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!