1/19/2024
- Naperville Central 273
- DeKalb 257
- Naperville North 213.5
- Neuqua Valley 110
- Waubonsie Valley 93
- Metea Valley 50
Naperville Central won the 2024 DuPage Valley Wrestling
Tournament held at Metea Valley High School.
The Redhawks advanced 13 of 14 wrestlers to the finals of the six team
tournament and crowned five individual DVC Champions, tied for the most in school history (five champions were crowned in 2019 and 2020). Eight Redhawk wrestlers finished as
runner-ups and NCHS had a third place.
In all, the Hawks won 19 matches against just 9 losses. Naperville Central has only won one other DVC
team championship in school history, in 2019.
Leading the way for the Redhawks was standout Will Erbeck (285). Erbeck, now 30-2 on the season, barnstormed his way to a DVC championship pinning both Jones of Metea Valley and Hobson of Waubonsie Valley. Just prior to Erbeck’s title match, Central’s Niko Besteiro (215) defeated Bradley of DeKalb to being home his gold. Besteiro advanced to the finals by pinning Housar, WV. Besteiro is now 22-3 on the season. Senior Chris Bern (157, 22-7) added a medal to his board with a DVC championship effort against Nurudinov of Neuqua Valley. Bern needed several takedowns in the third period to come from behind for the win. Bern defeated Allen of DeKalb in the semifinals by fall.
Seniors Tyler Martin (120) and Mitchell Kaszuba (126) went
back-to-back for DVC championships. Martin
won his second consecutive DVC championship.
He joins an elite list of former Redhawks/Redskins who have at least two
DVC titles (Steve Chirico 1977, 1978), Vince Marrone (1981, 1982), Dick Dorn
(1988, 1989), Scott Benson (1990, 1991, 1992), Jeff Burdorf (2002, 2003, 2004),
Chris Graeber (1007, 2008), Kyle Guttosch (2018, 2019), Tyler Driessens (2019,
2020), Tommy Porter (2019, 2022), and Ethan Olson (2020, 2022, 2023). It wasn’t easy for Martin as needed overtime
to defeat Castro of DeKalb 3-1. Martin
just missed winning in regulation as a last second takedown was wiped off after
it was determined that it occurred just after the final buzzer. Martin won by fall in the semifinals over Paunkov
of Naperville North. Mitchell Kaszuba
etched his name amongst Redhawk greats winning his first DVC gold medal. Kaszuba defeated Messier of NN 6-1 in the finals
after advancing by pinning Fowler of DeKalb in the semifinals.
Defending DVC champion Vince Bern (132) fell just short of repeating
in 2024, but the sophomore will have a couple more opportunities. Bern lost to Sternstein of NN in the finals
by fall. Bern defeated Stivey of DeKalb
14-9 in the semifinals. Senior Hagan
Taylor (144) brought home a silver after advancing to the finals by defeating
Wojtowich of Waubonsie Valley 10-6.
Taylor lost by an identical score in the finals to Ikens of DeKalb. Fellow senior John Carens (165) made the championship
match when he beat Menendez (NN) 3-2.
Carens lost by fall to Luce of DeKalb who was one of the OW’s in the
event. Senior Javier Sevilla (150)
entered the tournament unseeded, but took the role of the dark horse all the way
to the finals. Sevilla won by fall over
Verge of WV in the quarterfinals and scored a huge victory over the number one
seed in the semifinals, a 9-5 win against Pape of Neuqua Valley. Sevilla lost in the finals by a score of 1-13
to Matthews of DeKalb. Jake Smetters,
senior at 190, made the finals with a fall over Nurudinov (NV) in the
semifinals. Smetters lost to Murphy 1-10
to become DVC runner-up.
Two NCHS juniors also took second place at the DVC Championships. Henry Rydwelski eked out a 1-0 decision in the semifinals over Gatlin of NN. Rydwelski lost 8-12 to Kolkebeck of DeKalb. CJ Bierman (138) continues to who improvement. Bierman advanced to the finals by way of a fall over Arroyo, WV. Bierman came close to standing atop the podium, dropping a tight 1-3 decision to Ikens of DeKalb. Sophomore standout Jacob Cochran 113 proved his worth with a second finish at the DVC’s. Cochran won by fall over Paunkov NN, then battled to a 4-6 decision loss to Klapprodt, DeKalb. Dalton Meluch scored needed team points for Hawks by taking third place in the tournament. Meluch lost in the semifinals to Bradley of DeKalb.