Naperville Central dominates at West Aurora
The first weekend in December will not soon be forgotten by the members of the Naperville Central wrestling team.
One day after ending the 18-year Glenbard North DuPage Valley Conference dual-meet winning streak with a decisive 24-point victory, the Redhawks had few issues in becoming the only team to sweep the West Aurora Mega Duals on Saturday.
Kyle Guttosch (106 pounds), Nick Keating (132), Jake Keating (145), Derek McDaniel (152), Luke Russell (160), Jackson Punzel (170) and 220-pounder Christian Nussbaum all went undefeated on the day to lead the Redhawks (6-1).
"I think coming out and being consistent in every match (was the difference)," said Jake Keating, the Redhawks' lone returning state qualifier. "We came out with the same intensity in every match. I have some stuff I need to work on."
Naperville Central opened the morning session with a 35-25 triumph over St. Charles East. The Redhawks dispatched Rockton Hononegah 43-23 in the middle match and ended the day by handing host West Aurora a one-sided 56-19 defeat.
"I'm not where I need to be," Nussbaum said. "There's a lot of room, not just for me but the entire team, for growing."
"Hononegah gave us a beating last year," Naperville Central coach Noah Fitzenreider said. "We were really young last year. We knew we were going to have three pretty tough duals. It's nice to win but even better to have a really strong showing against three traditional powers."
Wheaton Warrenville South and Neuqua Valley were also in the field Saturday in Aurora.
The Tigers began their day with a 34-28 victory over the host Blackhawks. WW South denied Libertyville 38-28 before dropping a 29-21 decision to Oswego in its finale.
Andrew Leonard is the Tigers' one known commodity as a returning state qualifier, and the senior 195-pounder - despite being ill - captured all three of his matches.
The Tigers' Matt Dalan and Max Wilson also went unblemished on the day at 160 and 220 pounds, respectively.
"I think the guys going for bonus points helped the situation (in the two wins)," WW South coach Matt Janosek said. "We still have a ways to go on practicing our finer points."
WW South is 5-3 this season.
Neuqua Valley dropped all three of its matches to Libertyville, Oswego and Hononegah. But the Wildcats' Tyler Cristofaro, Dennis Murphy and Jake Mohler had productive days with nine combined wins.
Cristofaro captured all of his matches at 170 pounds; Murphy and Mohler were undefeated at 120 and 138 pounds.
"We take away some points of emphasis," Neuqua Valley coach Mick Ruettiger said after the Wildcats fell to 3-3. "We need to stay tougher in difficult situations."
St. Charles East responded after its double-digit loss to Naperville Central with consecutive wins over Libertyville (30-21) and Hononegah (33-30).
The Saints' Joe Ruffino has to be careful about his diet as a 106-pounder. But the senior bumped up a weight to 113 on Saturday and won all three of his matches for the Saints.
"I got to eat yesterday, so I felt a little bloated," Ruffino said. "I got to work a little hard there. (I was) really working on my (technique) and listening to my coaches."
Ruffino, a returning state qualifier, extended his season-opening winning streak to seven matches.
Tommy Schroeder was the only other St. Charles East athlete to go undefeated in the Saints' three matches. The 138-pounder was instrumental in St. Charles East denying Hononegah in the final match.
"Tommy Schroeder really stepped up today," St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said.
Potter was in much better spirits with the Saints' last two duals.
"I wasn't satisfied with how we started the day, obviously," Potter said. "We didn't overlook (Naperville Central). We knew they were a tough team. We lost control of the dual from the get-go. We can't start a day off like that. At the end of the year that will cost you your season."
West Aurora senior Isaac Jacquez will seek his fourth consecutive Class 3A state finals appearance this season. The Blackhawks' standout had one of the most dominant performances on the day with a pair of falls and a technical fall.
"I have been working on my technique and trying to help the guys out," said Jacquez, a 126-pounder. "I set my pace really high, and after a while kids started breaking down."
It appeared the Blackhawks were going to suffer three consecutive defeats after their battles with Oswego, WW South and Naperville Central.
But West Aurora had a surprise at the end of the day when coach Andrew Plata - thinking the team had lost on criteria to Oswego after the two teams deadlocked at 35-35 - discovered the team actually won on the third tiebreaker.
One-hundred-thirty-eight pounder Johnny Acevedo, who went undefeated for West Aurora, had a technical fall in the match against Oswego to improve the Blackhawks' record to 5-6.
"Naperville Central, we knew they were tough," Plata said. "We knew that was going to be a grinder. Two out of the three were definitely close. They came down to the final match."
The Blackhawks' Reece Corbin (120 pounds), Aaron Medlin (152), Steven Norman (195), Brian Mercado (220) and heavyweight Josh Mayhew also picked up wins in the third criteria win over Oswego (4-1).