Boys Wrestling: Harvard finishes 4th at state tournament, brings home first trophy since 2000

BLOOMINGTON – Ivan Rosas never thought he’d be in Bloomington for the IHSA Boys Wrestling Dual Team State Tournament.

When the Harvard senior looked at the roster with his teammates and coaches at the beginning of the season, they hoped to have a good year, maybe get a couple wrestlers to the individual state tournament and be competitive at their regional.

But there Rosas and the Hornets were on the floor of Grossinger Motors Arena on Saturday night, celebrating with their fourth-place Class 1A trophy – the first trophy for the program since 2000 – after they lost to Unity, 46-28, in the third-place match.

“There’s no way we would’ve thought we’d place top-four in the state,” Rosas said. “But it feels really good, we worked hard in the room all season, put in the work and now we’re here.”

Harvard’s Ivan Rosas faces off against Unity’s Tavius Hosley in the Class 1A 145 pound dual team 3rd place match at Grossinger Motor Arena in Bloomington. Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, in Champaign. — Harvard’s Ivan Rosas faces off against Unity’s Tavius Hosley in the Class 1A 145-pound third-place match Saturday at Grossinger Motor Arena in Bloomington. (Gary Middendorf)

Harvard advanced to the third-place dual after it defeated Sandwich, 41-31, in the quarterfinals Friday and lost to Tremont, 41-28, in the semifinals Saturday morning.

The Hornets fell into a 10-0 hole against Unity when they lost by pin at 145 pounds and 8-0 decision at 152. Bailey Livdahl secured Harvard’s first win of the night at 160 when he defeated Logan Stedman with a 7-5 decision, but Unity won the next three matches to build a 28-4 lead that the Hornets could not overcome.

Brian Hernandez (106), Connor Flores (120) and Daniel Rosas (138) all won by falls and Nathan Rosas (220) and Marques Merida (126) won by 3-2 and 1-0 decisions, respectively.

Harvard’s Bailey Livdahl waits to resume the match against Unity’s Nat Nosier in the Class 1A 160 pound dual team 3rd place match at Grossinger Motor Arena in Bloomington. Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, in Champaign. — Harvard’s Bailey Livdahl waits to resume the match against Unity’s Nat Nosier in the Class 1A 160-pound third-place match Saturday at Grossinger Motor Arena in Bloomington. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

“I thought our guys came out and fought,” Harvard coach David Schultz said. “That’s what we talked about right before the dual, regardless of the outcome, go out there and compete, go out there and fight, and we’ll see what happens.”

Schultz was proud of the way his wrestlers not only battled this weekend, but for the past few seasons, especially his seniors. With COVID-19 pandemic cancellations and restrictions impacting the past two seasons of high school wrestling, the Hornets never let challenges get the best of them, Schultz said.

They entered the state tournament with an 18-3 record and a Kishwaukee Valley Conference title and leave it with a trophy.

Harvard will lose 11 seniors with plenty of starting experience and wins, but Schultz is excited to see what his underclassmen have learned from a historic year for the program.

“I think that’s pretty special for our program, too,” Schultz said. “We’re fortunate enough to have been here a couple times in the past and we’re fortunate enough to have won a couple of trophies. For us to come back and do it again, I think it shows we’re continuing to take our program in the proper direction.”