ROCHELLE – With eight other wrestlers eliminated from qualifying for state, Sterling’s hope for a qualifier Saturday at the Class 2A Rochelle Regional fell to senior Tommy Tate, who qualified last year for the season finale.
Tate was leading against Washington’s Zane Hulet in his consolation semifinal match, in which a win would guarantee a top-four finish and a trip to state, but a loss would end the season.
But before he could finish out the match, he hurt his ankle and had to forfeit, ending his season and the Warriors’ season as well.
“With Tate going down with the ankle injury, that was the last bullet in the gun. The gun is empty now,” Sterling coach Kevin Heller said of his 160-pounder. “To me it’s horrific. A returning state qualifier goes out with an injury his senior year. That’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Tate was one of two Warriors to reach the blood round. Dylan Ottens (138) picked up two wins after a quarterfinal loss, but bowed out to Washington’s Eli Gonzalez on a tech fall.
Heller said he knew the competition at Rochelle would be tough, but each Sterling wrestler picked up at least one win.
“It’s rough. These are tough sectionals,” Heller said. “And we knew that there were seeded guys everywhere. We wrestled our tails off and we were competitive, but we just couldn’t get to the finish line on this one.”
Overall, Heller said he was pleased with the way his mostly young team competed throughout the year.
“We grew and grew and grew,” Heller said. “We became the team I thought we could be. At the start of the year, we were not that team. I’m proud of all these guys. And a lot of these guys are sophomores. So I love the progress this year, and am really excited for future years.”