February 8-9,
2019
Bolingbrook
High School
Naperville
Central will be well represented at the IHSA State Tournament. Four Redhawks placed in the top four of their
weight class at the IHSA Sectional to punch their ticket to the big dance. Naperville Central will be sending more state
qualifiers than any other public school coming out of the Bolingbrook
Sectional.
Two Central
wrestlers have become two-time state qualifiers. Jackson Punzel will return to the Hall after
winning the Sectionals at 170 pounds.
Punzel defeated Terrell (Chicago, Mt. Carmel) 8-4 in the quarterfinals
and Geraci of (Montini) in the semifinals to advance to the finals. There, Punzel defeated Viliria (Chicago St.
Rita) by a score of 5-0. As a sectional
champion, Punzel will receive a top four seed at state. Jackson Punzel was one of only two wrestlers
from a public school to win the tournament.
Also returning
to state will be Ben Cianchetti.
Cianchetti finish in second place in the tournament competing at 195
pounds. The senior won both his
quarterfinal (Bielawski, DGN) and semifinal (Zimmer, Sandberg) matches by fall
before losing to top ranked Christenson (Montini) by fall in the finals. Cianchetti has 27 falls on the year.
Tyler Driessens
will be getting his name on the state qualifying board due to his third place
finish at sectionals. Driessens (113)
led the team with four wins at the event.
The junior lost his first match to Reed (Shepard) and worked his way
through the wrestle backs. Driessens
pinned McDonald (Reavis) and Perez (Hinsdale Central) to qualify for the blood
round. The “blood round” is a common term
for the match that determines a trip to state.
Driessens scored a takedown and a cradle for back points and held on for
a 7-2 victory against Fernau (Montini).
Driessens then avenged his first round loss to Reed (Shepard), winning
7-5.
Colin
Baumgartner earned a trip to the Hall by taking fourth place at
sectionals. The senior 120 pounder
defeated Duffin (St. Rita) by fall and then regional champion Milani (Sandburg)
to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Baumgartner lost to Vasquez (Montini) by a score of 7-18, sending him to
the blood round against Straus of Downers Grove South. The match will certainly be remembered as one
of the most exciting in central history.
Baumgartner opened the first period with two takedown for a 4-2
lead. After a reversal to start the
second period for a 6-2 lead, but Straus answered with an escape and a
fireman’s carry for takedown and three-point nearfall. The maneuver put Straus ahead 6-8 going into
the third period. Baumgartner released
Staus for an escape to fall behind 6-9 but came storming back picking up a
penalty point (for stalling) and a takedown to tie the score 9-9. An intentional release and another takedown
put the Redhawk in the lead 11-10. With
just 25 seconds remaining, Baumgartner decided on another intentional escape
and scored the winning final takedown just as time expired to win 13-11. Baumgartner was unable to win his third place
match, losing to Uribe (Mt. Carmel).
Two Redhawk
wrestlers made the Blood Round and are alternates to the state tournament. Senior Cameron Palmer gave a fantastic
effort, winning three matches in the event.
Palmer opened with a fall against Ball (Hubbard) then lost to highly
ranked Swier (Montini) by fall. Palmer
worked his way through the wrestle backs defeating Garza (DGS) by a score of
9-3 and Bosco (Sandberg) by a score of 7-6.
Unfortunately, the senior 182 pounder lost by fall to returning state
placer Benoit (Mt. Carmel). Palmer is an
alternate for the state tournament.
Joining him as an alternate to state is Leo Keating. Keating had a fantastic first day of
completion defeating Rosen (DGN) by a score of 17-5 and then Ferguson
(Sandberg) 10-0 to qualify for the semifinals.
Keating lost to Mis (Mt. Carmel) 0-15 to drop into the Blood Round. Keating met Rosen (DGN) once again but lost
by fall.
Senior Kyle
Guttosch (138) finished his season with a record of 32-9. Guttosch lost to 3rd ranked Dado (Marist) by
a score of 4-6 in the opening round. He
then defeated Hargrove (Bolingbrook) by a score of 13-10. Guttosch lost to Roberts (Shepard) 0-8. Guttosch’s victory in the tournament was his
100th varsity win in a Redhawk singlet.
His career total record: 100-34.
Freshman Tommy
Porter (106) defeated Jurado (Blue Island Eisenhower) by a score of 4-3 before
losing to Gonzalez (Montini) by fall and then Nugent (DGS) by decision
0-13. Porter finishes the season with a
record of 31-9.
Naperville
Central was a winner even before the first whistle. When a 145 pounder failed to show up for
weigh-ins, three potential alternates showed up to fill the spot in the
tournament. Central’s Ryan Silva won the
blind draw to qualify. Silva was
defeated in both his matches.
Next up is the
IHSA Individual State Tournament on the campus of the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign. The tournament starts
on Thursday with 3A competition starting around 4:30pm and continues through
Saturday.
GO REDHAWKS