Glenbard North's DuPage Valley streak hits 12
With a perfect record and now three straight DVC titles, Glenbard North junior Joey Gosinski has added quite a bit this year to what already has been a fine wrestling career.
But make no mistake, Gosinski and his teammates had their focus Saturday on coming away from Wheaton North with the program's 12th straight league championship.
"It feels real well (to extend the streak)," said Gosinski (37-0), who advanced to the final with a major decision and a pin before defeating West Aurora's O.J. Quintanilli 10-1 in the title bout. "The last thing we wanted to do as a team was not win conference."
Panthers coach Mark Hahn had hoped for more than three individual champs, but those three titlists, three runners-up and one third-place showing helped Glenbard North score 214.5 points to hold off strong pushes from both Wheaton Warrenville South (180.5) and Glenbard East (175.0).
Naperville Central (161.0) and Naperville North (146.5) rounded out the top five after the Redhawks had a trio of runner-up finishes and the Huskies came away with a pair of champions.
"We did what we had to do, I guess," Hahn said. "We would have liked to have a couple more champions, but it is a tough conference and we knew it would be tough."
Glenbard North fared best in the lower weights where Johnny Gosinski won at 103 pounds and Bryan Gonzalez won at 112, while finalist teammates Brian Murphy (130 pounds), Mario Rodriguez (135) and Jon Salazar (145) each placed second.
The Tigers' second-place team showing was sparked by crowns from Mark Savenok at 130 and Spartak Chino at 140. For Savenok, a junior who qualified for state as freshman, it was nice capper to a regular season that followed a sophomore campaign that was lost to injury.
"I was hoping to win, but I knew that kid was tough and he wrestled me well," he said of the 6-4 overtime defeat of Murphy. "I worked hard all year so coming into this year I expected to do well."
Glenbard East charged up to third in the team standings after heavyweight Spencer George (33-3) defeated Wheaton North's Sam Weatherred 7-2 to give the Rams four champs. Also taking first were Parker Settecase (215), Sam Pennisi (171) and Stefan Ivanov (160).
The Huskies had a strong showing as 135-pounder Nick McDonnell (6-1) won at 135 and Adam Hankin improved to 34-2 on the year after dominating the 145 field with a pair of falls and a 14-5 major decision of Salazar in the finals. Jack Fissinger (275) and Frank McKeown (125) took third for a Naperville North team that returns 12 of its 14 wrestlers next season.
"It was awesome," Hankin said of claiming his first DVC title. "I wanted to be aggressive in the whole match and keep him on defense. That way I wouldn't have to worry too much, but it took a lot of energy."
West Chicago's Nick Carnot (152) and Jon White (189) claimed titles, while West Aurora's Miguel Venecia took first at 119. The Redhawks' Nick Santos (119), Andy Kovalsky (140) and Joe Savina (160) came away with seconds.