DeKalb junior Hussul Greer turned a seventh seed into a sectional berth on Saturday, knocking off No. 2 seed John Janicki twice in the 175-pound bracket of the Class 3A DeKalb Regional.

That included a pin in the third-place match after beating his foe from Hampshire in the opening round.

“Honestly, I feel proud of myself,” Greer said. “I feel like all the practices, all the moves I’ve been taught from my coaches have paid off. I’m very excited about this moment.”

Only the top three finishers advance to the sectional, so a loss to Janicki would have eliminated Greer. He had already beaten his foe from Hampshire in the opening round on a 12-4 decision.

He led 10-0 after two periods in the first match. He was down 3-0 in the second match but scored the next seven points. He got the pin with 1:25 left in the second.

“That’s awesome for him. He gives it his all every match,” DeKalb coach Sam Hiatt said. “He’s been on the wrong side of so many one-point matches. A lot of tough losses the whole year. But he gives it his all every practice, every match, do anything for the team. You could see by the reaction of the team afterwards, they were so excited for him. It was so great to see.”

Julian Hartwig (106) and Ayden Shuey (132) won championships for the Barbs, who finished fourth as a team with 140.5 points. Hononegah won the team title with 223 points.

Greer was part of a 5-for-5 showing for DeKalb in third-place matches. That included a 3-0 win for Matthew Frykman at 113 and a 6-4 win for Tyler Daub at 126.

“Daub fought off an armbar for the last minute and won by two and Frykman rode him out for the third period,” Hiatt said. “Those were gritty wins there to make it.”

Hayes Halstead (13-3 win at 138) and Midaris Chappelle (17-1 tech fall at 144) also took third with much easier wins for the Barbs. Cam Matthews (150) and Malik Warren (157) took second for the Barbs.

Shuey missed a chunk of the season in January, and Hiatt said he liked what he saw from him Saturday.

“Shuey was out for about a month with an injury and he looked good out there,” Hiatt said. “Our seniors all looked good out there, Malik, Cam and Shuey.”

Hartwig joined Shuey as the two DeKalb champs. Like Shuey, he missed a little bit of time with an injury this year. He had been splitting time with Frykman at 106 and 113.

Hartwig said he’s glad he’s at the lower class for the postseason.

“I’d rather wrestle 106,” the sophomore said. “I feel like that’s my spot. That’s where I dominate. But if I need to, I’ll wrestle 113. I’ll do whatever’s best for the team.”

Last year, Hartwig took fourth at the regional and missed out on the sectional tournament.

“It really shows how much my work has paid off in the past year,” Hartwig said.

Greer entered the tournament 8-14 and had lost his three matches at the DuPage Valley Conference tournament. His last varsity match before that was in December at The Flavin, in which he went 2-4 in the Barbs’ home dual tournament.

After he picked up his win Saturday over Janicki, he was mugged by teammates and coaches celebrating his upset victory.

“I feel really excited,” Greer said. “I can’t wait to see what unfolds and prove to them all, whoever I got.”