BYRON — The Rochelle Wrestling Club sent 15 athletes to the 2023 Xtreme Challenge at Byron High School on Dec. 3. Four Rochelle athletes brought home first-place finishes in the tournament, while four more secured second-place finishes and two others took third.

Wells Millard finished first in the Bantam 1101 Division with a 3-0 record. Millard scored a first-round fall over Dixon’s Jace Weidman before recording a 14-1 major decision over Ottawa’s Rowan Harsted. Millard won the title with a third-round fall against Princeton’s Judd Schlumpf. 

Elias Andronic finished first in the Bantam 1107 Division with a 3-0 record. Andronic notched a 10-2 major decision against Dixon’s Lyric Baker before stringing together back-to-backs to win the division title, defeating Machesney Park’s Camdyn Hataway and Byron’s Tegan Knotts.

Nehemiah Andronic finished first in the Bantam 1109 Division with a 3-0 record. Andronic scored a first-round fall over Fulton’s Mikey Sexton before edging Belvidere’s Jackson Moreno with a 6-5 decision. Andronic clinched the title with a fall over Princeton’s Jaxson Meusel.

Benjamin Morris finished first in the Novice 306 Division with a 3-0 record. Morris won the division title with three consecutive falls, stringing together three straight victories over Huntley’s Joseph Brannigan, Hampshire’s Michael Campbell and Dixon’s Levi Pretzsch. 

Raya Windham took second in the Bantam 902 Division with a 2-1 record, earning a 6-4 decision over Burlington’s Dominic Best and a 5-2 decision over Stockton’s Leo Randecker. Dominic Escatel took second in the Intermediate 707 Division with a 2-1 record, notching a first-round fall over Rockton’s Levi Stott and a second-round fall over Oregon’s Owen Martin.

Bentley Svela took second in the Novice 506 Division with a 2-1 record, securing a second-round fall over Rockford’s Charles Kerr and Oregon’s Richard Folk. Garrett Miller took second in the Novice 410 Division with a 2-1 record, earning a 9-6 decision over Belvidere’s Giovanni Schanna in the first round and a fall over Sandwich’s Alexia Cather in the third round.

Xander Gonzales finished third in the Bantam 905 Division with an 0-2 record. Andrew Eyster finished third in the Senior 109 Division with a 1-2 record, notching a first-round fall over Princeton’s Andrew Giaquinto. Among Rochelle’s fourth-place finishers were Jaxyn Manna (Tot 1306 Division), Brayden Gross (Intermediate 808), Mason Boyd (Intermediate 705), Maxwell Boyd (Intermediate 710) and Teddy Millard (Novice 611).