ROCHELLE — Freshman Xavier Villalobos was well on his way to earning a technical fall against Harvard’s Brian Hernandez during the Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling match Wednesday evening. But with Harvard leading Rochelle 34-23 and only one bout remaining in the match, Villalobos needed to deliver a pin to win the 113-pound bout and win the dual for his team.

Villalobos dominated the first and second periods, scoring three takedowns and two near-falls but coming just short of pinning Hernandez in each period. A third near-fall midway through the third period made the score 16-2 with a forfeit coming in the 120-pound bout, but with Harvard having the tiebreaker advantage, a technical fall would result in a Rochelle defeat.

With his teammates cheering from the bench, Villalobos successfully turned Hernandez over in the final moments of the third period, winning by fall and effectively sealing Rochelle’s 35-34 dual victory over the Hornets. The Hubs improved to 7-2 on the season with the victory.

“I went out there and told myself I had to win,” Villalobos said. “Then I had my coaches tell me with 15 seconds left in the second period that I couldn’t tech him and that I had to pin him for the win. At that moment, I told myself I had to go for it. I gave it my all and my coaches were really proud of me. These guys are like a family to me and it shows how much they trust me.”

Harvard cruised through the early matchups, with Marquez Merida, Salvador Esquivel and Daniel Rosas each scoring pins in the 126-pound, 132-pound and 138-pound bouts before Ivan Rosas outlasted Rochelle freshman Grant Gensler for a 12-3 major decision in the 145-pound bout. Senior Caleb Nadig snapped Harvard’s streak of 22 unanswered points, putting on a clinic with six first-period takedowns before pinning Kaden Vest to win the 152-pound bout.

Freshman Brandyn Metzger kept the Hubs going during the 160-pound bout, recording takedowns in each period for a 6-2 decision against Caden Scott. Freshman Jack Pavlak received a forfeit in the 170-pound bout, bringing Rochelle within seven points of tying the Hornets at 22-15. Sophomore Brock Metzger bumped up to the 182-pound bout, where Metzger battled against Gabe Sanchez before falling short in a 10-2 major decision.

With the Hubs trailing by 11 points, Rochelle sophomore Alexander McBride found himself locked in a tight contest against Edwin Quinones in the 195-pound bout. Despite trailing early in the match, McBride used his opponent’s aggressiveness to his advantage, countering missed shots with takedowns of his own to come back and send the match into overtime with the score 6-6. Another counter in overtime allowed McBride to win by 8-6 sudden victory.

“I knew we were down by a few points and I knew we had to win at least two more matches,” McBride said. “I wanted my opponent to shoot on me so I could roll and score my points, but he ankle-picked me a few times to get ahead… When I won the match, I knew that was one more match we needed for the team win. It’s amazing for my confidence and I’m so proud of how we competed tonight. I thought we did amazing and we all cheered for each other.”

Harvard’s Nathan Rosas took the 220-pound bout by 8-4 decision, with Hornet heavyweight William Harter pinning soon after to win the 285-pound bout. Trailing 34-17 after an unnecessary roughness penalty cost the Hubs one team point, Rochelle sophomore Tommy Tourdot stepped up in the 106-pound bout, using only 15 seconds to pin Jose Pichardo.

With Villalobos pinning Hernandez in the 113-pound bout, Rochelle freshman Joseph Nadig received a forfeit in the 120-pound bout for the final six points of the nonconference dual.