NCHS 37 - West Aurora 30
December 7, 2012
Naperville Central won a tough battle with West Aurora at WA High School by a score of 37-30. Central won eight of the 14 matches contested.
Starting at 182 pounds, West Aurora scored a pin against Louie Giovannetti. The Redhawks answered with a fall from Ryan Berg. Berg scored seven takedowns before getting the pin in the third period. Luke Roth returned to the Redhawk line-up with an impressive 10-1 major decision at 220 pounds to build the team score to 10-6 in favor of NCHS.
Joe Saleh provided some fireworks at the heavyweight division. Both wrestlers locked and threw each other several times in the contest, but Saleh ended up with a third period fall after scoring on a single leg takedown. Saleh fall earned him the team's "I'm Somebody" award for his exciting win.
Not to be outdone, Shuji Mizoguchi provided some edge-of-your-seat excitement of his own. Shuji scored four points in the final period to tie the score of his match 4-4, then shot and scored the winning takedown right away in overtime. His win brought the team score to 19-6. After Derek Wilke was pinned at 113 pounds, Senior Mitch Lee made his 2012 wrestling debut with an 8-6 decision at 120 pounds.
Aidan Kerli just missed getting a victory at 126 pounds, losing 3-4. West Aurora was within 7 points on the team score. The Redhawks and Blackhawks then traded pins. Ben Williamson scored a last first period pin at 132 pounds. Matt Chobak was pinned at 138 pounds. With just four matches left, Junior Andrew Cassioppi won a key match at 145 pounds. Andrew scored a key takedown with nearfall in the second period and coasted to an 8-3 decision. Hunter Stephens then iced the dual with a great performance at the 152 weight class. Stephens scored a fall in 1:45 seconds. John Needham lost his match by decision 3-7 and Eric Reents was pinned late in his match at 170 pounds.
NCHS swept all four duals on this night. The JV1 team won 39-30, the JV2 team fought to a tight 38-37 win and the freshman continued to impress with a great 40-24 victory.