Naperville Central's depth wins out against Metea Valley
The Naperville Central wrestling team has depth, and with the Redhawks facing competition three straight days this week, coach Noah Fitzenreider is not hesitating to use it.
That depth was evident in Friday night's 50-15 win at Metea Valley in a lineup that had a mixture of veterans and those new to the varsity.
"Our studs are wrestling well, but we had some guys wrestling their first varsity match tonight and they won," Fitzenreider said. "We're mixing the lineup well. Some guys are switching weights to give other guys a breather."
The Naperville Central coach said Ryan Chitwood (113 pounds) and Leo Keating (132) competed in their first varsity match and each won their bouts. Chitwood won by fall in 2:57, and Keating won by a 4-2 decision.
Mathew Kaszuba (145) prevailed over his opponent also by a fall at 1:35. It was only his second varsity battle.
"You have to keep moving on varsity. You can't stay in one place (on the mat). That's why I lost my first match. That didn't happen tonight," he said.
Seven other Naperville Central wrestlers went home victorious. The list includes Tyler Driessens at 106 (forfeit), Colin Baumgartner at 120 (major decision), Fabricio Navarro at 138 (fall at 1:53), Nick Keating at 152 (fall at 1:38), Derek McDaniel at 160 (major decision), Jackson Punzel at 182 (decision) and Ben Cianchetti at 220 (fall at: 48).
The Redhawks were going to be right back on the mat Saturday at the Hoffman Estates Hawk Invite. They are defending champs.
"There are some good individuals there, some state placers. I want to see how we do against them," Fitzenreider said.
Four Metea grapplers earned victories. Harsh Anchan won by decision at 126 with Jason Labarbera (170) winning by a 3-1 decision thanks to a late reversal. Jake Tyards prevailed by decision at 195 and Henry Hartl won by fall at: 28 at 285.
Mustangs coach Claudio Torres said Tyards had a particularly good week of practice.
"There were a couple of techniques we added to his offense at practice. And he actually scored twice tonight off those techniques," Torres said.
Metea is at the Maine South Quad on Saturday. Torres said it will be a good opportunity for a young team that needs experience.