Neuqua Valley settles old score with West Aurora
Neuqua Valley had a score to settle.
The Wildcats wrestlers had their collective eyes on West Aurora, looking for redemption after the Blackhawks denied them a slot in the team sectional last winter by capturing the Class AA East Aurora individual regional.
Not to mention the teams' dual meet last season as well.
One day after an important Upstate Eight Conference dual-meet win over St. Charles East, Neuqua Valley swept its slate at the Wheaton Warrenville South Mega Duals on Saturday afternoon in Wheaton.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 3 in the Daily Herald Top 20, had eight wrestlers go unscathed on the day, and Neuqua Valley celebrated its victories over state-ranked Rockton Hononegah and Daily Herald No. 4 West Aurora with a one-sided whitewashing of Oswego to improve to 6-1 on the season.
The eight-team field was not bracketed, meaning Lockport duplicated the Wildcats' feat with a trio of wins as well.
"We just wanted to bring it back together as a team," said Neuqua Valley senior Chris Spangler, a former state champion who had a pair of falls and a decision at 171 pounds.
The expected second-round showdown between West Aurora and Neuqua Valley lost some of its luster when the Blackhawks were tripped by Lockport as the Wildcats were handling Hononegah 34-15.
Neuqua Valley scored 20 unanswered points against West Aurora over the first four matches, but the Blackhawks responded with 15 straight of their own.
Andy Spangler and Matt Cavallaris had back-to-back falls to give Neuqua Valley a 32-15 lead down the stretch, but West Aurora rebounded once again, using Tanner Andrews' major decision and a Josh Zinzer fall to climb with seven with two matches to go.
But Neuqua Valley sophomore Alex Cizek clinched the Wildcats' victory with a fall of his own at 135 pounds, and Matt Walters' technical fall solidified the Wildcats' 43-25 victory.
"I just knew I had to stay focused to help out the team," Cizek said. "It was a basic move (to secure the fall). I just did what I had to do."
Brian Epp, Nick Proctor and Jimmy Duffy joined the Spanglers, Walters, Cizek and Cavallaris as unblemished on the day for Neuqua Valley.
"Our kids are wrestling well," said Neuqua Valley coach Mick Ruettiger. "We have some very good experienced kids and we're trying to mix that up with the up-and-coming kids."
Naperville Central came into the tournament licking its chops after a one-sided loss to West Aurora on Friday night, but the Redhawks applied the adage of every day bringing new opportunity.
The Redhawks started poorly against St. Charles East, only to ease past Oswego 46-27 before giving Lockport all it could handle.
WW South is 3-2 on the year after sandwiching a 50-15 victory over Oswego between losses to Hononegah and St. Charles East.
"We're going to be a competitive team," said WW South coach Ryan Ferguson, who hopes to regain five starters this week from the football squad.
St. Charles East had a pair of decisive wins to offset its 31-22 loss to Lockport in the second round.
The Saints' sextet of Alex Maynard (103 pounds), Brandon Rubino (112), Cody Crawford (125), Daniel Mercadante (135), Billy Diamond (171) and Adam Schaefer (189) were flawless on the afternoon to guide their 47-20 and 57-18 wins over Naperville Central and Wheaton Warrenville South, respectively.