DEKALB — The Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team traveled to DeKalb for the first day of the 2023 Don Flavin Invitational, which features some of the elite Class 2A and Class 3A wrestling programs in the state. Rochelle wrestled three dual matches Friday morning, defeating Hinsdale Central and West Aurora to finish fifth out of eight schools in the Dan Cliffe Bracket. 

The Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team bowed out of the Don Flavin Invitational at DeKalb High School on Saturday, finishing fourth in its pool to take 20th out of 32 schools in the tournament. Rochelle wrestled three dual matches on Saturday, falling 42-33 against Moline before conceding a 39-31 loss to Minooka and a 51-25 loss against Stevenson. The Hubs (18-6, 3-0 Interstate 8) will return to action at the Sycamore Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 6.

The Hubs opened the tournament with a close battle against Barrington, falling 44-34 to move into the consolation side of the bracket. Rochelle recovered nicely, however, beating Hinsdale Central 52-25 before taking down West Aurora 46-32 to finish fifth in the bracket. The Hubs (18-3, 3-0 Interstate 8) will return on Saturday morning to wrestle three more dual matches.

Barrington

Rochelle’s dual against the Broncos began with the 157-pound bout, where Barrington’s Silas Oberholzer scored the first points of the match with a fall over junior Matthew Lynn. Rochelle bounced back with a win in the 165-pound bout, which junior Grant Gensler claimed for the Hubs with a 17-0 technical fall over Liam Tierney. Sophomore Roman Villalobos followed with a second-period fall over Marino Benardi in the 175-pound bout, giving Rochelle an 11-6 lead.

Barrington claimed the next two matches, with Ayden Salley earning a fall over freshman Cooper Holmgren in the 190-pound bout and Raphael Abano earning a fall over freshman Rafael Herrera in the 215-pound bout. Junior Kaiden Morris brought Rochelle back with a first-period fall over Jack Kavanagh to win the 285-pound bout and make the score 18-17.

Barrington’s Kaleb Pratt scored a 16-1 technical fall over sophomore Freddie Hernandez in the 106-pound bout to keep the Broncos in the lead. The Hubs answered with a string of three consecutive wins, which started when sophomore Keagan Albers notched a 15-0 technical fall over Jonah Glazov in the 113-pound bout. Senior Tommy Tourdot and junior Xavier Villalobos followed with falls over Ryan Dorn and Jimmy Whitaker in the 120-pound and 126-pound bouts.

Barrington took the final four matches to come from behind and clinch the dual win. Daniel Blanke’s fall over sophomore Deegan Schabacker in the 132-pound bout and Brennan O’Donnell’s 9-3 decision over freshman Josh Lassiter cut the Rochelle lead to 34-32. In a pivotal match, Barrington’s Brady Wright erased a 7-1 deficit and recorded a fall over sophomore Brenden Voight to win the 144-pound bout in overtime. Barrington’s Augusto Rhenzo sealed the dual win for the Broncos with a fall over freshman Angel Hernandez in the 150-pound bout. 

Hinsdale Central

Junior Grant Gensler opened Rochelle’s dual against the Red Devils with a first-period fall over Warren Howard in the 165-pound bout. Hinsdale Central took the next four matches, taking the lead after Zach Kruse’s 2-0 decision over sophomore Roman Villalobos in the 175-pound bout and Aiden Galekas’s fall over freshman Cooper Holmgren in the 190-pound bout. Hinsdale Central’s Corbin Camp and Marko Ivanisevic followed with falls over freshman Rafael Herrera and junior Kaiden Morris in the 215-pound and 285-pound bouts to put the Red Devils up 21-6.

Rochelle received several forfeits from Hinsdale Central, with sophomores Freddie Hernandez (106), Tony Milburn (120) and Deegan Schabacker (132) as well as juniors Xavier Villalobos (132) and Matthew Lynn (157), senior Tommy Tourdot (126) and freshman Angel Hernandez (150) earning free victories from the short-handed Red Devils. Both teams split the last two head-to-head matches, with Sammy Murante scoring 9-1 major decision over sophomore Keagan Albers in the 113-pound bout for the Red Devils and sophomore Brenden Voight earning a 9-1 major decision over Barsum Ravanasa in the 144-pound bout for the Hubs.

West Aurora

Sophomore Roman Villalobos kicked off the dual against the Blackhawks with a first-period fall over Fernando Anaya in the 175-pound bout. Both teams split the next two matches, with West Aurora’s Alex Lopez earning a fall over freshman Cooper Holmgren in the 190-pound bout and junior Kaiden Morris responding with a fall over Alfonso Aguilar in the 215-pound bout. West Aurora’s Noah Chacon received a forfeit for the 285-pound bout, tying the match at 12-12.

Sophomores Freddie Hernandez and Keagan Albers took forfeits for the Hubs in the 106-pound and 113-pound bouts. The Hubs added two more wins after senior Tommy Tourdot’s first-period fall over Kaden Wyland in the 120-pound bout and junior Xavier Villalobos’s 9-1 major decision over Aiden Massaro in the 126-pound bout. West Aurora’s Evan Matkovich made the score 34-16 after a 9-0 major decision over sophomore Deegan Schabacker in the 132-pound bout.

The Blackhawks followed with a win in the 138-pound bout, where Jack Platt scored a 14-0 major decision against sophomore Frank Nasca. The Hubs answered with a win in the 144-pound bout, where sophomore Brenden Voight notched a first-period fall over Emilio Ayala.

West Aurora’s Dominic Serio and Dayne Serio claimed the 150-pound and 157-pound bouts for the Blackhawks, finishing with falls over freshman Angel Hernandez and junior Matthew Lynn. Rochelle concluded the dual match against the Blackhawks with a win in the 165-pound bout, where junior Grant Gensler worked for a second-period fall against Manny Chavez.

Moline

Rochelle struck first in its dual match against Moline, with sophomore Freddie Hernandez scoring a 12-2 major decision over Liam Knobloch in the 106-pound bout. Moline answered with a win in the 113-pound bout, where Housseyn Ndiaye recorded a first-period fall over sophomore Keagan Albers. Back-to-back falls from senior Tommy Tourdot and junior Xavier Villalobos in the 120-pound and 126-pound bouts gave the Hubs a 16-6 lead in the match.

Moline bounced back with two consecutive falls over the 132-pound and 138-pound bouts, where Kayden Serrano and Hassan Ndiaye defeated sophomore Deegan Schabacker and freshman Josh Lassiter to give the Maroons a 18-16 lead. Rochelle scored a key win during the 144-pound bout, which sophomore Brenden Voight claimed with a 9-5 decision over Bradley Ledbetter. Moline’s Jack Sibley received a forfeit from the Hubs in the 150-pound bout.

The Maroons added another win after Zander Ealy notched a fall over junior Matthew Lynn in the 157-pound bout. Rochelle fought back with victories over the 165-pound and 175-pound bouts, where junior Grant Gensler and sophomore Roman Villalobos recorded 13-2 major decisions over DeAnthony Simpson and Jaxson Soliz to cut the Moline lead to 30-27. 

Moline clinched the win after James Soliz earned a fall over freshman Cooper Holmgren in the 190-pound bout and Bennett Gorgal received a forfeit in the 285-pound bout. Junior Kaiden Morris recorded the last win of the dual for the Hubs, working his way into a second-period fall against Nehemiah Lenzen to claim the 215-pound bout with only the 285-pound bout left.

Minooka

Minooka held a 9-0 lead after Mason Vogt’s 8-4 decision over sophomore Freddie Hernandez in the 106-pound bout and Casey Janicki’s fall over sophomore Keagan Albers in the 113-pound bout. Senior Tommy Tourdot took a forfeit for the 120-pound bout and junior Xavier Villalobos scored a 9-1 major decision over Chase Musser in the 126-pound bout to put the Hubs up 10-9.

After Minooka’s Chase Stonitsch scored a fall over sophomore Deegan Schabacker in the 132-pound bout, Rochelle took the lead again when freshman Josh Lassiter secured an 11-4 decision over Francisco Ditrolio in the 138-pound bout and sophomore Brenden Voight notched a 7-1 decision over Ben Cyrkiel in the 144-pound bout. Minooka’s Kaden Meyer received a forfeit for the 150-pound bout, allowing the Indians to retake the lead by a score of 21-16.

A.J. Frescura followed with a fall over junior Matthew Lynn in the 157-pound bout to extend the Minooka lead. Rochelle battled back after junior Grant Gensler earned a first-period fall over Jack Arnold in the 165-pound bout and sophomore Roman Villalobos held off Hunter Coons for an 8-6 decision in the 175-pound bout. Leading 27-25, Minooka sealed its victory in the 190-pound bout, where Lucas Shipla scored a first-period fall over freshman Cooper Holmgren.

Minooka’s Robbie Murphy received a forfeit in the 285-pound bout. Junior Kaiden Morris brought home Rochelle’s last win of the match, capping off the dual with a first-period fall against Minooka’s Santino Capodice in the 215-pound bout with one bout remaining.

Stevenson

Stevenson took the first three bouts of the match. Milan Nikolic took a forfeit in the 285-pound bout before Evan Mishels and Ayush Bajaj defeated Hub sophomores Freddie Hernandez and Keagan Albers with a 13-1 major decision and a fall over the 106-pound and 113-pound bouts. Rochelle cut the deficit to 16-12 after senior Tommy Tourdot and sophomore Tony Milburn earned falls over Mikey Polyakov and Marcelo Cantu in the 120-pound and 126-pound bouts.

Stevenson stretched its lead after Shawn Kogan scored a 20-5 technical fall over sophomore Deegan Schabacker in the 132-pound bout and Unubold Badral earned a third-period fall over freshman Josh Lassiter in the 138-pound bout. Sophomore Brenden Voight stopped the bleeding for the Hubs with a 13-2 major decision over Val Vihrov in the 144-pound bout.

Stevenson’s lead grew to 39-16 after Tyler Reiff took a forfeit in the 150-pound bout and Eric Wade recorded a fall over junior Matthew Lynn in the 157-pound bout. Junior Grant Gensler secured a fall over Aaron Von Heimburg in the 165-pound bout, but Stevenson answered with Themba Sitshela’s fall over sophomore Roman Villalobos in the 175-pound bout and Anthony Wilson’s fall over freshman Cooper Holmgren in the 190-pound bout to clinch the dual win. The dual concluded with junior Kaiden Morris scoring a 17-0 technical fall over Anthony Adams in the 215-pound bout.