Sunday, February 4, 2018

Naperville Central Finishes in 3rd Place at the IHSA Regional

Seven Individuals Advance to the IHSA Sectionals

February 3, 2018

Redhawk Nation came together to host the 2018 IHSA Wrestling Regionals.  Central wrestlers responded by advancing seven individuals to the sectionals.  Jackson Punzel and Ben Cianchetti both stepped up to the top of the podium, winning the tournament.  Nick Keating and Tyler Driessens both made the finals and took second.  Kyle Guttosch, Colin Baumgartner and Derek McDaniel punched their ticket by winning their third place matches.  Ryan Silva and Carson Eipers both just missed qualifying, taking 4th place.  They are both alternates for next week.

Naperville Central won 23 matches and lost 19.  Aurora Marmion Academy won the tournament with 247 points.  Wheaton Warrenville South took second with 168 points.  Naperville Central scored 160.5 points.  Naperville North was fourth with 116 points.  Nine teams competed in the event.

Jackson Punzel and Ben Cianchetti both took identical roads to the championships.  The 182 and 220 pounders were both seeded first and both had quarterfinal byes.  Punzel scored a fall in the second period of his semifinal match against Gonzales of WWS, Cianchetti in the first period of his semifinal match verses Hunger of West Aurora.  Punzel locked down his opponent for a pin in the second period of the finals match with White of Metea, Cianchetti was able to finish off his opponent in the first period of his finals match to Ferrer, WWS.  Cianchetti only needed 2:35 of total wrestling time to win the tournament.

Nick Keating took 2nd place at 145 pounds.  Keating advanced to the finals by defeating Tinajero of Marmion in the semifinals by a score of 5-3.  Keating fell to Bratland of WV in the final by a score of 7-8.  Tyler Driessens took a silver at 106 pounds.  He defeated Waszak, WWS by a score of 6-5 in the semifinals.

Three Redhawks were forced to win their last match to advance to the sectionals.  Kyle Guttosch was able to do just that by fall in the first period to Dorr of WWS at 113 pounds.  Guttosch finished the day at 3-1.  Colin Baumgarter, 120, scored a 15-8 decision in the blood round to Coyle of Batavia.  It was the second time in the same tournament that Baumgartner was able to defeat Coyle.  Derek McDaniel was able to win his bronze medal match by a score of 5-3 over Dalan, WWS to get to sectionals.

Ryan Silva, wrestling at 138, made the 3rd place match but fell short of qualifying.  Silva was 2-2 on the day.  Carson Eipers drew a bye into the bronze match, but he too was defeated.  Leo Keating, Fabricio Navarro and Angelo Eklou all won matches at Regionals.

Next up is the IHSA Sectionals held at Hinsdale Central High School on Friday, February 9 through Saturday, February 10.  The top 4 place winners will advance to the IHSA State Wrestling Tournament held at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois the following weekend.


GO REDHAWKS!