OTTAWA — Thursday evening’s varsity wrestling match between the Rochelle Hubs and the Ottawa Pirates came down to one final bout at 132 pounds, with senior Justin Hernandez representing Rochelle and 2016-17 state qualifier Ethan Harsted suiting up for Ottawa.

The Hubs jumped over Ottawa early in the match, taking a 36-6 lead before the Pirates rallied off 30 unanswered points behind six consecutive victories to tie the match 36-36. Harsted then defeated Hernandez by 7-1 decision, and Ottawa walked away from the Kingman Gym victorious by a final score of 39-36.

The loss snaps Rochelle’s six-match winning streak and bumps the team’s record down to 7-5 overall. The Hubs will host Geneseo for more Northern Illinois Big 12 West action this coming Thursday.

“We talk to the kids a lot about how every point counts,” head coach Rich Harvey said. “I thought our kids wrestled well tonight, even though we had a few matches that didn’t go our way. We have to find a way to get through in order to have ourselves in a better position at the end of the match, but I thought our kids wrested hard.”

Ottawa began the match with a victory at 138 pounds. Bradley Ruger pinned Rochelle sophomore Diego Escobar after building a sizable lead early in the bout. But the Hubs responded with a six-bout win streak ignited by junior Jacob Fore, who won by fall at 145 pounds over Ottawa’s Hunter Duffy.

“Jake’s won five matches in a row now and he’s gotten to where he’s wrestling with fundamental techniques and he knows what he’s working for,” Harvey said. “He’s pinned everybody with cradles and his body awareness on the mat has really improved. He’ll continue to be a part of our lineup if he keeps doing that.”

Junior Eddie Villalobos had no problems in his 152-pound match with Ottawa grappler Andrew Dauter, winning by fall before senior Ehren Metzger followed suit with a fall victory over Ottawa’s Nick Stehl at 160 pounds. Freshman Ben Harvey took over after Metzger’s bout, and the 170-pounder easily defeated Pirate wrestler Patrick Walsh by fall to remain undefeated since making his season debut against Marengo and Sterling this past week.

“Ben’s solid defensively and offensively he’s improving,” Harvey said. “We need to get him in shape and I think he’ll be successful. He’ll take some lumps this season but he’s going to be a big part of the team and it’s good to have him back.”

Senior Austin Tracey received a forfeit at 182 pounds, which preceded senior Alex Harvey’s dominant display against Ottawa’s Tre Fritz at 195 pounds. Harvey scored five times on Fritz in the first period before pinning him to stretch Rochelle’s lead over the Pirates to 30 points. Like his younger brother Ben, Alex also remained unbeaten with his win on Thursday.

“It’s about his work ethic and I think that carries over to a lot of our kids,” Harvey said. “They work hard in the mat room. Even though Justin [Hernandez] lost a tough match tonight against a tough kid, he has a great work ethic, and when the kids work hard, things pay off for them.”

Ottawa’s comeback began with Brence Smith’s 7-5 overtime decision over Rochelle’s Bazil Bennett at 220 pounds. Cameron Vernoy then pinned Hub junior Nick Henson at 285 pounds, and Rochelle forfeited at both 106 and 113 before freshman Grant Thompson fell by 9-5 decision to Ottawa’s Riley Hanson. The Hubs also forfeited at 126 pounds before Harsted’s win over Hernandez sealed the Ottawa victory.