Naperville North overcomes Naperville Central
One of the greatest things about boys high school gymnastics is that kids actually have the opportunity to become high school gymnasts.
Most don't have that chance and those who do usually don't get started until their freshmen year when the only thing they know is from what they saw during the Summer Olympics or from watching Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn in "Old School."
If Weensie can vault, anyone can, right?
Those up-and-coming gymnasts from host Naperville North outdueled their crosstown rivals Naperville Central, 131.3 to 122.7 on Wednesday in a high-spirited DuPage Valley Conference meet.
"It's like a race between the two schools to see who can improve the fastest," Huskies senior captain Parker Ayars said. "A lot of us know the guys from Central anyway and both sides were cheering each other on. There's no bitter rivalry and pretty much everyone who is here came into high school knowing nothing about gymnasts."
Those who don't know about Naperville North's Michael Hunter Jr. will soon know that he's one heck of an athlete. Hunter, who advanced to state on floor and vault and took 13th on vault in the individual event finals, won floor, vault and parallel bars to lead the Huskies.
"We want to get him on more things because he's so athletic," Huskies coach Chris Stanicek said. "He has a great air sense so getting him on parallel bars was an easy transition."
Eric Loid, who will add a vault later this year to become an all-arounder, also had a solid evening for the Huskies, winning pommel horse and high bar.
"He's very subtle, but he's not flashy," Stanicek said. "You might see his set and he'll score well, but it's not like 'Whoa, that was awesome.' He's one of those kids who is consistent but quiet. The best was to describe him is that he could be one of those kids that never makes the podium but is there for the all-around."
Ayars, Loid and Hunter may have led the way for the Huskies, but Mohammad Diaby, Azaan Khan, Riyaaz Khan, Tim Kutknecht, Kyle Plank, George Polski, Gavin Shipp and Sean Swalwell also added counting scores.
"Everyone is pushing themselves and putting forth their best effort and showing improvement from our last meet," Ayars said. "Everyone knows their roles and pommel horse was an area we were looking to improve and the guys did a really good job."
The Redhawks may have lost to the Huskies, but they still consider themselves victorious.
"We were looking at 120 and we've already now surpassed that," Redhawks coach Glen Reimers said. "We started out rough for our first meet, but still pretty well. It's always good to get that first one out of the way."
Damien Dedivitis won still rings and took second place on parallel bars, and Armani Carter took second on vault and third on high bar to lead the Redhawks.
"I was itching very badly to get out there and show what I've been doing in practices," Carter said. "I think I've gotten back to where I was last year or even exceeded that."
Griffin Earl, Ethan Farrell, Sam Piazza and Joe Villa each had a third-place finish on one event apiece for the Redhawks.
"We now have certain things that we know we need to work on more," Reimers said. "So we'll get back to work on that and see what happens."