Panthers cruise past Naperville C.
For Glenbard North, it's not just who hits the mat during varsity meets.
It's the time the Panthers put in during practice that makes them an elite wrestling team.
Glenbard North put on a rather impressive display Thursday night against Naperville Central as the Panthers cruised to a 64-8 win on the road.
"We have a lot of depth this season," 145-pound Vince Ramos said. "Between our varsity and our JV we are so competitive. We have been working so hard this season, and it is taking us all to a new level. We just want to go out and dominate every time we hit the mat. Complete dominance, that is what we aim for."
The Panthers were close to that as they won all but two matches Thursday. Of the 12 wins half of them came by pinfall. Jamie Warczynski (112 pounds), Ray Varela (119), Bill Heyduk (130), Ramos (145), Justin Wahrman (160) and Jeff Jones (285) all came in the first or second periods.
"We did what we were supposed to tonight," Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. "They battled us tough in every weight class. Central is a young team, but they are going in the right direction."
Jon Coluzzi (152) scored a major decision against Corey Hope and Chris Graeber (171) major-decisioned Ryan Hope for the Redhawks' only two wins on senior night.
"It was nice to have two of our seniors end with a win," Naperville Central coach Rob Porter said. "We wanted to go out and give them a match in every match. We did that. We wanted to go out and make Glenbard North work and not just roll over for them and allow them to pin us.
"We used Glenbard North as a measuring stick to see where we match up as a team and individually. They are one of the nation's best public schools."
-- Jason Watt
Wheaton North 46, Batavia 11:ŒWheaton North's 52-year-old wrestling program saw Nate Fitzenreider set a new program record for career wins with his victory at 125 pounds against Batavia.
Maybe.
"We have a discrepancy on a match from his sophomore year, so he either tied or broke the record tonight," said Falcons coach Steve Holland.
Either way, former Falcon Matt Redmond's record of 133 wins is on life support, courtesy of Fitzenreider's stellar four-year varsity career. Redmond and Fitzenreider's older brother Jason were seniors when he won his first varsity match as a freshman in the fall of 2004, against Proviso East's Terry Murphy.
"I remember how Redmond and my brother would drill and how hard they worked in practice," Fitzenreider said. "They showed me the path."
Wheaton North (18-5) won 46-11 over Batavia (15-8), winning 10 of the 13 matches wrestled on the night against a Bulldogs team that forfeited at 152 and wrestled minus five starters.
"We're also missing our 112-pounder, and we have the conference tournament coming up on Saturday, so I figured we'd get a few other guys some experience," said Batavia coach Tom Arlis.
"We had some kids get a good taste of not just a varsity match, but a match against a very good team."
The Batavia forfeit started the night before the Bulldogs' Danny Watson earned a 3-1 edge in takedowns to win a 7-6 decision over Dominick Schmit at 160 pounds. The Falcons' Harry Myers won 6-1 over Luis Campos at 171, and teammate Mark Hane won 5-0 at 189 over Batavia's Travis Anderson.
The Bulldogs' Ethan Huggins next grinded out a 7-6 win at 215 over Brian Buri.
"(Schmit) beat Watson the last time they wrestled, and Huggins did a nice job tonight," Arlis said.
Falcons heavyweight Alex Woltman followed by staying aggressive throughout a 3-0 win over Jake Hilliard. Woltman has been back in the lineup for roughly a month.
"Alex had a bad injury at the start of the season. We didn't know if he'd be able to wrestle," Holland said. "He's just now rounding into shape, and he did a nice job."
Batavia's Logan Arlis won by technical fall at 103 to cut the Falcons' lead to 15-11, but Wheaton North ran away with the next seven matches, starting with a pin from Adrian Laskero at 112 and a 12-6 decision at 119 from Jake Dore.
Batavia's Charlie Ryan held Fitzenreider to a 6-1 decision at 125, Jake Denhof won by pin at 130, and Bobby Munro wrestled up a weight and beat a tough wrestler in Rocco Wade by 9-6 decision.
"I knew that (Wade) head-locked Ryan Earley last year, but other than that I didn't know much about him. I just tried to keep it close on my feet," said Munro, who had a takedown in every period of his 9-6 decision.
Ryan Earley followed with a pin at 140 before Eric Terrazas won a 20-7 major decision at 145 pounds to end the night.
-- Gary Larsen
Boys swimming
St. Charles North 100, Waubonsie Valley 85:ŒThere are nights when you just have to try to tough out a dual swim meet -- and Thursday was just such a night for both St. Charles North and Waubonsie Valley.
But even nights like this, when neither team was able to successfully transition from heavy training to superior racing, are important as both teams enter the final five weeks of the season.
St. Charles North used a strong first half of the meet to claim a 100-85 Upstate Eight Conference victory.
Waubonsie Valley had a strong back half to the meet and swept the events starting with the 200 freestyle relay through the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay.
Of the Warriors who had a strong meet was Mack King. The freshman set personal bests while he finished fifth in the 200 freestyle and second in the 500 freestyle.
"I think I did pretty well," King said. "I got some best times, which is pretty good for this time of the season. Everyone did pretty well today. I like swimming the longer races."
Both teams have an increased meet workload due to the meet rescheduling. Waubonsie Valley hosts DuPage Valley Conference power Naperville North tonight for its senior night dual meet.
"I like when things are closer together," King said. "I don't know why, but it makes it more intense when it's like that."
-- Darryl Mellema
Girls basketball
Wheaton North 49, Naperville North 28:ŒWheaton North's success is based on the fact that anyone on the team can play any position.
It was the Falcons' transition game with all five players taking turns to lead the fast break that put away host Naperville North early for a 49-28 victory.
The win kept the Falcons undefeated in the DuPage Valley Conference at 8-0, 14-5 overall.
"Our bigs can get out and run the floor," said Wheaton North coach David Eaton. "(Michelle) Scandora and (Brittany) Nelson can get out and run the floor. Everyone can do that. That's why we play that style. We try to make other teams keep up with us."
The Falcons took a 17-9 lead at the end of the first quarter as their defense caused numerous Huskies turnovers and the 6-foot-1 Scandora got behind the defense three times for layups.
"Naperville North is good at penetration, so on defense we concentrated on keeping them out of the paint," said Allie Cerone, who led the Falcons with 15 points.
Wheaton North increased the lead to 33-15 at the half with Cerone hitting a pair of 3-pointers. She had three on the night and Madison Goudy hit two.
"We used our fastbreak for a lot of buckets," Cerone said. "But we were also hitting from the outside."
Naperville North (3-16, 2-6) kept hustling after the intermission and scored the first two baskets on layups by Haley Krentz and Erica Schertz. Krentz led the Huskies with 10 points.
But after a dry spell Wheaton North countered with a perimeter basket by Cerone and a 3-pointer by Goudy to seal the game.
"We try to focus on ending the game in the first two minutes of the second half," Cerone said. "But give them credit. They really took the ball to the basket."
Naperville North coach Jay Wachtel was pleased with his team's effort but disappointed with the turnovers and the Huskies' inability to finish plays that worked well up until the shot or the last pass.
"At the beginning we broke their press," Wachtel said. "We ran our offense and we were very strong with the ball. Then we'd go down and throw the ball out of bounds or throw the ball to them. Turnovers, missed shots and getting points on the board have been our weaknesses. We've been playing better. We just have to put some points on the board."
Wachtel was encouraged that the Huskies defense, which gave up 70 points to the Falcons earlier in the year, surrendered only 49 Thursday.
"Wheaton North has a lot of talented girls," Wachtel said. "They run their stuff pretty good, they work hard on defense and they make life miserable for everybody. When their shooting is on they're a really good team."
-- Neil Shalin
West Aurora 65, Glenbard North 36:#338;West Aurora came out running and pressing, and visiting Glenbard North just wasn't up to the challenge.
It was a case of the Blackhawks (14-6, 6-2) having too much quickness, too much talent, and too much Kyra Watson. The senior scored 23 points and pulled down 17 boards to lead her team to a 65-36 win in DuPage Valley Conference action.
"We just wanted it, and when we want something we go and get it," Watson said. "That's what I like about my team."
West Aurora's defense set the tone in the opening minutes as Tyronza McGowan and Briannica Tye ball-hawked their way into a series of first quarter steals that in turn sparked the Blackhawks' offense.
"We're a pretty quick team, so we try to pressure the ball as much as possible to get teams to make mistakes," Tye said. "That feeds into our offense."
McGowan was a force at both ends of the court, finishing the game with 13 points, 6 steals and 6 assists.
"She has a great work ethic and leads by example," West Aurora coach Connie Siljendahl said. "Both (McGowan) and Briannica have a lot of energy out there."
After hitting 5 of their first 7 shots, the Blackhawks were up 10-4, and by the midway mark of the first quarter all five of West Aurora's starters had scored.
"We're really blending well as a team," Siljendahl said. "Everybody was ready to shoot the ball, and we have to have that balance."
Leading 19-9 after one quarter, West Aurora blew the game open, thanks in part to 3-pointers by Devin Vaughn and Sam Alvis. By halftime the Blackhawks enjoyed a 34-13 cushion.
"We did some things tonight that we've been working on," Siljendahl said. "I love our enthusiasm out there, and they're working hard."
But Glenbard North (5-15, 2-6) regrouped and showed improvement at the start of the second half. Led by Megan Ney, who finished the game with 14 points and 9 rebounds, the Panthers were able to go toe to toe with West Aurora for most of the third quarter.
"We let it get away from us in the second quarter," Glenbard North coach Mark Glenn said. "After that it's pretty hard to get back in the game against a team that's quicker than you."
-- Henry Perez
Hinsdale South 49, Batavia 41:#338;Hinsdale South's hard work practicing its defense immediately paid dividends.
Coming off a poor defensive performance last weekend, the Hornets went to work sharpening their defense at practice. The extra attention propelled Hinsdale South to a 49-41 victory over Batavia in Darien, as the Hornets entered the game prepared to defend Batavia's size in the post.
"We played poor team defense over at Downers Grove North on Saturday, so we worked a lot on fronting the post and getting people help side," Hinsdale South coach Brenda Whitesell said. "Batavia takes you off the dribble so hard. We tried to switch to a couple zones, but then they shoot the ball, so we knew we had to play them in man-to-man."
Trailing 19-18 at the half, Hinsdale South (15-6) switched up its offensive style, opting more for a free-style attack based predominantly on spacing.
"We were getting so involved in running plays #8230; that we weren't looking at who was really open," Whitesell said. "We were just trying to run plays so much that we weren't looking for shots, we weren't penetrating, so we went to what we call our free offense."
The Hornets' free offense swung the momentum in Hinsdale South's favor, fueling a 10-2 Hornets' run that gave the home team a 28-21 third-quarter lead.
Batavia cut the Hornets' lead to 38-37 midway through the fourth quarter before Hinsdale South began pulling away. Three Sam Schimmel free throws gave the Hornets some separation to the tune of a 43-37 lead, all but clinching the win for Hinsdale South.
"When I go up (to the free-throw line). I just feel like 'OK, you've got to make it. Come on, you can do it,' " Schimmel said. "I just focused on the basket, and I love taking free throws."
-- Matthew McClarey
Downers Grove South 54, Benet 45:#338;Junior guard Gianna Pecora poured in 18 points to lead the Mustangs to a nonconference road victory. Senior Kristin Stein's 12 points paced the Redwings.
Glenbard East 45, West Chicago 40:#338;The Rams came back from an 11-2 first-quarter deficit to win in the DuPage Valley Conference at West Chicago. Kelsey Taylor led the way with 18 points. For West Chicago, Jessica Baids scored 12 points and Chrissie Rovtar 10.
Boys basketball
Immaculate Conception 65, St. Benedict 47:#338;Junior Matt Purdom scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Knights (8-8) in a nonconference victory. Senior guard Brendan Ryan added 13 points.