Naperville Central's Hayes off to great start at state
CHAMPAIGN - Naperville Central senior Matt Hayes made a giant impression on the 160-pound field Thursday night in Champaign with an impressive 7-5 victory over Max Guhde of Barrington.
The win sends Hayes against Tom Czernek of Glenbard North, who along with reigning 126-pound champion Austin Gomez still remain alive in the front draw, which begins Friday morning with the 8:30 quarterfinals.
Wrestlebacks will follow, with semifinals in all three classes set to begin at 7 p.m. inside State Farm Arena at the University of Illinois.
Hayes took his victory in stride. He built a 6-3 advantage on the Barrington senior, then closed him out in the end when it appeared Guhde may have suffered an injury near the edge.
"I don't really put too much in the ratings - everyone starts out the same here, and there really isn't too much difference from all of us," said Hayes, who will look to avenge a 10-4 loss to Czernek in his quarterfinal.
Montini's Dylan Duncan, a two-time Class 2A champ, needed just over 90 seconds to pin New Trier sophomore Patrick Ryan and advance.
"Whether you're the top-rated guy in your bracket or No. 16, nobody can be taken lightly, and we all have a little case of nerves in the opener - but we've been working hard the past two weeks on fine tuning and tweaking a little here and there, so I feel like I'm ready to go this weekend," Duncan said.
After the relief of an opening-day victory at the Class 3A tournament, the duo of Jackson Schoen and Charlie Faber can turn their collective attention at the task of hand - Friday's second round, where each would like nothing more than to put both feet into Friday night's semifinals, and closer to a coveted state medal.
For both this is the second consecutive trip to Champaign. The mission, for each, is to figure a way to unlock their side of the bracket in order to get out on the other side, where all the silverware lies.
"There's a lot of big dogs down here in my weight class, but I know I can hang with all of them, which gives me as good a chance as anyone to come away with a medal," said Schoen, a three-time regional champion, who figures spending time with his older brother Austin at UW-LaCrosse last summer has been the difference in his game this season.
Austin, a former Lake Park star who medaled in 2013, the same year both he and Jackson won a regional title, has competed on the collegiate level for three years. His experience from that level is something Jackson just soaked up form his older brother.
"I was able to learn all about positioning and how to force your opponents to do things in order to take them out of their comfort zone while just getting comfortable in my all-around game as well."
"Going against Jackson just isn't a lot of fun," Lake Park coach Anthony Cirricione said.
"When he gets a lead on you, he uses that long body of his to suffocate his opponents, tying you up with his legs, and just riding hard until the final whistle blows."
Schoen had hoped to break the school record for pins with 32, but an illness late in the year erased eight or nine matches for good - leaving him with still an impressive 24 overall.
The No. 7-rated Schoen meets No. 4 Michael Ordonez of Oak Park after his 1-0 victory over Caleb Fortuna of Montini. Faber, the 113-pound junior from Glenbard West, will line up opposite of Holden Heller from Deerfield.
Except for his defeat to Oak Park's Robert Campos in the sectional finals, Faber has had the wind fully in his sails, resulting in a well-deserved state rank at No. 6 and a momentum-building 6-0 win over Trevor Chumbley of Marmion.
"What's so crucial for me is to get that first takedown. Statistics say if you do, 95 percent of the time you come out the winner," says Faber, who won 34 last season.
"If I had it to do it over, I would have come out more aggressive against McGee - to think he went on to win a state title, and it was just one takedown that did me in."
Wheaton North junior, Devin Donovan, here for the second consecutive year, won his opener and faces Lyons Township star Johnny Mologousis.