1/17/2025
With only
seven scorers, the Naperville Central Girls placed 9th of 18 teams
at the very competitive Batavia Girls Invitational. Incredibly, the Redhawks were in the top
three after two rounds of competition. Central
won 22 matches against 15 losses as a team in this final tournament tune-up for
IHSA Regionals in two weeks. Five Lady
Redhawks out of ten placed in the tournament and four of the five won their place
matches.
The top place winner for Central was sophomore 115 pounder Gracie Meluch. Meluch won her first two matches by fall to advance to the semifinals against Garcia from Huntley. In that match, Meluch battled to a 17-8 victory to advance to the finals. Meluch fell to Figueroa of Andrew to finish in second place. Meluch is now 22-9. Two Hawks won three of four matches and placed third. Ellen Purl, 120, scored three falls including a first period pin for third place over Lustrup of Oswego. Purl leads the team in falls with 25 and has a 26-9 record this season. Dezi Azar, 125, is now 28-4 after her bronze medal performance. Azar won by fall over Lenart of Batavia in her place match.
Sophomore
Arianna Rico won the most matches at the tournament with four and finished 4-1
for a fifth place award. Rico, 140, had
to defeat the same opponent twice: Marin-Carrasco of West Aurora to win her place
match. Rico is now tied with Purl on the
team with 26 wins and Rico leads the team in takedowns with 41. Also taking 5th place was 100-pound
standout Annika Hull. Hull, poorly
seeded faced top ranked Enos of Batavia in the quarterfinals, losing by technical
fall, but came roaring back with three straight wins to place. Hull pinned Llanos of Aurora for her podium
placement and is now 25-10 this season.
Up-and-comer Melva Gallego-Sugar saw the most mat time, going the distance
in three of her four matches. Gallego-Sugar
was nearly won in both of her defeats, losing 8-9 and 4-5, and came within a point
of placing. The rookie is now 17-12 this
season. Senior mainstay Bianco Arredondo,
125, added two more wins to her record and finished 2-2 on the day to improve
to 22-14 this year. Arredondo’s two wins
were both by fall. Both 105 pounders Ale
Perez Delgado and Bella Lopez won a match at the tournament, Perez Delgado against
Villa of McHenry, and Lopez over Jackson of Batavia. Brenna Berkowitz faced top ranked Stalley in
the first round. She lost of her matches
at the tournament at 140.