R-B quartet, Harvard team claim crowns

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HARVARD – Jack Dechow can feel that he’s not where he wants to be yet, but to the casual observer, Richmond-Burton’s 182-pound wrestler has picked up right where he left off last season.

In his first tournament of the season after leading the Rockets’ football team to a state championship game, Dechow was named the upper weight outstanding wrestler of the 45th Sciacca-Holtfreter Wrestling Tournament on Saturday. Dechow recorded a pin in 5:17 in his first match, a technical fall in 5:12 in the semifinals, and a 18-6 major decision in the finals to take the 182-pound title.

“My conditioning is not there yet,” Dechow said. “I’m not totally happy with my performance. I don’t feel dominant, just good. I kind of waited until the end [to score] and that’s not me. That’s not my style.”

Despite having four champions, the Rockets couldn’t compete with Harvard’s depth, as the Hornets won the tournament with 186 points to Richmond-Burton’s 176.

The Hornets had 11 place winners out of 14 weight classes, but no champions.

“It’s the first time in a long time we haven’t had any champs, so our depth really paid off,” Harvard coach Tim Haak said. “We had some adverse things happen to us, but I’m glad our guys battled back.”

Chance Shelton (120 pounds), Nathan Cowan (182), and Cody Melson (220) took second for the Hornets, with Joey Skroko (138), Tyler Kramer (152) and Dan Stott (170) all fighting through the wrestleback rounds to take third.

“After a loss, you know you have to wrestle hard,” Skroko said. “You get in [the wrestlebacks] and try to place.”

Haak and Richmond-Burton coach Bret Wojcik said their lineups aren’t 100 percent set yet, but are happy with the progress they’re making.

“I don’t think we’re that yet, where we need to be, but we took a step forward today,” Haak said.

Haak said that the cross-mix of teams, such as Naperville North and Elkhorn (Wis.), give the tournament a good mix of wrestling styles.

Grant Sutton (106), Cameron Kennedy (120), and Garrett Sutton (138) joined Dechow as R-B’s champs. Coming into the final round, the Rockets were down 24 points to Harvard, but R-B won all of its championship matches and picked up a third place from Jake Pauly (285).

“We only came with 10 kids, and to have eight of them place, I was really proud with how my kids wrestled,” Wojcik said. “Especially with our football players going so deep in the playoffs, this is only the second week they’ve been in live competition. They’ve made great strides since last week.”

Dundee-Crown took ninth with 78 points with Dillon Muscat (138) taking second and Ray Griggel (220) placing third.

Josh Symbal (182) led Huntley, taking third place with a 6-4 overtime decision, as the Red Raiders took 10th with 76 points.

Woodstock had two third-place finishers in Jordan Powers (113) and Joe Hunt (132), as the Blue Streaks took 11th with 76 points.

Johnsburg also had  to third-place finishers in Josh Jewell (145) and Christian Nugent (195), as the Skyhawks took 13th with 56 points.