Central finished with a dual record of 3-3
12/27/2024 – 12/28/2024
- · NCHS 35 – Glenbard West 32
- · NCHS 32 – Yorkville 27
- · NCHS 26 – Arlington Heights Hersey 38
- · NCHS 40 – Barrington 33
- · NCHS 45 – DeKalb 29
- · NCHS 30 – Lockport 44
Naperville Central completed the 2024 calendar year taking 14th
place at the Flavin, the premier in-season dual team championships held at
DeKalb High School. Naperville Central now
has a record of 14-3 on the season. In
individual matches, Central won 43 and lost 41.
Of the 43 wins, 19 came by fall, 7 came by technical fall and 5 matches
were by major decision, making 31 of the wins earning bonus points.
On day 1 of the competition, Naperville Central Competed in the “Dan Cliffe” Bracket, one of four 8-team brackets in the 32-team field. In the quarterfinals of the bracket, Central faced Glenbard West in a dual that came down to bonus points as each team won seven matches. Starting at 150, Central took a early lead after CJ Bierman won by decision. Glenbard West won the next two matches at 157 and 165 with Yusuf Sikander and Nicolas Olvera doing down in defeat by technical fall and decision respectively. With Central down 3-8, Henry Rydwelski and Paul Peradotti scored consecutive wins at 175 and 190 by technical fall and pin to help the Hawks take a 14-8 team score lead. The Hilltoppers answered with a pin over Nithilan Gandi at 215 to tie the team score. Naperville Central and Glenbard West traded pins at 215 and heavyweight. Will Erbeck won by fall but the Toppers answered with a pin over 106 pounder Dalton Meluch.
Now with the team score knotted at 20 each, the Redhawks
racked up 52 match points to just 3 for the Hilltoppers with three consecutive
technical falls at 113, 120 and 126.
Jack Schwartz looked impressive with a solid 17-1 tech fall and 120 pounder
Jake Moore matched the effort with a 17-1 tech of his own. Jacob Cochran did one better with an 18-1 tech. Leading 35-20, Central withstood a comeback effort
from West. Glenbard won the last three
matches with decisions at 132 over Vince Bern (4-2), and at 138 over Austin
Schiltz (6-1). West won by fall at 144
over Stavros Gerousis, but it wasn’t enough to win the dual.
In the semifinals of the Dan Cliffe bracket, Naperville
Central suffered their first dual loss of the season to Yorkville. Remember Yorkville defeated Central at the
quarter-finals of IHSA dual state championships last February. Today, both teams won seven of the contested
matches, but Yorkville 16 bonus points to Central’s 11. Yorkville blasted out to five consecutive
wins and 26 team points to start the dual.
At 157, Yusuf Sikander lost by fall, at 165 Nicolas Olvera lost by major
decision, at 175, Henry Rydwelski suffered his first loss of the season, and at
190 and 215 Paul Peradotti and Nithilan Gandi both lost by fall.
Naperville Central came firing back with six consecutive
wins to tie the team score at 26.
Central standout Will Erbeck secured a fall at heavyweight. Dalton Meluch battled to a 7-1 decision at
106, Jack Schwartz won by fall at113, Jack Moore fought to a 16-4 major decision
at 120, Jacob Cochran squeaked out a 12-10 decision at 126 and Vince Bern
bettered his opponent by major decision at 132.
Yorkville regained the team score lead with a pin at 138 over Gavin
McDonald, but Stavros Gerousis tied up the team score after his win by fall at
144. With the team score tied, the Foxes
won the final match by fall over CJ Bierman at 150.
Naperville Central lost to Arlington Heights, Hersey in the
third place match of the Dan Cliffe bracket by a score of 38-26. Hersey won eight of the fourteen matches. Winners include Henry Rydwelski, Paul
Peradotti, Will Erbeck, Dalton Meluch, Vince Bern and CJ Bierman. Peradotti and Erbeck’s wins were by fall with
Peradotti earning a quick pin in just :26 seconds. Meluch and Rydwelski both posted wins by
major decision. The lost to Hersey made
Naperville Central a fourth place team in the 8-team Dan Cliffe Bracket and
advanced the Redhawks to the Bronze Pool for the second day of competition.
Day two began with a tough matchup with Barrington. In that meet, Central won eight matches for a
40-33 team score victory. Rydwelski, 175
opened the scoring with a technical fall and Peradotti (190) added a major decision
victory. The Redhawks and Bronco’s
traded wins in the next six weight classes.
Nithilan Gandi lost at 215, but then Will Erbeck locked down a fall at
285. Meluch lost at 106, but Jack
Schwartz scored a technical fall at 113.
Jake Moore fell at 120, but then Jacob Cochran posted his opponent’s shoulders
to the mat at 126. Vince Bern, 132 made
it two in a row for the Hawks with a win by technical fall. Austin Schiltz lost by decision at 138. Stavros Gerousis avenged that loss with a
first period fall at 144. The Broncos
earned two wins in a row at 150 and 157 against Bierman and Justin Skryd. Nick Olvera iced the contest with a tight,
hard-fought 9-5 decision for the final match.
Dual two on day two saw Naperville Central against DVC foe
DeKalb, a team the Redhawks defeated just a week ago. Central won against the host team on this day
by a final of 45-29. The Redhawks won nine
of the 14 matches, six by fall.
Paul Peradotti, 190 opened with a fall. After a loss at 215, Erbeck won his fifth
match of the tournament with a fall at heavyweight. The Barbs won both lightweight matches at 106
and 113. The Hawks answered with five
match wins in a row, the first three coming by fall including Jake Moore (120),
Jacob Cochran (126) and Vince Bern (132).
Austin Schiltz (138) and Stavros Gerousis (144) both earned wins by
decisions. Gerousis avenged his loss a week
ago with his win. The Barbs won two more
matches at 150 and 157. In the final two
matches, Naperville’s Olvera won by fall at 165 and Rydwelski won by decision
12-8. Rydwelski averaged a loss to his
opponent from a match from last season.
In the final dual of the tournament, Central lost to Lockport
by a score3 of 44-30. The Porters won
eight matches. The dual started at 215 where
Lockport won by fall over Nithilan Gandi.
Naperville Central’s Will Erbeck completed a perfect 6-0 tournament with
a pin at 285. Erbeck is now 18-1 on the year
and is tied for the team lead in pins with 13.
Dalton Meluch earned a second period fall at 106. Meluch finished 3-3 and is sitting with a
16-8 record on the season. Jack Schwartz
was defeated at 113. Schwartz also ended
the day 3-3 and now at 13-9. Jake Moore
finished the day with a hard fought 4-1 decision at 120. Moore, 120, won four of six in the tournament
and has twice as many wins as losses at 14-7.
Moore is second on the team in technical falls with five. Jacob Cochran, 126, lost his last match against
Lockport but still had a tournament with four wins to improve his record to
21-5. Cochran is second on the team in wins
and shares the lead in falls with 13.
Vince Bern, 132, did not find success against Lockport but he also
finished the tournament 4-2 and improves to 16-4 for his record. Bern leads the team in takedowns with 47 and
has five total technical falls. Austin
Schiltz lost 13-3 verses Lockport.
Stavros ended the day on a high note with a 12-6 major decision and his
fourth win of six. Gerousis, now 15-11,
wrestles at 144 pounds. The Porters won
the next three matches at 150, 157 and 165 in the dual. CJ Bierman added two wins from the Flavin to
improve to 13-6. Justin Skryd lost by
fall at 157. Nicolas Olvera lost at 165
but had two Flavin wins. Captain Henry
Rydwelski, 175, capped a five win event to improve to 23-1 for the season. Rydwelski continues to impress with seven
wins by fall, four wins by technical fall and 45 takedowns this season. Wrestling at 190, Paul Peradotti also had a
5-1 record for a 17-2 record on the season.
Peradotti is third in the pin category with 11.