W. Aurora qualifies 4 to state
West Aurora senior Nicholas Drendel was one of three athletes to remain undefeated on the season after his catlike move in the finals at 125 pounds produced a stunningly fast fall Saturday at the Class 3A Downers Grove North sectional.
“I just did a move I do all the time,” said Drendel. “He came out at me strong. My goal is to go out and win every match. Rankings don’t mean anything.”
Drendel enters his third straight state tournament at 38-0.
“(Drendel) is wrestling great,” said West Aurora coach Mike DiNovo. “He’s one of the smartest wrestlers I have seen in terms of positioning and technique.”
West Aurora was the area leader on the day.
With nine athletes making the sectional cut, Drendel will be joined in Champaign with three teammates.
Brandon Walz had a stunning pin over Batavia sophomore Joey Shump to advance via fourth place, and Greg Jacquez and Miguel Venecia will make a second appearance.
St. Charles East has two state qualifiers in the persons of Isaiah Vela and Nick Ruffino.
The two both suffered championship losses via pin.
“I think I wrestled this tournament better than any tournament I have this year,” said Ruffino. “Beating Venecia gave me a great shot of confidence.”
The 130-pounder has able company in Vela, who nearly pinned Brayan Gonzalez in the second period of their championship match at 119 pounds.
“I thought I had him, but he got me,” Vela said of the striking turn of events that resulted in Gonzalez negotiating a third-period fall.
Tim Noverini became the first athlete in St. Charles North history to become a two-time state qualifier.
“I was happy about it about an hour ago, but not so much now,” Noverini said of a disappointing third-place loss at 145 pounds. “Next year I’m definitely going for first place.”
None of the three Geneva sectional qualifiers advanced to the state tournament.
Cody Pych was the lone man standing for South Elgin.
The 160-pounder advanced to the semifinals with an 11-3 verdict over Neuqua Valley junior Drelyn Hunt and automatically qualified for the individual state wrestling tournament at the University of Illinois’ Assembly Hall this weekend by posting a 13-3 major-decision win over Metea Valley sophomore Breon Hoosier.
“Leading up to the final, I was very happy,” said Pych. “I was on a roll and taking it one match at a time.”
But Pych had a fearsome foe in the championship match: top-seeded Brother Rice senior Malik Taylor. Pych was competitive early against Taylor, but the Chicago senior caught Pych in a vulnerable position midway through the final period and pinned the Storm junior.
“I was very happy that (Pych) came at me,” said Taylor. “That’s what wrestling is all about. You don’t want guys running away from you.”
“He had a great weekend,” South Elgin coach Mark Cameron said of his lone state qualifier. “I told him going (into the championship match), ‘Let it fly and see what happens.’ It will allow us to put together a game plan if we see (Taylor) again.”
Cory Pych, a South Elgin 103-pound freshman, and Ricky Garcia, a South Elgin 171-pounder, were eliminated.
“They had to wrestle better than they have all season (to advance) and it didn’t happen,” said Cameron.