There were more than enough pins to go around Tuesday evening, when the Rochelle wrestlers dominated their triangular meet with the nonconference Oregon Hawks and the Interstate 8 Conference Plano Reapers.
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ROCHELLE — There were more than enough pins to go around Tuesday evening, when the Rochelle wrestlers dominated their triangular meet with the nonconference Oregon Hawks and the Interstate 8 Conference Plano Reapers.
The Hubs weren’t happy with losing against the Kaneland Knights this past week, and they avenged their lone conference loss with a decisive 66-12 win over Plano that featured pins from 10 different varsity wrestlers. Rochelle added five more pins during its match against Oregon, resulting in a 57-21 victory that propelled the Hubs to 6-2 overall.
“I thought we came out and wrestled really well,” senior Zeke Horn said. “We had a tough loss against Kaneland and we didn’t want to feel that again. We came back stronger and we wrestled harder to get ourselves in shape. We came out here and we wanted to win badly.”
The Hubs were clinical in their takedown of the Reapers on Tuesday, starting the match with six consecutive pins including Horn’s fall over Plano’s William Collins at 160 pounds. Senior Bryan Garza followed with a swift victory over Andrew Harrelson at 170 before junior Noah Messer rolled over Plano’s Angelo Hernandez at 182.
Junior Ben Harvey (195) and seniors Gavin Ansteth (220) and Zack Capes (285) continued the pin parade to put the Hubs ahead 36-0. After junior Ivan Pineda took a forfeit at 106, the Reapers snapped a 42-point drought with Anthony Vitro’s 10-7 decision over Hub freshman Josey Weber at 113 and Cain Hernandez’s 14-9 decision against freshman Weldon Nay at 120.
Sophomore Caleb Nadig (126) and junior Grant Thompson (132) responded with back-to-back pins for the Hubs, and despite the Reapers notching their first and only fall at 138, Rochelle closed the match with pins from senior Keegan Davis-Carter (145) and sophomore Ethan Tooley (152). The 10 pins are the most in any dual match this season for the Hubs, who are 2-1 over their first three conference duals.
“I think we’re definitely up there and I think we can beat every team in our conference,” Horn said. “We beat LaSalle-Peru and they were ranked in the state. I think we can win the conference this season.”
Rochelle had no trouble with a short-handed Oregon squad, scoring the first 24 points of the match on two pins from Harvey and Ansteth and two forfeits for Messer and Capes. The Hawks rebounded with three straight victories at 106, 113 and 120 before the Hubs won six bouts over the final seven. Nadig, Davis-Carter and Garza each pinned Hawks for Rochelle, while Horn wrestled his first match of the season at 152 pounds, winning by fall over Gabe Eckerd.
“I think cutting to 152 will be a good move for me and the team,” Horn said. “Hopefully I can stay in better shape there. It helps fill our lineup once Diego [Escobar] cuts to 160. Our lineup will be set and we’ll be good from there.”