Eight Redhawks Advance to IHSA Sectionals
February 4, 2012
The Naperville Central Redhawk wrestling team won the nine team IHSA Regional tournament at Naperville North High School by one team point. Eight Central wrestlers placed in the top three and will advance to the IHSA Individual Sectional Tournament next weekend.
The final round proved to be an exciting team race between NCHS and Downers Grove South. Going into the first and third place matches Central lead DGS by four team points. Central had six wrestlers in the finals and three going for third place; South had five in the finals and four going for third.
At 106 pounds, Derek Wilke lost his third place match to Ochoa from East Aurora. Wilke had defeated Ochoa earlier in the tournament. Wilke had scored a fall in the semi-final wrestle-back. At 113, Mitch Lee lost a hard fought match in the finals to Anthony of West Aurora by a score of 7-8. Lee earned a major decision and a fall to get to the finals. DGN's 113 pounder won in the third place match to slice into Central's team score lead to one.
Steven Splan, the number one seed at 120, defeated Rameriz of Naperville North in the finals to win a Regional Championship. Splan scored a fall and technical fall in the tournament as well. Ben Williamson lost a head-to-head match up with DGS's Nugent in the finals to take second place. Williamson got a major decision and a pin to get into the championship match. After 126, Naperville Central still held on to the slim one point lead.
Kirk Cherep got a pin in the first round and won 4-3 in the semifinals to advance to the finals. Cherep lost in the finals to Cummins of DGN by a score of 0-7 to take second place.
Downer's Grove South lost their matches at 138 and 145 but the DGS's Anaya bothers both won their matches at 152 and 160 in the finals scoring 10 team points between them. Meanwhile Tom Mitrenga won his third place bout against Gonzalez of Metea Valley by a score of 8-2. Mitrenga's win qualifies him for the sectional tournament. Mitrenga scored a technical fall in the first round and won 9-5 in the semifinal wrestle-back. After the 160 pound matches, Downer's Grove South held a six point lead in the team score.
Kyle Klass wrestled in the third place match at 170 pounds after winning by major decision 21-8 in the first round and a hard-fought 5-3 in the semifinal wrestleback. Klass faced Duran of East Aurora in the bronze medal match. After a 1-1 tie in the first overtime, Klass chose down to begin the second overtime and earn an escape half way through the 30 second period. Now leading 2-1, Klass broke his opponent down and rode him out the second entire 30 second period to take third. That win put Central down only three points in the team score race.
At 182, Luke Roth lost to Welsh of Wheaton Warrenville South 0-10 in the finals to take second place. Luke won 14-4 against Arreola of Metea Valley and scored a 3-1 overtime decision against Warren of West Aurora. At 182, Downer's Grove South also lost in the third place bout so neither school scored team points.
In a huge head-to-head match up with the top two teams, Ryan Berg faced Clark of DGS in the finals at 195. Neither wrestler was able to score a takedown in the match, but Berg earned a point when Clark was called for stalling early in the third period. That was enough for the 2-1 victory and the Regional Championship for Berg and also earned Central four team points to put them in the team score lead by one point.
Naperville Central did not have a competitor in the finals at 220 or 285. Downers Grove South had a finalist at 220 but none at 285. So, a victory at 220 by Allen of DGS would win the tournament for them - otherwise Central gets the trophy. Allen jumped out to a commanding 9-2 lead but his opponent, Urbanski of Downers Grove North staged an exciting comeback. With just 25 seconds to go in the match, Urbanski scored a takedown to get within one. Then Allen was penalized for stalling with very short time left in the match which tied the score and sent the match to overtime. Urbanski was able to score the deciding takedown in overtime that secured the team victory for the Redhawks.
Lee, Splan, Williamson, Cherep, Mitrenga, Klass, Roth and Berg will compete in the IHSA Sectionals at Glenbard North High School on Friday and Saturday, February 10-11. The top four finishers in each weight class (12 wrestlers in bracket) will advance to the IHSA State Tournament in Champaign on Feb. 16-18.
By winning the team championship, Naperville Central punched its ticket to the Dual Team Sectional where they will face Maine West. The competition will be held at West Aurora High School on Tuesday, Feb. 21st. Naperville Central is in the sweet sixteen. A win against Maine West will send NCHS to the State Dual meet tournament held at Bloomington.