselves better to make the team better.”

The Hubs got off to a slow start this season, posting a 5-6 record in dual meets despite winning three of their first four. Rochelle found its stride soon after, however, taking 13 of its next 15 duals including victories over Harvard, Marian Central Catholic, Belvidere North and conference rival Sycamore. Behind a strong push from assistant coaches Jason Fore, Kyle Bridgeman and Carl Harvey, the boys finished with a 16-7 record, improving in their technique throughout the season which culminated in a win at the IHSA Class 2A Regional at Sycamore High School.
“Our kids have a lot of heart,” Harvey said. “They wrestle hard and it carries over a long way. I think we have to get better offensively on our feet and getting off the bottom, but I think we were solid on our feet defensively and we were riding opponents well.”
Junior Justin Hernandez (35-9 at 126 pounds) finished with the most victories for any RTHS individual this season, earning a top-6 spot at the IHSA Class 2A Sectional in Sterling but landing one match short of qualifying for state. Junior Alex Harvey (34-5 at 182 pounds) took third at sectional to reach the IHSA State Finals, while sophomore Eddie Villalobos (34-11 at 132 pounds) placed fourth to advance.
All three competitors served as team captains this season, and Harvey said the kids’ high standards will push them to put forward greater results next year.
“It would’ve been nice to see Eddie place at state but he had a tough bracket, and the same goes for Justin at the sectional tournament,” he said. “He had one of the toughest brackets in the state… I think they wrestled well and I know they expect more from themselves. I think they’ll come back hungrier next year to have even more success.”

Other standout performers include sectional qualifiers Nick Henson (19-16), Aidan Eckhardt (16-15) and Jesse Mohica (6-10), who battled his way onto the varsity lineup after wrestling most of the year with the junior varsity team, which finished 16-3 in duals this year and took second at the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Tournament. Freshman Keegan Davis (10-17) and junior Bazil Bennett (9-10) also reached the sectional tournament this season, while sophomore Edwin Vega (17-19) and junior Austin Tracey (15-13) both compiled winning records for the Hubs.
Combined with up-and-comers from the junior varsity team such as freshman Diego Escobar and sophomores Will Jandak and Brandon Johnson, Harvey said he’s pleased with the progress his boys have made over the past few years, and he’s excited to continue working with Rochelle’s junior competitors in both the Rochelle Wrestling Club and the Rochelle Middle School wrestling program.
“Our kids club is sending more kids up into the high school experience and it’s paying off, he said. “The kids program and the junior high program are sending kids into high school with more experience and we are seeing more success because of that.”