Saturday, December 17, 2022

Naperville Central wins Crosstown Clash

December 15, 2022

NCHS 43 – NNHS 19

The Redhawks of Naperville Central defeated the Huskies of Naperville North in the annual Crosstown Clash held at North by a score of 43-19 in front of a sellout crowd.  Central won ten of the fourteen matches contested, three by fall and one by technical fall.  The Hawks improve their record to 7-2 on the season and 3-0 in the DVC.

Central jumped off to a six-point team lead when senior heavyweight Chase Enfield won by fall in the first period of the opening bout over Kushenback.  Sanath (North) defeated Jake Cochran by a score of 7-4, making the team score 6-4.  Junior standout Ty Martin battled at 113 against Ben Messier and won by decision 7-1.  The Huskie’s Aiden Hinkle (120) pinned Vince Bern in the third period of a close match to make the dual meet score 9-9.

The Hawks then won the next six matches starting with a 9-6 decision by Ethan Olson against Tyler Sternstein at 126.  Junior Mitchell Kaszuba wrestled aggressively and won by fall against Zach Malley at 132.  Larry Stubitsch (138) executed six takedowns toward a 15-9 decision over Clayton Champion  Hagan Taylor came from behind and headlocked for a fall against Grant Gentile in a very exciting match at 145 pounds.  Junior Chris Bern (152) added nine takedowns to his team-leading total to win by technical fall against Noah Herscher 22-7.  In the closest match of the night Junior John Carens (160) scored a late two point nearfall verses Kai Goodrick in the third period to send his match to overtime with a score of 8-8, then earned the victory with a takedown midway through the one minute extra period.  After the six matches Naperville Central lead the team score 35-9.

Naperville North answered with a couple of wins.  Matas Budreikas won by fall in the first period over Central’s Joe Thomas and Huskie standout Kyle Gatlin (182) earned a 8-0 major decision over Will Erbeck.  The Rehawks won the final two matches of the evening, both by major decision.  Jacob Smetters (195) defeated Zach Schmidt by a score of 11-2 and Junior Niko Besteiro (220) capped the dual with a 13-5 win against Steve Harvey.

The Redhawks defeated North at the JV1 level by a score of 45-27.  Naperville North won the JV2 dual by a score of 30-38.  Central’s freshman were victorious by a score of 49-21.