Wheaton Warrenville South perfect at St. Charles East
Karl Fowler had only one thing on his mind.
"I was thinking we had a big rivalry with Naperville (Central)," the West Aurora heavyweight wrestler said. "Now that we left the DVC we don't get to face them. I really wanted to take that kid down."
The Blackhawks trailed their former DuPage Valley Conference rival 29-27 at the St. Charles East Mega Duals Saturday afternoon.
But Fowler forced overtime against the Redhawks' Hayden Saldivar and then secured the victory for West Aurora with a dramatic takedown two seconds before the extra period ended.
"Our big guys really came through for us and duked it out at the end," said first-year West Aurora coach Charlie Curran.
West Aurora began its day with a surprisingly easy 46-27 victory over the No. 13-ranked host Saints, who had a fruitless day after losses to Libertyville and Wheaton Warrenville South.
Naperville Central, which handled forfeit-addled Neuqua Valley with ease in its opener, came back after its narrow loss in the middle match to ease past Oswego.
"Congrats to (West Aurora)," Naperville Central coach Rob Porter said of the closest match of the day. "They won all the close matches. When you win all the close matches, you're probably going to come out with the victory."
Fowler, Taylor Zimmerman and Xavier Bijarro all had pins against St. Charles East for West Aurora (3-3), which ended its day with a one-sided loss to fourth-ranked Rockton Hononegah.
Brothers Carlos and Isaac Jacques are a combined 26-0 for the Blackhawks after their three wins each, including falls against St. Charles East at 120 and 113 pounds, respectively.
"Everyone came together (against Naperville Central)," said Carlos Jacquez, who extended his season-opening winning streak to 14 matches.
It was a historic day for Naperville Central senior Ben Williamson.
In extending his perfect season, the Redhawks' returning state qualifier at 138 pounds established a new school record for career wins with 105.
"Ben had a great day," Porter said.
After dropping a 36-30 verdict against Libertyville, host St. Charles East had a 24-21 lead on WW South.
But the Tigers' Andrew Leonard had a fall at 182 pounds to spearhead a 14-0 WW South run that gave the team a 34-27 win over the Saints.
"It's a great start to the season," said WW South senior Qarin Johnnic, who extended his unbeaten streak to nine matches at 145 pounds. "I am just taking it one match at a time."
WW South improved to 8-1 with one-sided wins over Oswego and Neuqua Valley.
Neuqua Valley is winless on the year after six matches as the team was forced to forfeit eight classes.
"We don't have the varsity kids right now," Neuqua Valley coach Mick Ruettiger said. "We battled today as much as we could with six kids."
Anthony Rubino was the lone athlete to go undefeated on the day for St. Charles East (2-3).
"I would never have thought this," St. Charles East coach Jason Potter said of the Saints' three straight defeats. "There's no excuse. We were flat, but we did things that we normally don't do. We have to go back to the drawing board to fix things."