Naperville Central proves point against Naperville North
The Naperville Central wrestling squad was ready for the cross-town classic against Naperville North Friday night. So much in fact that it was out to prove a point.
Naperville Central beat the Huskies 40-19 as two Redhawks won by pin, one by technical fall and two by major decisions. But the final score didn't indicate how close of a match it was early on.
The Huskies trailed 13-3 but got a pin from Jack Fissinger (285 pounds) and a major decision from Wayne Yaun (103) to knot the score 13-13.
"I knew I had the butcher in and it was only a matter of time before I could pin him," Fissinger said. "I knew when I got on top I would be in good shape. I thought I would have pinned him (James Mitchell) a couple of times, but he was a tough dude."
But after those back-to-back wins, the Redhawks went on to win the next six matches. Naperville Central's John Graeber (135) had an impressive performance over Matt Feldmeier as he was able to score a takedown and keep busy and get backpoints numerous times. Graeber, who won 14-2, said that the whole team had a good week of practice leading up to this match.
"We really wanted to beat North tonight," Graeber said. "I didn't wrestle as much as I would have liked on my feet, but I was able to keep rolling him on his back and getting back points. I was really working on my leg riding because that was something I have been working on."
Naperville Central's Andy Kovalsky (140) had the most dominating performance of the night as he earned a technical fall against Garrett Panno 20-5. Kovalsky led 16-4 after the first period and was cutting Panno, or letting him up, in order to take him down to get the technical fall.
"I was really hyped for this meet and really wanted to take it to him," Kovalsky said. "I knew that I had to work my shots and get some takedowns to score. After the first couple of matches, it was a little nerve-racking but I had confidence in this team and we really turned it on. Overall, we wrestled pretty well."
Naperville North's Adam Hankin (145) pinned Cam Needham at the 3:25 mark of the match after getting numerous slams and eventually catching him on his back to give the Huskies their second pinfall of the night.