Boys gymnastics: Naperville North outperforms Naperville Central

Naperville North and Naperville Central knew they would finally return on Wednesday from a lengthy two-week hiatus.

What they didn't know was that it would also mark the surprise reappearance of each team's best gymnast.

Such returns highlighted a low-scoring 117.9 to 94.8 victory by the Huskies.

Naperville North senior Yudai Okabe, who broke his femur while training in the off-season and was expected to miss the entire spring, somehow made his way back, competing on still rings and scoring a 6.4.

"I thought he was gone for the season so I'm pleased to have him back now even if he can only compete on one event," Huskies coach Brad Foerch said. "The funny thing is that his floor and vault were actually better. He had gotten so good in the off-season."

Naperville Central senior Ryan Durkin suffered a torn shoulder labrum on March 16 and it appeared as if he might be out for the season as well.

Durkin made a surprisingly quick return too, though he is limited to just pommel horse, which he still won with a 7.5.

"You could probably tell it was the first time I've done it in awhile," Durkin said. "I was just glad to be back. For the most part it's just been working on regaining strength in physical therapy."

He'll need surgery in the off-season, but he hopes for at least one final run even if it's only on pommel horse. He was a top-five finisher at state last year on pommel horse as well as parallel bars and still rings."

Greg Liesen led the winners, claiming top honors on high bar and parallel bars, while teammate Jon Heitz won still rings, was second on floor and third on vault. Also for the Huskies, Aryc Trotz was second on high bar and third on floor.

Other key scores for the Huskies came from Mir Shah and Brian Kay on pommel horse and Cam Luedke on still rings.

"This is a rough one because we were missing some guys that didn't make all the practices over spring break, so they know the team rule and had to sit out," Foerch said. "Plus we were resting a couple kids. Still, overall, we saw some good things."

Naperville Central was in a similar situation with its lone all-around Charlie Nawara out sick.

Tahj Jacobs led the Redhawks by winning floor and vault, the only two events he participated in. That may change soon.

"We're going to have get him back on high bar, because we could use some more guys," Redhawks coach Glen Reimers said. "He's already shown what he can do on floor and vault."

Jacobs was the team's only competitor on floor exercise, and the Redhawks were short-handed with just two gymnasts on still rings and high bar. One of those gymnasts was Sam Piazza, who was promoted to the squad and finished third in those events.

"We're going to keep trying to get him developed in the other events," Reimers said. "We'll see what happens if he gets those element groups in there and brings things up."

Finally for the Redhawks, Sean Piggott earned second place on vault and parallel bars.