Adam Carrick entered his 215-pound match against Rochelle’s Tyler Etes feeling pretty confident, and it wasn’t necessarily from anything on the wrestling mat.

Carrick and Etes had squared off on the football field and the Sycamore junior felt pretty good about both the team and individual outcome of the matchup.

He said that carried over on Thursday in his first-period pin of Etes, a victory that helped the Spartans claim a 48-24 win over the visiting Hubs in an Interstate 8 Conference match.

“That kid was their right guard and I was playing D-line against him the whole time,” Carrick said. “I knew I could dominate him athletically the whole time. So that was the goal. Go out there and wrestle him like I’m playing football against him.”

After his first takedown and some back points, Carrick got the pin after 1:43. It was one of three pins the Spartans finished with in the match.

Carrick said since he got the feel of how Etes was going to move with bulky shoulder pads on, he had a pretty good idea how he’d move without them.

Sycamore coach Randy Culton said Carrick was pretty confident pre-match.

“Adam came up to me and said I’m going to beat this...” Culton said. “And he goes, for the team. Because it was still close. And he left some on the table Wednesday [in a season-opening quad]. He lost a match he should have won, which happened a lot last year. But his goal is to make the state tournament, and I think he has the qualifications to do it.”

Culton said he also liked the way freshman Chase Cook stepped in at 106 and picked up a 12-7 win over Jonathan Hernandez-Fonseca in the last match of the night.

Cook, filling in for a sick Carson West, trailed 3-0 after the first period. A quick escape, takedown, and three-point nearfall helped him survive a reverse. He added a late takedown in the third to ensure the win in his first non-forfeit varsity match.

“He deserves an attaboy,” Culton said. “That’s his first varsity win and he battled. That was the most fun match and that made my night.”

Cooper Bode (175) and Douglas Gemberling (157) won by pins for the Spartans. Michael Olson had an early takedown in the third period of his 11-3 win of his 120-pound match and rode out the major decision, ensuring the extra team point.

Jayden Dohogne (144) picked up a tech fall to round out the on-the-mat wins for the Spartans.

For the Hubs, Roman Villalobos picked up the fastest pin of the day, needing 1:16 to defeat Peter Gehrig in their 190 match.

Villalobos made his first trip to state last year. This year, the senior is hoping to finish on the medal stand.

“The goal is to definitely get on that podium,” Villalobos said. “I was a match away from placing. Coming back this year with that in my mind just motivates me every day, keeps me disciplined, keeps me moving forward.”

Like Bode, Villalobos got the pin after his first takedown. He joined teammate Deegan Schabacker (138) as the only Hubs with pins.

Rochelle coach Alphonso Vruno said Villalobos has really stepped it up off that mat.

“He’s put in the work in the practice room, which is obviously showing on the mat,” Vruno said. “I know he has aspirations to be on the podium at the end of the year so we’re just trying to do whatever we have to to get him there.

Brenden Voight (major at 150) and Alex Pellicer (tech fall at 165) also won for the Hubs.

Vruno said he was also impressed with Aidan Lopez’s 9-4 win over Tyler Lockhart at 126. Lockhart got a quick penalty point, but Lopez got a takedown late in the first to regain the lead.

Lopez was up 5-2 when Lockhart started the second on the bottom. Lopez controlled the first 90 seconds on top, but Lockhart got a reverse with 27 seconds left. He gave up a quick escape to try and get the take down and the win in the closing seconds. Instead, Lopez got a late takedown to ensure the win.

“Tyler Lockhart is a really talented wrestler but Aidan Lopez really stuck his nose in there, got an early takedown and didn’t look back,” Vruno said. “He was just tough on top, really stingy. I think he rode Lockhart for two and a half minutes of the match, and I think that was a big difference.”