DeKALB – If Alan Izaguirre wanted to continue his season, not only would he need three straight wins Saturday at the Class 3A DeKalb Regional, but he’d have to get past second-seeded freshman phenom Cameron Engels, of Bartlett.

The DeKalb junior not only got his three wins for a berth in the Conant Sectional next week, but he pinned each opponent. He’ll join seven other Barbs who qualified, including regional champions Lamar Bradley and Jacob Luce.

“I started off not on the greatest foot, but I came back and did what I needed to do,” Izaguirre said. “Coming in I was just told ‘Work hard and you’ll make it.’ So I came in, did what I had to and took third place. So on to the next step.”

DeKalb finished second in the team standings behind defending state champions St. Charles East, 260-191. Glenbard North was third with 151.5.

Kaden Klapprodt (third at 113 pounds), Hudson Ikens (second at 138) Mekhi Cave (second at 144), Sean Kolkebeck (second at 175) and Jeremiah Pineira (third at 285) also qualified for the sectional.

Izaguirre’s day at 126 started with a loss to eventual regional champ Christian Chavez of Glenbard North, who pinned him in the second period. He followed with first-period pins of St. Charles North’s Keelen Kassenbrock and Geneva’s Ben Deasy.

In the third-place match, he faced Engels in a match that would advance the winner to sectionals and send the loser home. Again, Izaguirre needed less than two minutes for the pin.

Izaguirre said it was tough after losing his opener.

“I kind of doubted myself a little bit,” Izaguirre said. “But I came in and was ready to give it my all.”

Izaguirre missed a chunk of the season, suffering a concussion during DeKalb’s holiday tournament and not returning until Jan, 25, coach Sam Hiatt said.

“It’s good to see,” Hiatt said. “He’s worked real hard this season. So it’s good to see him get rewarded.”

Bradley recorded two pins to earn his regional title, but had his lead trimmed to 7-4 in the third period before recording a pin with less than a minute to go.

Bradley said he’s been trying to wrestle gritty and is looking to do even more of that next week at Conant.

“I shouldn’t have let him get those two takedowns,” Bradley said. “I should have made the lead bigger. I talk to my coaches all the time about extending the lead, not bringing it closer. I wish I didn’t give up two takedowns, but those are little things I can fix in practice.”

Luce won his first two matches by pins and was in a battle with St. Charles North’s Anthony Gutierrez in the title match. Luce’s only scoring in the second period was a penalty assessed to Guttierez, breaking a 2-2 tie.

But Luce got an escape to start the third and a takedown with 50 seconds left to secure his win.

“He did a good job of keeping his composure,” Hiatt said. “Kid started headbutting him and doing cheap shots but the kid’s tough. He did a good job there. He got that takedown at the end to separate himself a little bit.”

Hiatt said he thought it was a good day, but difficult at times with five Barbs losing third-place matches, missing out on a sectional trip. Eduardo Castro (120), Ayden Shuey (132), Mike Hodge (150), Cam Matthews (157) and Elvis Mora (190) all took fourth, a final win away from advancing.

“We’ve had a good season and we kept building on it,” Hiatt said. “Obviously, it’s tough to see people’s seasons end. I think we dropped [five] third-place matches. Those are heartbreaking. But overall we competed hard today.”