February 18-20, 2016
Naperville Central was represented at the IHSA State
tournament at the State Farm Center in Champaign Illinois by Cam Hayes and Jake
Keating. Hayes, wrestling at 160 pounds,
finished 1-2 in the tournament and Keating, 120 pounds, finished 0-1.
Cam Hayes qualified for the tournament by taking 4th
place at the Batavia Sectionals. That
put him against the sectional champion and 3 seed in the tournament, Max Guhde
of Barrington. Hayes was taken down half
way through the first period, but escaped and scored a takedown to end the
first period up 3-2. Hayes picked down
to start the second period and escaped to make the score 4-2. As time expired at the end of the second
period, Hayes added another takedown to move up 6-2. Guhde battled back in the third period,
scoring an escape close to 6-3 and then a takedown with about 30 second to go
to make the score 6-5. After an
intentional release by Guhde the score moved to 7-5, and that’s how it
ended. Hayes was able to hold off a late
attempt at a takedown by Guhde to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarters, Hayes faced DVC foe Tom Czernek of Glenbard
North. After a scoreless first period,
Hayes opened the second period with an escape point. Czernek was able to score a key takedown in
the second period and rode Hayes out for a 2-1 lead. Czernek picked down and scored an escape to
make the score 3-1. Hayes battled
valiantly in the third period and earned a penalty point due to stalling by
Czernek, but it wasn’t enough. Czernek
added another takedown in the final seconds as Hayes committed himself to find
a final point. Final score 5-2. Tom Czernek finished the tournament in 5th
place.
In the wrestle-backs, Hayes took on Kyle Thompson of Granite
City. After another scoreless first
period, Thompson won the toss and elected to pick the down position. He escaped and scored a late takedown to take
a 3-0 lead into the third period. Hayes
chose down and scored an escape to make the score 3-1. Hayes scored a late third period takedown to
tie the score at 3-3, but was unable to hold Thompson down. Thompson scored a quick escape and, after an
injury time-out, held on to win 4-3. The
loss for Hayes, ends his fantastic career as a Redhawk with a very impressive
77-34 career record.
Jake Keating squared off with Abdullah Assaf of Lockport in
the opening round. Keating opened the
match impressively with a takedown but Assaf quickly escaped and scored a
takedown to finish the first period.
Assaf chose down and escaped quickly for a 4-2 lead. After another escape and takedown Assaf
increased his lead to 7-4. Keating
battled for a takedown to close the gap, but was taken down to his back. Assaf added another takedown as eventually
pinned Keating at the 5:44 mark. Assaf
finished the tournament in 5th place. Keating was eliminated from the tournament
when Assaf was defeated by the eventual state champ Jason Renteria of OPRF in
the second round (16-4). Keating, a
junior, will attempt to qualify for state for a third time next year.
The Redhawks will celebrate their season at their Awards
Banquet on Monday, February 22 at 6:30pm in the aux. gym. All wrestlers will be recognized. Varsity letters and numerals will be presented. Awards for All-Conference, All-Academic
Conference, Most Valuable, Most Improved, Hardest Worker, Most Inspirational,
Freshman Wrestler of the year (WOTY), JV WOTY, and Iron Man will be presented
as well. Our statisticians,
videographer, and key parent helpers will be recognized too.
GO REDHAWKS!