12/28/2018 – 12/29/2018
NCHS 69 – New Trier 6
NCHS 36 – Oswego 25
NCHS 48 – Deerfield 23
NCHS 31 – St. Charles East 32
NCHS 16 – Lincoln Way West 38
NCHS 24 – DeKalb 37
Naperville Central (15-3, 3-0 in DVC) finished 3-3 competing
at “The Flavin” at DeKalb High School.
The Redhawks swept all three duals on day one, Friday, to qualify for
the top bracket on day two. On Saturday,
Central was defeated by all three opponents, two of which Central had defeated
earlier this season.
In the first dual, Central defeated New Trier 69-6, winning
all nine contested matches. The Redhawks
won six of the nine matches by fall. In round
two, Oswego proved to be a stingy opponent.
Still, the Hawks won 9 of the 13 matches. Ben Cianchetti earned a fall while Tommy
Porter and Colin Baumgartner were able to earn technical falls. In the final matchup on day one, NCHS took 10
of 13 matches from Deerfield. Porter,
Tyler Driessens, Leo Keating, Jackson Punzel, and Angelo Eklou all won by fall
while Kyle Guttosch was able to win by technical fall.
Day two prove to be a tough one for the Redhawks. Central opened against St. Charles East, a
team they defeated at the Megaduals.
Central had three wrestlers win and two more won by forfeit. Cameron Palmer scored a fall in the third
period of his match, while Eklou was able to get another fall himself. Tommy Porter battled to a 7-5 decision. But, St. Charles East was able to win 7
matches and one more by forfeit which was enough to sink the Hawks. In round two, Lincoln Way West won 8 of 13
contested matches to easily overtake Central.
Porter, Baumgartner, Esporlas, Cianchetti, and Eklou all got wins with
Baumgartner the only wrestler to get a bonus point. In the final match of the tournament, DeKalb
avenged their earlier loss to Naperville Central, winning 8 of 13 matches. Keating, Palmer, and Cianchetti all won by
fall while Esporlas and Punzel earned decisions.
Tommy Porter, Cameron Palmer, Jackson Punzel, Ben
Cianchetti, and Angelo Eklou all finished with a 5-1 record for the tournament.
On Friday the Naperville Central junior varsity team
travelled to Libertyville and took 2nd place in the very competitive
JV Invitational. The host team won the
event. Anthony Pendolino dominated his
145 pound weight class with three pins and a 9-0 decision for the gold. Austin Longmire scored two falls and a 3-1
decision in the finals to take first place.
His 3-1 win avenged a loss from the same opponent earlier in the
season. Frank Saponaro took 2nd
place. A plethora of Redhawks took 3rd
including Ethan Jones, Alex Knusel, Bryce Cooperkawa, Alek Van Eeuwen, and
Manny Rivera (who edged Mason Cooperkawa, 4th). Philip Marrero, Ben Mota, and Tariq Sikander
all won their final matches to finish in 5th place. Mota finished with a record of 4-1 in the
event.
On Saturday the Naperville Central freshman wrestling team
traveled to Hinsdale South and won the 12 team freshman tournament. The Redhawks sent 6 wrestlers out of 14
weight classes to the finals. Champions
were Brayden Halverson at 132, Aidan Lutes at 138, and Prathmesh Premanand at
145. Charlie Morgan (106), Ian Collins
(113), and Tristan Hall (126) took second place. Cole Paulson, Nick Ball, Justin McCoy, Nick
Antonetti, and Quinn Hurley all took 3rd place. August Kukis and Connor McHugh both took 4th.
This coming week will be a busy one for the Redhawks. All levels will travel to face former DVC foe
Wheaton North on Thursday, January 3rd. The varsity will host Genesco, West Chicago
and Deerfield on Friday, January 4th. Then on Saturday the 5th, the varsity
will compete in another quad at Downers Grove North while the JV team will
compete in the competitive Bolingbrook Invitation and the freshman/JV2 team
will compete at home for the annual NCHS JV2 Invitational.