High school wrestling: Harvard wins team title, 4 locals take individual honors at Harvard's Sciacca-Holtfreter Tournament

HARVARD – There was some confusion among members of the Harvard wrestling team as to whether they needed points from their final wrestler of the day to win the team title in their own tournament.

Then Hornets heavyweight Brandon Most got a pin 39 seconds into his third-place match and settled any doubts. The black and gold-clad contingent went wild. The Hornets were champions of their own tournament for the first time since 2011.

Harvard won the 49th annual Sciacca/Holtfreter Tournament with 171.5 points, besting Grayslake North (154) and Burlington Central (143) on Saturday at Harvard.

"First year here, it's pretty cool to get the win here," Harvard coach J.D. Oliva said.

It turned out they didn't need Most's points, but his teammates gave him the trophy first as they stood on the podium for pictures.

"The fact that he was able to do what he did kind of brought the kids to their feet," Oliva said. "It's fun for us to just watch the kids do stuff right and to have success doing the stuff we teach and doing the stuff we're preaching. So it's always good to see that."

The Hornets won despite not having an individual champion. They were the only one of the top 11 teams without an individual winner. Regardless, Harvard sent three wrestlers (Sergio Esquivel, Saul Esquivel and Sergio Jimenez) to championship finals, had four third-place finishers, a fourth place and a sixth.

"The kids stepped up, man. They wrestled great," Oliva said.

Four local wrestlers took home individual titles from the two-day, 16-team tournament. Richmond-Burton's Gavin Sutton won by pin at 138, Woodstock's Nicholas Sundberg won by decision at 182, Woodstock North's Chris Flores won by decision at 220 and Johnsburg's Blake Boyle won by decision at 285.

Sundberg was named Most Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament's upper weight classes.

After winning a 6-0 decision over Elmwood Park's Olsi Rama in the final, Sundberg said the championship performance was a good benchmark for him a few weeks into the season.

"This is where I should be starting to get up," Sundberg said. "I started slow, but now I'm picking up speed, and I can't wait for state."

While Harvard was paying attention to the heavyweight third-place match, two other local big men were going at it in the last championship final of the day. Johnsburg's Boyle went back and forth with Woodstock's Devante Martyne, but Boyle took the final six points for an 8-3 decision.

"It really helps because you get to see people you're going to see in regionals, sectionals, state," Boyle said. "So it's good to get the experience in."

Sutton was the first local champion of the day and the only one to win by pin. Less than a minute into the second round, already leading 8-0, he pinned Round Lake's Sergei Wawrzyniak to take the 138-pound title.

At 220, Flores was tied 2-2 with Belvidere's Deon Roby late in the third period before he got an escape point with 21 seconds left and hung on for a 3-2 victory.

"He wrestled all three periods, and that's what we tell our guys to do, make sure you continue to wrestle," Thunder coach Tim Creighton said. "He did well on his feet, controlled the guy from top, so he was able to get a championship."

Woodstock North finished sixth with 111.5 points as Jake Fiorito (160) and Randy Kline (170) both finished second. Johnsburg was ninth with 93 points, Woodstock finished 10th with 84 points, R-B was 13th with 52.5 points.

UNSUNG HERO

Saul Esquivel

Harvard, jr. 126 lbs.

The junior has bounced in and out of the lineup this season, coach J.D. Oliva said, but he reached the 126-pound championship final Saturday before losing.

THE NUMBER

4: Individual champions from four local schools: Richmond-Burton's Gavin Sutton (138), Woodstock's Nicholas Sundberg (182), Woodstock North's Chris Flores (220) and Johnsburg's Blake Boyle (285).

AND ANOTHER THING ...

Woodstock senior Nicholas Sundberg said improvement in his shooting was key to his performance. "My shots were rough to start and I got it down, a lot of practice, did a few things over the weekend and I tuned it up, and it was working really well today," Sundberg said.

AGATE

Team results: 1. Harvard (171.5) 2. Grayslake North (154) 3. Burlington Central (143) 4. Belvidere (129) 5. Elmwood Park (114) 6. Woodstock North (111.5) 7. Grayslake Central (109) 8. Lake Forest (108) 9. Johnsburg (93) 10. Woodstock (84) 11. Round Lake (71.5) 12. Bremen (59) 13. Richmond-Burton (52.5) 14. Belvidere North (45.5) 15. East Aurora (34) 16. Genoa Kingston (24)

Championship finals

106: Arteaga (RL) pin Laria (BC), 0:39

113: Padilla (EP) dec. Arroyo (GLN), 7-4

120: Macias (BC) maj. dec. Sergio Esquival (H), 13-4

126: Termini (BC) dec. Saul Esquivel (H), 13-7

132: Griffin (LF) maj. dec. Tarnowski (GLC), 15-4

138: Sutton (RB) pin Wawrzyniak (RL), 2:51

145: Augustine (GLC) dec. Jimenez (H), 11-4

152: Wright (GLN) pin Tapia (BEL), 5:56

160: Moran (GLN) dec. Fiorito (WN), 6-5

170: Frauenheim (LF) dec. Kline (WN), 9-4

182: Sundberg (W) dec. Rama (EP), 6-0

195: Brewer (BEL) maj. dec. Chakchay (EP), 8-0

220: Flores (WN) dec. Roby (BEL), 3-2

285: Boyle (JB) dec. Martyne (W), 8-3

Third-place matches

106: Kaminscky (RB) tech. fall Rodriguez (BN), 18-1

113: Fiegel (H) tech. fall Panzke (BEL), 15-0

120: Barfield (RL) dec. Connelly (GLC), 6-2

126: Ochoa (BRE) dec. Myerson (BN), 6-0

132: Wilcox (H) pin Myerson (BN), 3:14

138: Durbin (LF) dec. Pogue (GLC), 3-1

145: Mengel (BC) dec. Flores (BEL), 6-5

152: Young (EA) pin Kruse (W), 3:07

160: Titock (BC) pin Niemesz (H), 5:15

170: Krasinski (H) pin McMackin (GK), 1:00

182: Moore (JB) maj. dec. McCauley (GLN), 10-0

195: Barth (LF) dec. Halilaj (W), 3-2

220: Caruso (EP) pin Bock (GLN), 3:01

285: Most (H) pin Rivera (EP), 0:39

Fifth-place matches

106: Tarnowski (GLC) default Gonzalez (GLN), 1:30

113: Walkington (WN) default Dailey (LF)

120: Pavlak (BEL) dec. Lopez (EP), 9-5

126: Montez (BEL) dec. Mikes (GLC), 7-3

132: Sellers (BRE) dec. Blonski (GLN), 5-1

138: Mazzantii (WN) maj. dec. Carrera (GLN), 11-3

145: Johnson (GLN) dec. Mercado (JB), 4-1

152: Rushing (BC) dec. Butler (JB), 3-2

160: Calhoun (JB) dec. Kalebic (LF), 6-0

170: Buchanan (JB) by fft. Hansen (BC)

182: Kline (WN) dec. Ruiz (EA), 6-0

195: Flores (GLN) by fft. Hall (H)

220: Juveland (JB) pin Mousser (GK), 2:17

285: Gray (BRE) by fft. Llanos (EA)