Six Rochelle-area wrestlers battled in the 50th IKWF State Championship tournament at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford on Friday and Saturday. Three athletes brought home medals including Roman Villalobos, Brenden Voight and Benjamin Nadig.
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ROCKFORD — Six Rochelle-area wrestlers battled in the 50th IKWF State Championship tournament at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford on Friday and Saturday. Three athletes brought home medals including Roman Villalobos, Brenden Voight and Benjamin Nadig.
Villalobos took third in the 164 Senior Division bracket with a 4-1 record. Villalobos received a first-round bye before scoring back-to-back, sub-minute falls over Rockton’s Harrison Kinney and Murphysboro’s Jack English. After a 9-2 loss against Marengo’s Connor Sacco, Villalobos rallied for falls over Winslow’s Duncan Nevel and O’Fallon’s Triston Manrique for third place.
Nadig placed fifth in the 93 Novice Division bracket with a 4-2 record. After a first-round bye, Nadig won by fall over Lombard’s Cole Forsyth before conceding a 3-2 loss to Manhattan’s Aiden Arnett. Nadig recovered in the consolation bracket, scoring a 10-0 major decision over Algonquin’s Logan Woodbury and a 10-2 major decision over Palatine’s John Hanrahan. After a close loss by 5-4 decision to Chicago’s Ethan Sonne, Nadig defeated Bethalto’s Avery Jaime by 7-2 decision for fifth place.
Voight finished sixth in the 144 Senior Division bracket with a 3-3 record. Voight earned a first-round bye and took down Edwardsville’s Graham Taylor with an 11-1 major decision during the second round before conceding a tough 1-0 decision to Stockton’s Eli Larson in the quarterfinals.
In the consolation bracket, Voight defeated Manhattan’s James Talley Jr. by 6-1 decision and St. Anne’s Tristin Golden by 5-4 decision. Voight then fell against Richton Park’s Trevon Williams before conceding a 9-5 sudden victory in overtime against Chicago’s Kenyonte Louis.
Three additional wrestlers from the Rochelle area competed in the state meet including Zachary Johnson, Brandin Kirk and Aidan Lopez. Lopez went 2-2 in the 80 Novice Division bracket, defeating Murphysboro’s Griffin Diehl by 11-1 major decision in the championship bracket and pinning Poplar Grove’s Landon Jaski during the wrestlebacks.
Johnson went 1-2 in the 100 Novice Division bracket, opening the tournament with a 5-4 decision over Gibson City’s Colton Johnson. Kirk finished 0-2 in the 154 Novice Division bracket. Johnson and Kirk represented the Rochelle Wrestling Club at the state meet.
