Wrestling: Hubs handle Harvard to clinch 20-win season

Rochelle records six pins during 71-6 victory on Wednesday

By Russ Hodges, Sports Editor
Posted 1/22/25

A short-handed Harvard roster stood no chance against the Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team, which swatted the Hornets on Wednesday to clinch a 20-win season.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Wrestling: Hubs handle Harvard to clinch 20-win season

Rochelle records six pins during 71-6 victory on Wednesday

Posted

ROCHELLE — A short-handed Harvard roster stood no chance against the Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team, which swatted the Hornets on Wednesday to clinch a 20-win season.

Rochelle recorded six pins and received five forfeits en route to a 71-6 thrashing of the Hornets, who won only one bout during Wednesday’s nonconference dual match. The Hubs (20-7, 4-0 Interstate 8), who are 20-match winners for the fourth time in five seasons under head coach Alphonso Vruno, will conclude their dual schedule with a road match at Ottawa on Thursday.

“Our program is in a really good place,” said assistant coach Nelson Baker, who served as acting head coach during Wednesday’s match. “Duals are fun. We place a lot of emphasis on individual results and our goals are to get down to Champaign and finish on the podium, but dual results are so fun. Although it’s an individual sport, we scrap as a team and it’s really cool to see these guys go to war with another school and see who’s the tougher team.”

The Hubs earned all five of their pins during the first period on Wednesday evening. Junior Roman Villalobos took the first bout of the evening, turning a takedown and a near fall into a pin against Kevin Salas at 190 pounds. Senior Kaiden Morris followed with an explosive showing at 215 pounds, snatching five takedowns and a pair of near falls during his 22-4 technical fall over Bo Branum. The score remained 12-0 Rochelle after both teams forfeited at 285 pounds.

Back-to-back quick pins had the Hubs in full control, as freshman AJ Milan needed just 53 seconds for his win over Joseph Berkholtz at 106 points and junior Freddie Hernandez used only 33 seconds to secure his win over Ashton West at 113 pounds. Senior Xavier Villalobos kept the Hubs rolling with a trio of takedowns and a pin against Gabriel Quintana at 126 pounds.

“Anytime we can have a season where we can have 20 or more wins, that’s a massive win for our program,” Baker said. “Not all of the guys every year will have the individual success they want, but having a successful team gives those guys another avenue to feel accomplished and see their hard work pay off… We had two guys win the Sycamore tournament and three guys and two girls win the Mahomet tournament. That speaks to how hard our seniors have worked.”

Harvard conceded forfeits to freshman Aidan Lopez at 120 pounds as well as juniors Keagan Albers and Deegan Schabacker at 132 pounds and 138 pounds. Sophomore Hadley Losoya and junior Frank Nasca took forfeits at 144 pounds and 150 pounds to give Rochelle a 59-0 lead in the match. Action resumed at 157 pounds, where sophomore Brandin Kirk stepped up from the JV level and locked down a first-period pin against Harvard’s Leeland Sanchez.

Senior Grant Gensler notched Rochelle’s final win of the evening, recording the team’s fastest pin of the evening at 24 seconds to beat Angel Ramirez at 165 pounds. The Hornets avoided the shutout in the last bout of the evening, with Christian Mercado scoring a first-period fall over Hub sophomore Chris O’Neill. With another 20-win season under their belt, the Hubs will head to Ottawa on Thursday seeking to secure their third consecutive Interstate 8 championship.

“It’s championship season and I love that we have our JV conference meet and the end of our varsity conference season coming up,” Baker said. “Any titles that we can scoop up over January and February are more than welcome… Seeing us continue to have success in the conference, even though it’s not the biggest conference… It’s super cool. We’ve been able to beat the teams that are put in front of us. That’s the most we can do and we’re doing it.”

Freeport

The Rochelle Hubs went down to the wire with the Freeport Pretzels during their nonconference dual match on Tuesday evening. Rochelle held a 40-36 advantage entering the final bout, but a penalty point against the Hubs for unsportsmanlike conduct proved costly.

Freeport’s Donavyn Fernandez overcame a 3-1 deficit against junior Brenden Voight at 157 pounds, snatching a second-period takedown and breaking free for a third-period escape to hold on for a 5-4 decision. The win brought the Pretzels within one point, but a penalty point for unsportsmanlike conduct resulted in a final score of 39-39. With Freeport recording five pins and Rochelle totaling three, the Pretzels won on tiebreaker criteria to hand the Hubs a 40-39 loss.

Both teams exchanged pins to start the match, with senior Grant Gensler notching a first-period fall over Maddux Olson at 165 pounds for the Hubs and Kyle Clem earning a first-period fall over senior Matthew Lynn at 175 pounds for the Pretzels. Junior Roman Villalobos put the Hubs back ahead 12-6, taking down and pinning Michael Tillmon for the victory at 190 pounds.

Freeport recorded a major upset at 215 pounds, where Israel Goodman strung together two takedowns before securing a second-period fall over Hub senior Kaiden Morris. The Pretzels held a 24-12 lead after Kareem Odeh took a forfeit at 285 pounds and Treyden Diduch totaled two takedowns and two near falls before locking down a pin against freshman Jonathan Hernandez at 106 pounds. Freshman AJ Milan received a forfeit for the Hubs at 113 pounds.

Junior Freddie Hernandez claimed a forfeit at 120 pounds, making the score 24-24 before freshman Aidan Lopez helped Rochelle retake the lead with a 14-0 major decision against Thomas Olson at 120 pounds. Lopez compiled three near falls and one takedown in the win. Senior Xavier Villalobos received a forfeit at 132 pounds to put Rochelle ahead 34-24.

Freeport won three of the final four bouts of the evening to complete its comeback. The Pretzels took the bouts at 138 pounds and 144 pounds, where Guillermo Ortiz earned a second-period fall over Hub freshman Damion Anders and Blake Slusser turned a near fall into a fall against junior Frank Nasca. Sophomore Josh Lassiter briefly gave Rochelle the lead back after recording two near falls and a first-period fall against Mathias Rada at 150 pounds.

Lassiter’s win set the stage for the final bout of the evening, where Voight scored a takedown in the first period before Fernandez answered with a takedown in the second period. Fernandez took a one-point lead with a third-period escape and held on to earn a 5-4 decision.