Boys wrestling: Sycamore advances 8 wrestlers from Class 2A Rochelle Regional

ROCHELLE – Sycamore 120-pounder Tyler Lockhart was one of three Spartan wrestlers to take home individual championships during the IHSA Class 2A Rochelle Regional on Saturday.

Lockhart (30-8) won both of his matches in the tournament, securing a second-period fall over Harvard’s Owen Vail to clinch a spot in the championship match against Rockford East’s Joseph Young (33-7). In a close battle that saw Lockhart hold a 2-1 advantage entering the third period, a key throw late in the period allowed the Spartan sophomore to score a three-point near fall and seal a 5-1 decision. The win locked up Sycamore’s second regional title of the afternoon.

“I wrestled him a couple of weeks ago and I knew that throw was going to come, so I was staying down and getting to my shots,” said Lockhart, who defeated Young 5-2 at the XLVIII Sycamore Invitational in January. “I worked on my feet and on the bottom today, and I was getting points. I’m hoping to go to state because I was one match away last season.”

Another Sycamore sophomore Michael Olson wrapped up the team’s first regional title of the tournament, outlasting Harvard’s Reymundo Romo (21-4) for a 7-4 decision in the final round. The 113-pounder Olson (23-13) reached the finals after beginning the tournament with a first-round bye and scoring a 10-2 major decision over Rochelle’s Keagan Albers in the semis.

“I was trying to be smart and laying back during the first period to see what my opponents were doing,” Olson said. “I snapped after that and I went all out. There are a lot of good kids from all over who will be at the sectional and I’m looking forward to facing good competition.”

Sycamore freshman Jayden Dohogne (27-13) was the third and final regional champion of the day for the Spartans, who took third out of eight schools in the team standings with 146 points. Dohogne won three consecutive bouts to earn the 138-pound division crown, notching back-to-back falls over Harvard’s Wyatt Stott and Polo’s Chase Bremmer (27-5) to advance to the final round, where he controlled Woodstock’s Daniel Bychowski (31-14) for a 7-1 decision.

“It means a lot because I’ve put a lot of work in this season and I’m peaking at the right time,” Dohogne said. “I’ve gotten a lot better on top and I’m starting to turn more kids. I’ve also gotten a lot faster in the neutral position. I got a lot of takedowns and I was escaping from the bottom.”

The Spartans advanced eight individuals to the IHSA 2A Sycamore Sectional, which will be held from Feb. 9-10 at Sycamore High School. The Spartans finished with two second-place medalists including 106-pounder Charlie Olson (16-14) and 215-pounder Gable Carrick (28-9). Sycamore also landed with three third-place medalists including 126-pounder Thomas Lind (13-20), 132-pounder Noah Carlson (12-21) and 165-pounder Adam Carrick (16-22).

Woodstock finished fourth with 139 points and qualified seven individuals including regional champion Zach Canaday (40-3), who won the 190-pound division crown. Canaday went 3-0 in the tournament and outlasted Rochelle’s Brock Metzger (30-4), who defeated Canaday at the Rockford East Giardini Invitational earlier this season, for a 5-3 decision in the final round.

“He beat me by a point earlier in the year and I wanted to get my revenge,” Canaday said. “I stayed focused and stayed on task. I kept my matches tight and I wrestled all the way through. I made sure I had better conditioning for my opponents. I made the 40-win club with that match today and I’m looking forward to trying to punch my ticket to state and hopefully placing.”

The Blue Streaks also advanced two runner-up finishes including 126-pounder Taqi Baker (31-14) and 138-pounder Daniel Bychowski (31-14) as well as four third-place finishers including 106-pounder Dominic Osinski (11-20), 157-pounder Logan Wisner (20-22), 215-pounder Andrew Ryan (31-12) and 285-pounder Everett Flannery (25-16).

Harvard took fifth with 88 points and crowned two regional champions on Saturday. The first was 150-pounder Daniel Rosas (34-1), who breezed through his bracket with three victories including two falls and an 11-1 major decision against Freeport’s Donavyn Fernandez in the finals. Rosas accumulated four takedowns and a near fall in his dominant finals victory.

“I stuck to my game plan and my coaches knew that if I worked my solid stuff, then I would come out successful in this tournament,” Rosas said. “I’m looking to at least place at the sectional and make it to the state finals. I just have to take things one match at a time. People don’t really know about us out in Harvard, but we’re the underdogs out there.”

Harvard freshman Blake Livdahl (19-3) held on for a thrilling tiebreaker victory against Woodstock North’s Kaden Combs (32-2) to take home the 175-pound division championship on Saturday. Two late takedowns, including one in the first tiebreaker period, allowed Livdahl to erase an early deficit and knock off Combs, who was the No. 1 seed in the 175-pound bracket.

“I’ve put in a lot of extra work including sprints and practice on Sundays,” Livdahl said. “I’m excited to wrestle more good competitors. I wrestled two good opponents today and [Kaden] Combs is really tough. I’ve become a lot more fluid on my feet and that’s allowed me to take down good opponents like I did today. I had two takedowns in that match and I proved myself.”

The Hornets qualified four individuals for the sectional tournament including two runner-up medalists in 113-pounder Reymundo Romo (21-4) and 285-pounder Riley Vest (24-8). Rounding out the eight-team field were Polo and Woodstock North, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the regional tournament on Saturday. The Marcos advanced two individuals including 138-pounder Chase Bremmer (27-5) and 150-pounder Draven Zier (26-16).

Woodstock North qualified two individuals for the sectional tournament. The Thunder saw 175-pounder Kaden Combs (32-2) take second and 190-pounder David Randecker (20-11) place third in the regional competition.