OAK FOREST — Three Rochelle wrestlers stood atop their respective divisions during the 2024 Illinois Greco-Roman State Championships at Oak Forest High School on Saturday afternoon.

Kaiden Morris went undefeated to win the Junior 215 Division crown with a 5-0 record. Morris, who was the IHSA 2A state runner-up at 220 during the winter, opened the tournament with a clean 10-0 technical fall over Edwardsville’s Dominic Dykstra. After a second-round bye, Morris strung together three straight wins via technical fall, defeating BTS-Chicago/Oak Park’s Eric Harris 8-0, Patton Trained’s Chason Daly 9-0 and Illinois wrestler Xavier Mohead 9-0.

“It felt good to get out there and throw some guys around,” Morris said. “I expected to win and I’m glad I was able to get it done. I knew what to do in certain situations and that came from training and practicing with my coaches. The mental side of wrestling is where I’ve improved the most from last year because I feel like I go into each match and I wrestle with more confidence.”

Morris took down Izzy Style’s Asher Sheldon via fall to win the division championship. The state championship qualifies Morris for the 2024 USA Wrestling Freestyle & Greco-Roman Nationals, which will be held in Fargo, North Dakota from July 12-20, 2024. It’s also the second state title in greco-roman wrestling for Morris, who finished second last year and first two years ago.

“During my sophomore year, I didn’t feel like I could compete against guys who I thought were bigger and better than me,” Morris said. “This year, I have the mind set that I’m just as big and just as good as these guys, so I wrestle like it. It does a lot for my confidence and the end goal for me is Fargo, so to be the best greco wrestler in the state is a confidence builder for Fargo.”

Roman Villalobos also earned a state championship, finishing 4-0 over four bouts in the 16U 190 Division to also qualify for the national tournament in Fargo. Villalobos scored an 11-2 win over El Paso Gridley’s Benjamin Buis before notching an 8-0 victory over Thunderbird Wrestling’s Colton Zvonar. After holding off Harvey Twisters wrestler Adrian Esparza for a 9-6 decision, Villalobos sealed the state title with an 8-0 technical fall over Frankfort’s Logan Biggs.

“There’s better competition at the older age groups, so winning was a more fun experience,” said Villalobos, who won a greco-roman state title at the 14U level as an eighth-grader. “I’ve been training hard in practice and getting more repetitions with the moves I’ve been working on. I think I’ve improved on the mental side of wrestling and knowing that I can put all of my moves together is a big confidence booster. I want to compete at the highest level I can.”

Rounding out the trio of champions from Rochelle was 6-year-old Elias Andronic, who won the 8U 56 Division with an 8-0 technical fall over Barrington Broncos Wrestling Club’s Emmett Gellings. Knox Ferry took second in the 10U 56 Division after one bout, while Nehemiah Andronic also took second in the 10U 71 Division with a 2-1 record, scoring 8-0 technical falls over Hurricanes wrestler Zach Caputo and Callan Wrestling Academy’s Keegan Cumbee.

“It feels good to win my first greco-roman state title and also my first state title in any style,” Andronic said. “I feel happy and proud of myself. I like that wrestling pushes me to work hard at everything and I have a lot of fun doing it too. I always try to sit in the front while my coaches are showing the moves to get a better view so that I can use the moves the right way.”

Among the third-place finishes from the Rochelle area were Ava Barber (8U 70 Division), Rowen Villalobos (10U 84 Division), Teddy Millard (12U 74 Division) and Jacksyn Windham (14U 187 Division). Fourth-place finishes included Jackson Moreno (10U 71 Division), Conrad Barber (10U 77 Division) and Brenden Voight (16U 157 Division).