ROCKFORD — Major Dedmond wasn’t happy with his performance in the NIC-10 semifinals on Saturday. So he turned it up a notch.

“That’s what I wanted; that’s how I wanted to finish it this time,” Dedmond (33-2) said after pinning Belvidere’s Glenn Winchel in the first period of the 170-pound finals. “I wasn’t happy with that semifinal match, so I told myself to get out there and fix it. This was better.”

And things went better for Freeport than expected. Even without two starters — one out with injury, another left the team — Freeport was able to muscle its way into third place in the final team standings, behind the Hononegah champions and second-place East.

Dedmond turned it up after a hard-fought 3-0 win over Hononegah’s Ben Zalapi in the semifinals to win his second conference title. Matthew Chavers (33-3) earned pins in the quarterfinals and semis to get to the 182-pound finals, and then won the title with a takedown with seven seconds left for a 13-11 victory.

“Sometimes it comes down to the end, and you just have to dig deep,” said Chavers, who placed fourth at conference last year. “This was a big one for me, it really feels good. I was down, but I knew I wasn’t out of it.”

Trae McClain made it all the way to the finals at 195 before he felt defeat, and Keondre Jackson nearly rallied from a 20-8 deficit, cutting the lead to five before succumbing late in his 132-pound final, as well.

Brycen Travis took third at 160, Marvin Monroe earned the bronze at 220 and Isaiah Batteast earned third place at 285.

Jay Taft: 815-987-1384; jtaft@rrstar.com; @JayTaft