Twelve NCHS Wrestlers Battle at Sectionals
February 14 – 15, 2020
Angelo Eklou, 220 2nd Place
Tyler Driessens, 120 3rd Place
Ryan Silva, 152 4th Place
Naperville Central competed with a record twelve participants at the
IHSA Sectional Wrestling Tournament held at Hinsdale Central High School. Top four finishers qualify for the IHSA State
Tournament in Champaign next weekend and three Redhawks were able to qualify,
all seniors. NCHS won 21 matches out of
43 competed.
Angelo Eklou (220) entered the tournament as a Regional Champion and
made good use of his spot in the sectional bracket. In the quarterfinals, Eklou pinned Liberatore
of Marist and then punched his ticket to state by pinning Anderson of St. Rita
in the semifinals. In the sectional,
Elkou lost a decision to Zimmer of Sandburg.
Tyler Driessens (120) scored a 9-1 decision against Nugent of Downers
Grove South to push his way to the semifinals.
There he battled #1 ranked Colton Drousias of Mt. Carmel. Driessens suffered a 4-13 loss, but then won
in the blood round (consolation semifinals) against Perez of Hinsdale Central
to become a two-time state qualifier.
Driessens finish the tournament defeating Dunlap of Marist to bring home
the bronze medal.
Ryan Silva accomplished his goal of becoming state qualifier after
defeating Bettiga of Lyons Township in the blood round by a score of 4-1. The senior find his name on the state
qualifier board. Silva won on day one of
the competition, scoring a 8-4 decision to Boland of Marist to make the
semifinals. Silva lost the rematch to
Boland in the third place match.
Four Redhawks competed up to the blood round but fell just one match
short of a state qualifying birth.
Sophomore Tommy Porter (113) finished the tournament 3-2 defeating
Dunson of Oak Park-River Forest, Weber of Marist and Castro of Downers Grove
North. Porter lost to McDermott of
Bolingbrook who went on to take third making Porter the first alternate to
State. Fellow Sophomore Ayden Lutes (145)
made an impact at the Sectionals winning his first two matches to qualify for
the semifinals. Those wins were against
Cozzi of Lyons Township by 3-1 in overtime and Muhammad of Shepard by a score
of 10-7. Junior Shane Roth (170) won his
opening match by fall over McDonald of Stagg before losing a heartbreaker 2-3 decision
in the quarterfinals. Roth battled back
with two wins in the wrestle-backs, a fall verses Pohl of Lyons and a 5-2
decision to Rogers of Morton. Roth’s
state bid fell short to Gaylord of Marist in the blood round.
The fourth Redhawk to make the blood round was senior Sean King
(160). King, a yearlong wrestler, saw
his individual career come to a close with a gutty performance at
sectionals. After a win by fall against
Koeppen of Stagg in the preliminary round, King lost to Larkin of St. Rita in
the quarterfinals. King advance to the
second round of the wrestle-backs with a bye due to a previous injury
default. That set him up once again
against Bartikevic of Naperville North.
King, down by five late in the match, found a way to score a reversal
and nearfall followed by a pin to make the blood round. There he lost the rematch against Gonzalez of
East Aurora from the Regional finals a week ago.
Four other seniors wrestled their final bouts as individuals in a
Redhawk uniform at the sectionals, but they wrestled tough and represented
their school well. Elrin Esporlas (132)
won his first match by fall verses Dado of Marist before dropping his next two
to bow out of the tournament. Bryce
Cooperkawa (138) looked tough earning two wins by fall against Gorz of Argo and
Harris of Thornton. Cooperkawa was one
match away from making the blood round.
Tariq Sikander (182) defeated Howard of Marist 13-4 in the opening
round. Carson Enfield (285) lost both of
his matches, but pushed both opponents to the very end of the match. Both matches came down to a single point.
Freshman standout Ethan Olson (106) lost both of his matches
The four private schools took home 23 of the 56 qualifying spots at the
Hinsdale Central Sectional with Chicago Mt. Carmel leading the way with 12.
The IHSA Individual State Wrestling Tournament will begin on Thursday,
February 20 with Class AAA competition beginning at approximately 4:30pm. Wrestling will continue through Saturday,
February 22 with the Grand March beginning at 5:30pm.
Following state, the Redhawks will once again form their dual team and
compete in the Super Sixteen on Tuesday, February 25. The IHSA Dual Sectionals will be competed at
Sandburg High School and Naperville Central will face Chicago Mt. Carmel. The dual will start at 6:00pm. The winners of the dual will advance to the
Dual Team State (final 8).
GO REDHAWKS