Sunday, February 6, 2022

Naperville Central Advances Eight to Sectionals

 Ethan Olson Regional Champion

  • 1st Marmion Academy 293.5
  • 2nd West Aurora 179.5
  • 3rd Naperville Central 153
  • 4th (Tie). Waubonsie Valley 97
  • 4th (Tie). Naperville North 97
  • 6th Wheaton Warrenville South 70
  • 7th East Aurora 10
  • 8th Metea Valley 3

2/5/2022

Ethan Olson led Naperville Central’s eight sectional qualifiers in the IHSA Regional Tournament held and NCHS.  Olson won three matches including a 9-3 decision against Favia of Marmion in the finals at 126 pounds.  Olson was joined by four other Redhawk finalists: Tommy Porter, Ayden Lutes, Tristen Hall and David Pirozhnik.  Three additional Central wrestlers took third place: Tyler Martin, Haaris Khan and Niko Epps.  The team finished in third place.  Marmion won the tournament and will wrestle in the IHSA Dual Team series.  Naperville Central won 26 matches against 19 losses with 11 of the wins by fall.

Olson, 25-6, open with a fall and won 5-0 in the semifinals against Hinkle of Naperville North.  In the finals, Olson scored a takedown and nearfall with a hip toss to take a strong lead in his gold medal match.  A takedown near the end of the match locked down the win.

Tommy Porter (Sr. 138 lbs, 28-4) won by fall in this first match and then battled Serio of West Aurora in the semifinals, coming out with a 8-6 decision after scoring the deciding takedown late in the third period.  Porter lost in the finals to finish in second place.  Ayden Lutes (Sr. 152 lbs, 18-1) returned to the lineup with solid victories of 20-5 and 7-2 in the tournament.  Lutes controlled AiObaidi of WWS in the semifinals to qualify for sectionals.  Lutes lost 3-0 in the finals to Carrigan of Marmion.  Tristen Hall (Sr. 170 lbs, 21-10) pinned his way to the finals.  He locked down Gutierrez of East Aurora in the semifinals.  David Pirozhnik (Sr. 182 lbs, 29-3) scored a fall and a 22-6 decision over Meister of Waubonsie Valley to make the championship match.

Three wrestlers won their qualifying match and punched their tickets to sectionals for the Redhawks.  Tyler Martin (So. 113 lbs, 21-11) faced his foe Zack Mally of Naperville North, a wrestler with whom he split wins with earlier in the season.  Martin scored a takedown and nearfall in the finals period to win 9-4.  Martin finished the day 3-1 with two falls and nine takedowns.  Haaris Khan (Sr. 195 lbs, 23-11) controlled Scott of West Aurora by a score of 9-6 to become a sectional qualifier.  Khan won three matches with two pins as well.  Niko Epps, unseeded at heavyweight, defeated Buntin of Waubonsie Valley by scoring an escape in the ultimate tie breaker to win 3-2.  Epps avenged a loss to Buntin in the quarterfinals by a score of 2-5 and battled back in the wrestle-backs with wins of 3-2 and 5-4.  Epps now has a varsity record of 7-1.

Three Redhawks finished in fourth place and just missed qualifying for sectionals.  Seniors Chris Ramirez and Nick Antonetti ended the day 2-2.  Ramirez’s (145 lbs, 24-6) two wins were against Resendiz of East Aurora (by fall) and Moore of WWS (decision 13-1).  Ramirez lost to the number one seed in the bronze medal match.  Antonetti (Sr. 220 lbs, 21-7) won 5-4 against Ramero of East Aurora and defeated Green of WWS by fall in the wrestle-backs.  Mitchell Kazuba (So. 132 lbs, 15-12) also finished in fourth place.  He outscored Wojtowich of Waubonsie Valley 12-3 in the wrestle-backs.

Gavin Bohan (Jr. 160 lbs, 11-9) beat Castaneda of EA 12-2 and finish the day 1-2.  Freshman Gavin McDonald (106) and Matthias Hautzinger competed and both finished 0-2.

The IHSA Sectional Tournament will be held at Hinsdale Central High School on Friday and Saturday, February 11 and 12.  First and second round matches will begin at 4:30pm on Friday.  Wrestling begins on Saturday at 9:00am with wrestle-backs and semifinals at 10:30pm.  Finals are scheduled for 3:00pl.  The top four finishers at Sectionals in each weight class qualify for the IHSA State Tournament.