Boys wrestling: L-P’s Connor Lorden places second at Rochelle Sectional

ROCHELLE — Throughout arguably one of the strongest wrestling fields in the state, La Salle-Peru senior Connor Lorden and Ottawa junior Ivan Munoz acquitted themselves quite well during the Class 2A Rochelle Sectional.

The pair is now headed to the state tournament after completing the two-day event and hauling home some hardware Saturday at Rochelle High School.

The state meet is Thursday through Saturday at the State Farm Center in Champaign.

Lorden (35-2) – the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state at 220 pounds – breezed into the championship match after two relatively easy pins earlier in the meet.

In the final, he faced a showdown with Washington senior and No. 3 rated Justin Hoffer (39-1).

Lorden trailed 3-1 toward the tail end of the second period before getting caught in a tough position.

From there, Hoffer pinned Lorden with four seconds to go in the frame (3:56), leaving Lorden to collect the runner-up medal but still head to the IHSA state tournament for the second year in a row.

“It was a good match between two great wrestlers,” L-P coach Matt Rebholz said. “But Connor got caught, got stuck and now we’re just going to put this one behind us and not worry about it headed to state.

“We’ll clean some things up and I’m not worried about the loss today. Better here than in Champaign. He’s got to get back on the horse from here, and my expectations for him are very high at state. I believe he’ll do great things there.”

Munoz saw his brother, Rafael, make two trips to state for Ottawa where his elder sibling finished fifth both times.

Now Munoz believes it’s his time to shine for his family.

Munoz (32-4) dropped a tough 9-7 decision in the 106-pound semifinals but rallied back with a win in the wrestlebacks before earning a dominating 16-2 major decision over Prairie Ridge sophomore Jake Lowitzki (40-11) to earn a third-place medal and his first trip to state.

“It’s amazing and I sure love the feeling. I wanted to do it for my family and my brother, because he took fifth twice,” Munoz said. “I want to experience what he did. Now I will and just can’t wait to compete at the highest level at state.”

Munoz’s senior teammate, Charles Medrow (31-9), fell just short of reaching the state meet after dropping a 10-4 decision to Rockford East junior Lee Smith (40-4) in the blood round.

Morris was shut out of the state meet.

At 106, freshman Owen Sater (16-7) reached the quarterfinals of wrestlebacks only to get pinned at 4:35 by Payton Ramsey (28-17) of Crystal Lake Central.

Classmate Kazden Klinker (14-19) fell in his first two matches at 126 and was eliminated.

Morris’ best opportunity to reach state came from junior Tyler Semlar (32-8) at 145.

Semlar, however, dropped a 6-2 decision to Geneseo freshman Kye Weinzierl (27-10) in the blood round one step shy of state.

“Tyler started off well with a takedown and I thought he rode him (Weinzierl) out really well to lead 2-0 after the first period,” Morris coach Lenny Tryner said. “But he kind of

let him back in the match and unfortunately we won’t see any boys at state this year. We’re getting everybody back off a young team and have a lot of talent coming in. So I think the future is very bright for Morris wrestling.”