Sunday, January 29, 2017

Naperville Central Finishes in 3rd Place at the DVC Tournament

January 28, 2017

1. Wheaton North 236
2. Glenbard North 233
3. Naperville Central 194
4. Naperville North 184
5. Metea Valley 149.5
6. Neuqua Valley 145.5
7. Wheaton Warrenville South 139
8. Waubonsie Valley 134
9. Lake Park 104.5

Naperville Central finished in 3rd place in the 9 team DuPage Valley Conference Tournament held at Lake Park High School.  Wheaton North won the event and Glenbard North took second.  Glenbard North had won at least the previous 18 DVC tournaments in a row prior to this year.  Wheaton North started the event with 24 team points by virtue of going 8-0 against DVC competition in duals (3 team points per dual win).  Naperville Central, Glenbard North, and Wheaton Warrenville South all started with 18 team points due to all three finishing 6-2 in DVC duals.

NCHS competed in 11 of the 14 weight classes, forfeiting 152, 182, and 195.  Of those 11, eight made the semifinals and four advance to the championship match.  Ten of the 11 placed in the top 5.  The Redhawks won 26 matches and lost 15.  The third place finish ties for the best finish since the Redhawks took second place in 2012.

The four Hawk wrestlers that made the finals were Kyle Guttosch (106), Jake Keating (138), Jackson Punzel (160) and Christian Nussbaum (220).  Guttosch won two matches, one by technical fall and one by fall to make the finals.  He lost to Badger of Lake Park by a score of 2-4.  Jake Keating won by fall in the quarterfinals and won 4-2 to advance to the championship match before succumbing to highly ranked Gomez of Glenbard North by a score of 10-25.  It was the first loss suffered by Keating all season.  Jackson Punzel scored two quick pins to make the gold medal match.  He lost 3-8 against Donovan of Wheaton North.  Christian Nussbaum scored two decisions prior to his blue ribbon match, then lost to Sondeg of Waubonsie Valley 2-7.

Five additional Redhawk wrestlers made the consolation finals and competed for third place.  Four of the five won their matches.  Senior Joe Lopez (126) finished the day 3-1, winning his bronze medal by a score of 10-4 over Naperville North’s Summers.  Nick Keating (132) also turned in a 3-1 day, defeating Schrey of Neuqua Valley 11-3.  Derek McDaniel (145) had a solid day also ending 3-1.  His third place match was won by a score of 11-5 over Brantland of Waubonsie Valley.

Michael Norwood (285) gained a large following as he made his way through the tournament.  The senior, unseeded, came out of the pigtail part of the bracket and started with a fall before losing to the top seed Papiernick of Metea Valley.  Norwood turned in two wins in the wrestle-backs, one by fall and a 1-0 decision to the second seeded Ibarra of Naperville North to make the consolation finals.  That match proved significant to the final team score as Norwood wrestled Kenny of Glenbard North.  With the tournament team score extremely close between Glenbard North and Wheaton North, Norwood’s match drew the attention of, well nearly everybody in the gym.  Norwood took a 4-0 lead into the third period when Kenny of GN chose the top position.  Norwood fought off a great effort by Kenny for a fall, earning an escape late in the third period to seal the win.  Norwood finished 4-1 on the day.

Cam Palmer (170) lost two heart-breakers and ended up in 4th place.  Cam’s scored two wins, on by fall and another by major decision 9-0.  Colin Baumgartner (113) also finished 2-2, winning by fall early in the tournament and winning 3-1 against Kamissi of Wheaton North for 5th place.  Mujtaba Ahmed (120) won 11-7 in the pigtail match and ended the day in 8th place.

That concludes the regular season for the Redhawks.  Naperville Central finishes the year 19-4 in duals, 6-2 in the DVC, with a first place finish at the Hoffman Estates Tournament, a first place finish at the Mahomet-Seymour Tournament, and a third place finish in the DVC tournament.

Next up NCHS will compete in the IHSA Regional Tournament on Saturday, at Batavia High School on Saturday, February 4th, 2017.  Action starts 9:00, finals and third place matches are scheduled to begin at 3:00.  Participating teams are: Aurora East, Marmion, Metea Valley, Waubonsie Valley, West Aurora, Batavia, Naperville North, Wheaton Warrenville South, and Naperville Central.

Individuals who place in the top three of their weight class will then qualify for the Downers Grove North IHSA Sectional on Friday and Saturday, February 10-11, 2017.  The top four out of the Sectional will advance to the IHSA State Tournament the following weekend.


GO REDHAWKS!