The Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team sent four individuals to the IHSA State Championships in Champaign earlier this month.
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BLOOMINGTON — The Rochelle Hub varsity wrestling team sent four individuals to the IHSA State Championships in Champaign earlier this month. Over the weekend, Rochelle traveled to the Grossinger Motors Arena and wrestled in the IHSA Team State Championships for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when the Hubs reached the semifinals and finished in fourth.
Rochelle battled Lombard Montini in the Elite Eight round on Friday evening, falling 56-22 to conclude a tremendous 2023-24 season. The Hubs (24-7, 5-0 Interstate 8) wrestled their way into the team state meet after defeating Yorkville Christian 39-30 at RTHS this past Tuesday. Four Rochelle wrestlers earned bout victories during Friday’s match against Lombard Montini.
“The only word I could use to describe this season is successful,” head coach Alphonso Vruno said. “We repeated as conference champions, we beat a really good Rockford East team to win the regional and we beat a private school in Yorkville Christian to advance to the team state meet. We will have a strong senior presence in the room next year and we are looking for this sophomore class to learn from those seniors so they can eventually take over as leaders.”
Junior Kaiden Morris won the opening bout of the match against the Broncos, taking down Gavin Ericson and earning a first-period fall in the 215-pound bout to give the Hubs a 6-0 lead. Sophomore Brenden Voight was the second winner of the match for the Rochelle matmen, scoring a 10-2 major decision against Montini’s Lewis Wais-Montoya in the 144-pound bout.
Rochelle closed out the match with back-to-back wins. Sophomore Roman Villalobos received a forfeit in the 175-pound bout and senior Brock Metzger finished the match with a first-period fall over Lucas Yates in the 190-pound bout. Metzger concluded his career with 110 victories and is one of three senior starters who will be departing from the varsity lineup after this season.
