Hub senior Ivan Pineda has worked hard to hone his wrestling techniques over the last four years. A few of those moves showed up during Saturday morning’s meet with Polo and North Boone, where the Rochelle lightweight earned two wins and helped lead the Hub varsity wrestling team to resounding victories over both the Marcos and the Vikings.
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ROCHELLE — Hub senior Ivan Pineda has worked hard to hone his wrestling techniques over the last four years. A few of those moves showed up during Saturday morning’s meet with Polo and North Boone, where the Rochelle lightweight earned two wins and helped lead the Hub varsity wrestling team to resounding victories over both the Marcos and the Vikings.
Rochelle’s matmen combined for eight pins against North Boone, dominating the Vikings 60-6 before adding eight more pins in their 58-24 win over Polo. Pineda wrestled at 113 pounds in the North Boone dual, needing only one takedown before pinning Kylan Hughes at the 1:45 mark. Pineda moved up to 120 pounds against Polo, outlasting McKeon Crase with a 16-8 major decision behind three takedowns, two near falls, two escapes and one reversal.
“I feel like we’ve been wrestling really well, especially since we don’t have anybody at a few of our weight classes,” Pineda said. “We’ve done well everywhere else and I think we’ve all been putting the hard work in and kicking our opponents’ butts. My double and my scarf were working well for me today, especially when I had my opponents on the ground. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing and we need to make sure we’re keeping the right mindset.”
Rochelle (9-1) has won seven consecutive duals. The Hubs will host Genoa-Kingston and Rockford East on Wednesday before facing Oregon and Fulton at home on Saturday.
North Boone
Rochelle scored 60 consecutive points to open the dual against the Vikings. Junior Matt Eyster received a forfeit at 160 pounds before senior Ben Harvey took down and pinned Garrett Louis at 182 pounds. Senior Noah Messer and sophomore Jaden Cook immediately followed with pins at 220 pounds and 285 pounds, respectively, with Messer defeating Connor Runnells in the first period and Cook needing only 30 seconds in his victory over Ethan Delgado.
“We’re really gotten into a rhythm,” Cook said. “We’re putting a lot of work in right now. My headlocks and throws have been working well for me. We have a couple of gaps in our roster right now, but if we can fill those gaps, I think we’ll have a chance to win the conference title.”
After freshman Riley Damask took a forfeit at 106 pounds and Pineda won at 113 pounds, sophomore Josey Weber stepped into the ring for the Hubs, showing dominance against Kole Olsen with a 25-seconds takedown-to-pin at 120 pounds. Sophomore Weldon Nay kept Rochelle’s pin streak going at 126 pounds, defeating Joey Brown in only 35 seconds.
With Rochelle leading 48-0, sophomore Wesley Brown scored another Hub pin at 132 pounds, taking down Logan Witte before senior Grant Thompson recorded a second-period pin against Juan Galarza at 138 pounds. North Boone’s Tanner Meyers received a forfeit at 152 pounds.
Polo
Ben Harvey made history in his 182-pound matchup against Wayde Reimer, pinning him in only 14 seconds to break his older brother Alex’s all-time Rochelle Township High School career pins record (76). Harvey now has 127 career victories in a Hub uniform, 12 victories behind Alex for the all-time career record. Matt Eyster took a forfeit at 170 pounds to begin the Polo dual.
After the Marcos received a forfeit at 195 pounds, Noah Messer and Jaden Cook extended the Rochelle lead with pins at 220 pounds and 285 pounds, respectively. Messer won over Joel Ludwig, while Cook beat Blake Diehl in 31 seconds. Freshmen Riley Damask and Tommy Tourdot then needed only 26 seconds combined to pin their respective opponents, with Damask beating Teegyn Heather with a 15-second pin while Tourdot downed Gage Lagee in 11 seconds.
Ivan Pineda’s major decision over McKeon Crase made it 40-6 Rochelle before Josey Weber and Weldon Nay scored first-period pins over Wyatt Meiners and Bryce McKenna at 126 pounds and 132 pounds, respectively. Grant Thompson dominated DeAngelo Fernandez at 145 pounds, pinning him in 27 seconds. Polo took forfeits at 152 pounds and 160 pounds to end the dual.