RICHMOND – Marian Central made a statement to the rest of the state on Saturday.

The Hurricanes wanted the Class 1A Richmond-Burton Regional to be their coming out party and did just that, winning seven individual regional titles on their way to the team title.

“This was the plan,” Marian’s Max Astacio said. “Everything is going according to plan. We’re coming in and we’re going to steamroll the regional.”

Marian finished first with 218 points and advanced to the Class 1A Oregon Dual Team Sectional on Feb. 21. Richmond-Burton finished second (148), Marengo (129) placed third, Harvard (112) took fourth, Johnsburg (53) was seventh and Alden-Hebron (20) was eighth.

Austin Hagevold started the championship run with a 9-0 win at 106 pounds, followed by an Andrew Alvarado win by fall at 113 before the Hurricanes flexed their middle portion of their lineup by winning five straight titles from 132 to 160. Vance Williams (132) won with a 10-2 decision, Nick Davidson (138) won by fall, Charlie Fitzgerald (145) took an 11-6 decision, and Ethan Struck (152) and Astacio (160) each won by technical fall.

Josh Gawronski (120), Kaden Harman (126) and Kaleb Eckman (285) all finished second, and Connor Cassels (170) was third to advance to the Class 1A Oregon Individual Regional on Feb. 11.

The Hurricanes enjoyed making a statement in a competitive environment and considered Saturday a good first step to what they want to accomplish this postseason.

“Right now the focus is there’s more work that needs to be done,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s already over with and we’re ready to get to work at practice.”

The most-anticipated match of the day at 126. The Rockets’ Emmett Nelson, ranked third by Illinois Matmen in the state 126, and Harman, ranked fifth, met in the title match that didn’t disappoint.

Nelson ran out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and a 4-2 lead in the second period before running out to an 8-2 win. Nelson is now 3-0 against Harman after beating him in both the regional and sectional finals during last year’s postseason.

The Rockets’ Brody Rudkin (145) and Alex Reyna (182) each finished second, and Kyan Gunderson (106), Kristian Gersch (120), Nate Madula (138), Isaac Jones (152), Dominick Dickens (160) and Colin Kraus (220) each took third to advance to the individual sectional.

Nelson has a lot more left to worry about despite winning a regional title as the state runner-up last season at 113. He’s focused on seeing improvement in his matches and already saw that Saturday after beating Harman 3-1 twice last year.

“I wanted to get the score up a little higher, score more points,” Nelson said. “I was able to do that.”

Marengo’s Connor Sacco (170) and Eddie Solis (195) gave the Indians two regional wins, while Logan Miller (138), Gregory Baker (160) and Hunter Smith (220) each finished second. Mason Lampe (145) and Devin Stroti (182) both placed third.

Sacco continued his impressive freshman season by winning by fall in the second period. He wanted to win a regional as a freshman heading into the season. Now he’s ready to see how far his postseason run can go.

“It’s been a goal that I’ve had for a while,” Sacco said. “My freshman year, I’m trying to do something big.”

[ Photos: IHSA 1A Richmond-Burton Wrestling Regional ]

Both of Harvard’s regional titles took until double overtime to capture. Gabe Sanchez survived to win 4-1 at 182 before Riley Vest held on to win the 220 title.

Owen Vail (106) and Marques Merida (132) each finished second for the Hornets while Reymundo Romo (113) finished third.

Sanchez had lost to Reyna twice before because Reyna’s good at the down position, but he regrouped after giving up a 1-0 lead to score in the second double overtime position to pick up the win.

“All the work I did this week, it turned out,” Sanchez said. “I did really well.”

Johnsburg’s Jacob Calhoun (126), Landon Johnson (132) and CJ Ameachi (195) each took third to advance to sectionals.

Johnson failed to advance to sectionals after falling in last season’s regional third-place match but he used his experience from last season to help win 1-0 in overtime.

“It feels really good to win that match,” Johnson said. “We just go forward from here.”

All of Alden-Hebron Jesse Armburst’s hard work paid off on Saturday. After not competing last season because of a shoulder injury, Armburst reached the highlight of his career by winning his third-place at 285 by fall.

“It really means a lot to push through the shoulder issues and make it on to sectionals,” Armburst said.

Class 1A Richmond-Burton Regional Placers (Top-3 advance to sectional tournament)

106

First: Austin Hagevold, Marian Central

Second: Owen Vail, Harvard

Third: Kyan Gunderson, Richmond-Burton

113

First: Andrew Alvardado, Marian Central

Second: Shayden McNew, Genoa-Kingston

Third: Reymundo Romo, Harvard

120

First:Gavin Ekberg, North Boone

Second: Josh Gawronski, Marian Central

Third: Kristian Gersch, Richmond-Burton

126

First: Emmett Nelson, Richmond-Burton

Second: Kaden Harman, Marian Central

Third: Jacob Calhoun, Johnsburg

132

First: Vance Williams, Marian Central

Second: Marques Merida, Harvard

Third: Landon Johnson, Johnsburg

138

First: Nick Davidson, Marian Central

Second: Logan Miller, Marengo

Third: Nate Madula, Richmond-Burton

145

First: Charlie Fitzgerald, Marian Central

Second: Brody Rudkin, Richmond-Burton

Third: Mason Lampe, Marengo

152

First: Ethan Struck, Marian Central

Second: Brady Brewick, Genoa-Kingston

Third: Isaac Jones, Richmond-Burton

160

First: Max Astacio, Marian Central

Second: Gregory Baker, Marengo

Third: Dominick Dickens, Richmond-Burton

170

First: Connor Sacco, Marengo

Second: Xander Gleissner, Genoa-Kingston

Third: Connor Cassels, Marian Central

182

First: Gabe Sanchez, Harvard

Second: Alex Reyna, Richmond-Burton

Third: Devin Storti, Marengo

195

First: Eddie Solis, Marengo

Second: Julian Torres, Genoa-Kingston

Third: CJ Ameachi, Johnsburg

220

First: Riley Vest, Harvard

Second: Hunter Smith, Marengo

Third: Colin Kraus, Richmond-Burton

285

First: Ethan Delgado, North Boone

Second: Kaleb Eckman, Marian Central

Third: Jesse Armburst, Alden-Hebron