Harvard advances 3 from tough sectional

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Harvard qualified three wrestlers for the IHSA State Finals at the Class 1A Byron Sectional in what might be better called a mini state tournament.

Dan Stott placed second at 160, and Dillon Cowan (135) and Cody Melson (189) won their third-place matches to qualify. State begins Friday at Assembly Hall in Champaign with the championships Saturday evening.

The sectional had seven wresters ranked by illinoismatmen.com ccompeting. Hornets coach Tim Haak said with that level of competition he was happy to qualify three.

“It’s a great sectional,” Haak said. “To get three out of here is quite an accomplishment.”

Stott lost in the finals to Ethan Ball from Aledo, in a 10-7 decision. Ball is 39-0 on the season.

Stott started by attacking Ball but could only manage four escapes through the first two periods and was down, 8-4. Stott nearly turned a second-period escape into a reverse to tie the score, but ran out of mat before he could gain control.

Before competing at state and maybe a possible rematch with Ball, Stott said he needed some practice and preparation time.

“I’ve got some stuff to work on this week,” Stott said. “Hopefully I’ll be good for next week.”

Cowan beat Stillman Valley’s Tad Hawley, 4-3, in the third-place match. After taking the lead with a takedown in the first period, Cowan was reversed in the second.

After the reverse, Cowan nearly had an escape at the end of the second, but Hawley held onto Cowan’s ankle to end the period tied, 2-2.

Cowan was down to begin the third but elected to start neutral. He said he was surprised by the decision by Haak and thought he could get an escape and the lead to start the third period.

Cowan got a takedown in the third to win the match.

“My coach was right,” Cowan said. “[Hawley’s] goofy on top. He catches people.”

Haak said the move, though unconventional, was an easy one. He said the match plan was to have Cowan wrestle on his feet as much as possible.

“I’ve watched [Hawley] and his best position is on top,” Haak said. “He got beat in the semis on his feet.”

Melson got a takedown with less than 30 seconds remaining in the match to get win a 3-2 decision against Morrison’s Matt McDonnell.

The difference in the match, Melson said, was that he was a little bit more mobile and that created opportunities.

“I think I had a little bit more leverage because I was moving a lot more than him,” Melson said.

Harvard had 13 wrestlers at sectionals but got only three into the place rounds.

Haak said he was pleased with his team’s effort and performance.

“We wrestled really well, even the ones we lost,” Haak said.