12/22/2018
- NCHS 63 – Palatine Fremd 9
- NCHS 33 – Lockport 26
- NCHS 33 – DeKalb 28
The Naperville Central wrestling team has improved to 12-0
on the season after sweeping the highly contested home quadrangular against
Palatine Fremd, Lockport, and DeKalb. Central,
Lockport and DeKalb are currently recognized ranked in the top 10 in the state.
The day started with Central taking on Fremd in the opening
round. Ryan Silva got the event with a
bang, earning a victory in overtime by a score of 11-9. The cardiac kid had more excitement ahead of
him. Sean King continued to impress his
coaches locking down a major decision 12-2 at 152. Shane Roth looked much improved in his
efforts at 160, scoring a 13-7 decision.
Jackson Punzel made the drop to 170 and flexed his muscles with a first
period fall. Cameron Palmer lost at 182
pound despite gaining an early lead.
Ben Cianchetti started his undefeated day with the first of
three straight pins. His fall against Fremd
came in the first period. Angelo was
defeated for the first time this season, dropping a heartbreaker decision 3-1
at 220 pounds. Carson Enfield had
perhaps the best day of the season scoring a fall for the first of three
straight wins at heavyweight. Tyler
Driessens completed the dual with a technical fall 19.3. Baumgartner, Keating, Esporlas, Guttosch, and
Porter all picked up wins by forfeit.
In the second dual of the day Naperville Central faced
challenge of the year in highly rated Lockport.
The Hawks fell behind early in the team score after losing the first two
matches at 126 and 132. Keating was
pinned by Molton and Esporlas fell by decision to Kaminski 6-4 despite an
excellent effort. Down 0-9 in the team
score, senior captain Kyle Guttosh got the Redhawks on the board with a
hard-fought 7-4 decision over D’Angelo at 138.
Ryan Silva came from behind once again to overtake Grapia by a score of
12-11. Silva had a team best 8 takedowns
in the three matches of the day. The win
closed the team score game deficit to 6-9.
Lockport showed why they are so highly ranked, winning the next to
matches, both by fall. Mahalik pinned
King at 152 and Fernandez pinned Roth at 160.
With Lockport ahead 21-9, Naperville Central rattled off six
wins in a row. Cameron Palmer started
the run with a very tough 9-3 battle at 170 against Dagash. Punzel, Cianchetti and Eklou all scored falls
at 182, 195, and 220 respectively. In
just 5 minutes and eight second of composite time, the three pins gave the Redhawks
a 30-21 lead in the team score. But it
was the fifth and sixth wins in the run that sealed the victory for
Central. Heavyweight Carson Enfield
scored a very tough overtime victory 3-1 against Shin. Tommy Porter came from behind, scoring a 5
point throw in route to a 10-7 decision at 106 pounds verses Bentley. The win, tied with an unsportsmanlike conduct
penalty to Lockport, mathematically assured the victory for NCHS. Driessens was defeated by Roberson at 113
pounds by a score of 5-2 and Colin Baumgartner lost by major decision to Ramos
22-9.
The emotional win and celebration for the Redhawks was short
lived however as they were asked to turn around and wrestle DeKalb, another
highly ranked team. Elrin Esporlas
battled to a 6-2 decision at 132 to begin the dual positively for the
Hawks. Then DeKalb tried to crash the
party by scoring four straight wins.
Kyle Guttosch lost to Lopez at 138 by a major decision 20-10. Ryan Silva lost to Gilum by a score of 13-4
at 145. Sean King gave a tough effort
but fell short at 152, losing to Clayton 7-4.
Shane Roth lost his match at 160 over Johnson by a score of 11-0. The four losses included three bonus points
for Lockport, but none of the Redhawks lost by fall. The team score was 3-15 at that point.
Then it was the Redhawks turn to have winning streak. Theirs was five wins in a row, three of them
by fall. Cameron Palmer won his second
match of the day, scoring a fall over Kelly in the first period of his 170
pound match. Jackson Punzel won by
decision 3-0 at 182 pounds over Roach.
Ben Cianchetti scored his third pin of the day, this one over Wilkerson in
the second period. Angelo Eklou needed
just 29 seconds to get his win by fall at 220 pounds. And Carson Enfield finished his successful
day, winning a tough match at heavyweight by a score of 3-2. The five wins allowed the Redhawks to enjoy a
27-15 lead with just four matches left.
DeKalb began their efforts to retake the lead. Tommy Porter lost by fall to Aranda at 106
pounds: team score 27-21. Driessens was
defeated by major decision by Curran at 113: team score 27-25. Baumgartner lost 10-7 at 120 pounds: team
score 27-28 – DeKalb ahead by one with one match to go.
Leo Keating played the role of hero at 126 pounds – the final
match. It took just 29 seconds for
Keating to get the fall and the dual win for the Redhawks.
Naperville Central also won all three junior varsity dual,
defeating Fremd 69-12, Lockport 45-30, and DeKalb 66-9. Wrestlers who finished undefeated (3-0) were
Anthony Pendolino, Ethan Jones, Austin Longmire, Rashad Dabney, and Ian
Collins. Alex Knusel, Aiden Lutes, Mason
Cooperkawa, Ben Mota, and Jonah Boykin all came away with wins against no
losses as well.
The Naperville Central wrestling team will be very busy next
weekend. The varsity will compete at the
32 team DeKalb Dual Meet Invitation on Friday and Saturday, December 28-29. The JV team will travel to Libertyville for a
16 team tournament on Friday, December 28.
The freshman will wrestle at Hinsdale South for a tournament on
Saturday, December 29.
GO REDHAWKS