Ethan Olson and Ayden Lutes Qualify for State
2/12/2022
NCHS advanced eight wrestlers to the IHSA Individual
Sectional Tournament held at Hinsdale South High School. Senior Ayden Lutes finished in third place at
152 pounds and Junior Ethan Olson finished in second place at 126 pounds. Both wrestlers will compete at the IHSA State
tournament held on the campus of the University of Illinois next weekend. All eight wrestlers came away with at least
one victory. Central wrestlers finished
the tournament with a record of 19-14.
Ethan Olson earned a bye in the first round due to being a regional champion. He advanced to the semifinals after defeating Suleiman of Reavis by fall in the first period. In the semifinals, Olson wrestled Garelli of Lyons Township. The match went into overtime after each wrestler traded escapes in regulation. No takedowns were scored in the first overtime. Garelli earned a penalty point (stalling) in the second overtime to take a 2-1 lead. Olson scored an escape to tie the score 2-2 and send the match into the ultimate tie-breaker. There, Olson rode out his opponent for the full 30 seconds to win 3-2. Olson was pinned in the finals by Lemley of Mt. Carmel to finish with the silver. Olson holds a record of 27-7 on the season.
Ayden Lutes opened with two victories on day one, defeating
McCormick of Downers Grove North by fall then Samuels of Downers Grove South by
major decision 12-3. On day two, Lutes
was defeated by the defending state champion, Reed of Shepard, score 6-13. In the blood round, Lutes took care of Dado
of Marist 7-2 to punch his ticket to state.
In the third place match, Lutes defeated Quintana of West Aurora for the
bronze by a score of 5-2. Lutes improves
to 22-2.
Four Redhawk wrestlers made it to the blood round before
losing out of the tournament. The blood
round is the match that qualifies a wrestler to state. Tommy Porter (Sr. 138) finished the
tournament 3-2. He won by technical fall
15-0 over Edelsen of Sandburg, but then was pinned by Nugent of DGS in the
quarterfinals. On day two, Porter won
two matches to make the consolation semifinals: a 16-1 victory over Gross of
Wheaton Warrenville South and a pin over Doan of Mt. Carmel. Porter’s day was finished after losing to
Scolaro of Marmion 5-1. Porter finishes
the season with a record of 31-6.
Tristen Hall (Sr. 170) wrestled outstandingly in the sectional
tournament, also finishing with a record of 3-2. Hall pinned Spatafora of Neuqua Valley but
then lost to Schuessler of DGS in his quarterfinal match. Saturday, Hall defeated Everette of Reavis by
fall and Domenz of Oak Park River Forest by decision 12-6. Hall’s efforts were ended with a loss to
Liberatore of Marist. Hall’s season
record is 24-12. Redhawk 182 senior
David Pirozhnik put on a show at the sectional tournament. Pirozhnik defeated Jones of Stagg before
losing a tough match against Breen of Mt. Carmel 10-16. Day two saw Pirozhnik pin Leja of Reavis
prior to winning a thriller 8-6 overtime victory against Pitura of
Sandburg. Pirozhnik scored the winning takedown
30 seconds into the overtime period.
Pirozhnik was defeated by Phelan of Marist in the blood round to finish
with a record of 32-5. Sophomore Tyler
Martin had a successful day wrestling at 113 pounds. After losing his opening match against Hinger
of Sandburg, Martin came back on day two with two victories to make the blood
round. The first was a pin over Vasquez
of Reavis. That pin was a come-from-behind
victory. The second was a nail bitter 9-8
win over Wyland of West Aurora. That win
avenged a loss to the same opponent from the regional tournament. Martin was defeated by Resendez of Mt. Carmel
in the state qualifying match to finish 2-2 on the day and 23-13 for the season.
Also competing and winning matches for the Redhawks were
seniors Haaris Khan (195) and Niko Epps (285).
Both wrestlers won their first matches.
Khan scored a 10-2 major against Smith from Shepard before losing his
final two matches by scores of 2-8 and 1-2.
Khan concludes the year with a record of 24-13. Epps pinned Ali from Reavis in the third period
of his first match. Epps was pinned in
the quarterfinals and just missed winning his wrestle-back match, falling 5-6
to Johnson from OPRF. Epps varsity
record finishes at 8-3.
Naperville Central’s two state qualifiers, Olson and Lutes
will compete starting on Thursday, February 17 at the State Farm Center.
Go Redhawks!