Glenbard North, West Aurora advance to state
The DuPage Valley Conference did not show much mercy to its two foes from the Upstate Eight Conference on Tuesday night in Darien. But it was entirely different feelings for Glenbard North and West Aurora at the Class 3A Hinsdale South dual team wrestling sectional.
For the Panthers their 45-21 victory over Lake Park — secured with a 27-point unanswered run after the Lancers tied the dual meet with consecutive falls — was their 11th sectional crown since 1998.
It was another matter altogether for West Aurora; its unanswered runs of 18 points to start and 20 points to end its 48-15 triumph over Neuqua Valley meant the first Elite Eight appearance in program history.
The Blackhawks (22-3) will face defending state champion Minooka, which turned back Marist in the third sectional at Hinsdale South, at 11 a.m. Saturday in Bloomington. Glenbard North faces Lyons Twp.
“The DVC is a tough wrestling conference,” said Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn. “We had a lot of high place-winners over the weekend (at the individual state tournament in Champaign). I hope we meet (West Aurora) in the finals.”
Any hope Neuqua Valley (14-13) had of the Blackhawks being overconfident due to their one-sided win in the regular season evaporated quickly. The Blackhawks’ four individual state qualifiers — Brandon Walz (103), Nicholas Drendel (125), Miguel Venecia (130) and Greg Jacquez (140) — all wrestled up a class in winning their matches. Drendel opened with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Julian Ochoa, and the West Aurora lead soon swelled to 18-0 with back-to-back falls by Venecia, Nathan Pealstrom and a Jacquez win at 145.
“(Ochoa) went out there to keep the match close,” said Drendel, 43-1 on the season. “He did a good job of it.”
“We actually got off to a great start,” Neuqua Valley coach Mick Ruettiger said of Ochoa losing to Drendel, third in state at 125, by a point. “I thought the draw was pretty decent for us (at 130).”
Neuqua Valley won four of the next six matches, including a Casey Greenberg fall at 189 pounds, to stay within striking distance. But Aaron Hett trumped two of the decisions with a first-period fall at 171 pounds for West Aurora, and seldom used freshman Anthony DeCarlo virtually clinched the team score with another first-period fall at 103 pounds.
“I was just excited (to still be competing),” Hett said. “I was ready to go out there and beat their guy.”
“I just knew I had to go out there and fight until I won,” DeCarlo said.
Walz had a technical fall at 112 pounds, regional champion Albert Tijerino secured a win at 119 pounds for West Aurora and Joseph DeCarlo had a third-period fall to conclude the Blackhawks’ 20-0 match-ending run.
“Top to bottom, it was just a great dual,” said West Aurora coach Mike DiNovo. “We’re such an individual-driven sport. They (the 10 non-state qualifiers) just answered the bell.”
Luke Piggot and Andrew Geers, the Wildcats’ two state qualifiers, finished the season a combined 81-17 with their two decisions.
Lake Park entered its match with Glenbard North with an uphill battle. Coach Todd Raymond did not enter competitors at 103, 130 and 140 pounds, giving the Panthers (24-4) an 18-point cushion.
“We didn’t have to (forfeit the three classes),” Raymond said. “It was a choice we made. The bottom line is, Lake Park wrestling is not at the level Glenbard North is at. My goal was to win seven, eight matches. We got beat by a good team.”
But the Lancers (20-10) did put a scare into Glenbard North. Chris Kowalski and Eric Thompson had back-to-back falls at 171 and 189 pounds to tie the score at 18-18. But the Lake Park run proved to be a mirage as the Panthers struck back with 27 straight points in a five-match run.
Zach Dorkee began the unanswered run with a third-period fall at 215 for Glenbard North, which then had wins by heavyweight Dan Bugle and 103-pounder Jon Marmolejo.
Richard Browne capped the run with a fall at 119 pounds. Tom Collum and Joey Gosinski framed the Panthers’ approach to the Elite Eight this weekend.
“The coaches all told me I had to step it up tonight,” said Collum, who had a whitewash win at 135 pounds.
“One down, three to go,” said Gosinksi, the Panthers’ two-time state champion. “We got pins when we needed to. We got bonus points when we needed them. We’re trying to prepare the same (for the state tournament).”
“There are four or five teams that could win it all,” Hahn said.