Seven Redhawks Advance to Sectionals
2/8/2025
- Orland Park (Sandburg) 208.5
- Naperville (Central) 155.0
- Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West) 147.0
- Downers Grove (North) 131.5
- Bolingbrook 92.5
- Naperville (North) 77.0
- Lombard (Glenbard East) 56.5
- Villa Park (Willowbrook) 25.0
Naperville Central finished in second place at the IHSA Individual
Regional Tournament hosted by Naperville North.
The tournament was won by Sandburg High School. Seven Redhawks will move on to the IHSA
Sectional with a chance to qualify for the state tournament. In all, NCHS won 22 matches and lost 18. Central sent six to the finals and three more
to the third-place match. With the top
three wrestlers in each weight class qualifying for sectionals, that made the
bronze medal matches the blood round.
Naperville Central battled Glenbard West for second place for most of
the tournament, including all the way into the place matches.
Three individual Redhawks brought home gold. Henry Rydwelski, 175, Paul Peradotti 190 and Will Erbeck advance to the IHSA Sectionals with a first place Regional finish under their belts. All three were seeded first and received a first-round bye in the tournament. Rydwelski defeated the fourth and third seeded wrestlers, the first against Gielarowski of Willowbrook by fall and the second against Alomari of Sandburg by major decision 13-3. By winning in the finals, Rydwelski becomes a 40-match winner with a 40-3 record for the season. Paul Peradotti scored wins against Heldson of Downers Grove North and Hoye of Sandburg (the second seed) in the tournament. Peradotti’s semifinal win over Heldson was by fall and his final win over Hoye was by major decision 11-1. Additionally, Peradotti’s win in the finals secured second place for Naperville Central over Glenbard East. Peradotti will be 34-4 heading to sectionals. Senior Will Erbeck completed the tournament without being scored upon. In the semifinals, Erbeck won 8-0 over Alhmoud of Sandburg. In the gold medal match, Erbeck squeaked by Rodriguez of DGN by a score of 1-0. Erbeck’s record is not 36-1. Due to their first-place finishes, Rydwelski, Peradotti and Erbeck will draw a first-round bye at sectionals.
Three more Hawks punched their tickets to sectionals by making
the finals and finished in second place at the regionals. Junior Dalton Meluch, 106 matched his seed
after defeating Loud of GBE in the semifinals by a score of 12-3. Meluch lost to Ortega of GBW in the finals,
but will take his 28-15 record to next week.
Junior Captain Jacob Cochran, 126 scored a team best 10 takedowns in the
regional tournament. Cochran, seeded
third, defeated McDonald by technical fall to open the tournament and defeated
Hengles of DGN in the semifinals by major decision 9-0. Cochran’s efforts in the finals fell short, losing
to Prunty of GBW 10-6. Cochran’s record
is 35-10. Senior 150 pounder CJ Bierman
entered the regionals seeded second.
Bierman posted two consecutive decisions to make the finals, first 7-0 over
Kelly of DGN and then 5-2 over Tortoriello of GBW in the semifinals. Bierman lost to Sternstein of Naperville
North in the finals, but will take his 29-11 record against his opponents next
week.
Central had three individuals in the 3rd-4th
place matches and sectional blood-round.
Vince Bern, wrestling in perhaps the most loaded weight in the tournament,
132, earned a bronze medal and a trip to sectionals. Bern, seeded fourth, won his first match by
fall over Peralta of GBE, but then lost to top-seeded Parker of Sandburg in the
semifinals. Needing two wins, Bern earned
a fall late in his match over Arrendondo of NN.
In the blood round, Bern scored a takedown in the final seconds to win
4-1 over third-seeded Chiarelli of DGN.
Bern, 34-6 will move on. Jack Schwartz,
113 finished the tournament 2-2.
Schwartz defeated Rahimi of DGN in the quarterfinals and Forsyth of GBE
by fall in the consolation semifinals.
Schwartz fell to Neil of Willowbrook to take fourth place. Schwartz finishes at 27-16 for the year. Also taking fourth was Nick Olvera, 165. Olvera defeated Hill of NN 16-10 in the
quarterfinals, but lost a heartbreaker to Taylor of GBW 2-1. Olvera locked down Mundinger’s (GBE) shoulders
to the mat to make the third-place match.
There he battled Hochgraber of Sandburg through regulation and both
overtimes to reach the “ultimate” tie breaker, but Olvera couldn’t hold on and
lost 1-0. Olvera, a sophomore, concludes
the 24-25 season with a record of 29-14.
Both Schwartz and Olvera are listed as alternates for the sectionals.
Five Hawks competed but did not place in the tournament, with
four winning at least one match. At 138
pounds, Stavros Gerousis lost to 2nd seeded Ritter from Sandburg, Gerousis
defeated Avila, Bolingbrook to move on to the consolation semifinals before
falling to Chiarelli, Downers Grove North
who was seeded fourth. Gerousis
concludes his season with a 29-18 record.
Junior Austin Schiltz wrestling at 144 pounds also finished with a 1-2
record. After losing to Camacho of Bolingbrook
, the second seed, Schiltz, wrestling at 144 pounds defeated Salerno from Glenbard
East by major decision 11-1. Schiltz
lost to Malunay of Glenbard West in the consolation semifinals. Junior Nate Sadowski, 215 pounds had a
similar regional experience losing to the 2nd and 4th
seeds, Breish of Sandburg and Olona of DGN.
Sadowski scored a first period fall in the wrestle-backs over Yannias, Glenbard
East. Sophomore Justin Skryd, 157 earned
a consolation round victory over Gallarza, GBE.
Skryd his other two matches and finishes the season 14-10. Jake Moore lost to Tiancgo, DGN, the second
seed and Beedon, Naperville North at 120 pounds. Moore concludes his season with a record of
23-16.
The IHSA Boys Individual Sectional will be held at Hinsdale Central High School and the IHSA Girls Individual Sectional will be held at Schaumburg High School. Both events will take place on Friday and Saturday, February 14-15. The top four finishers out of 12 at both boys and girls sectionals will qualify for the state tournament.