Wheaton North snaps Glenbard North's long DVC streak
Glenbard North's long reign as the DuPage Valley Conference's best wrestling program had to end sometime.
That time was Saturday, the place was Lake Park and the new champion is Wheaton North.
The Falcons used a series of critical championship and consolation victories to end the Panthers' 18-year winning streak.
The Falcons had twice as many champions - four - than any of the other eight programs to earn a hard-fought 236-233 victory over Glenbard North.
The Wheaton North 6-point lead over Glenbard North based on regular-season dual meets entering the tournament was equally important.
Naperville Central (194 points) and Naperville North (184) were considerably behind the two front-runners for third and fourth place.
Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley, Wheaton Warrenville South, Waubonsie Valley and Lake Park rounded out the field.
Duncan Nelson was at the center of the Falcons' victory.
Pitted against fellow state-ranked Glenbard North 145-pounder Abe Assad in the championship match, Nelson had one of only two falls in the 14 title matches for a 6-point team swing.
"I got a takedown in the first period and had to keep trying the entire match," Nelson said. "I never stopped wrestling when I got the fall. Most of (my teammates) were just worrying about individually - and if we win - it takes care of the team."
"We knew we could do it after (the Nelson pin)," said Wheaton North 160-pound champion Devin Donovan. "It was intense. Every match came down to the last minute."
Wheaton North coach Travis Cherry was a member of four straight Glenbard North conference championship teams.
"Talking to my coaches, I knew going into 45 that we needed that match," Cherry said. "I think that was the make-or-break (match) right there. We needed the bonus points."
Wheaton North also earned championship efforts from Jaime Suarez and Frankie Indelli at 126 and 132 pounds.
The Panthers still have a 17-year regional title streak going heading into next Saturday's Class 3A meet at Leyden.
"Hey, no one even thought we would be that close (to Wheaton North)," said retiring Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. "We scored a lot of points. Hats off to Wheaton North; they worked harder than us in the off-season."
Two-time Glenbard North defending state champion Austin Gomez ended the season-long 31-match winning streak of Naperville Central senior Jake Keating in the 138-pound finals with a technical fall.
"He's a great wrestler," Keating said of the nation's second-ranked wrestler in the division.
"Austin was just in another league," Hahn said of his Iowa State-bound superstar.
WW South senior Andrew Leonard also snapped the unblemished winning streak of Waubonsie Valley 195-pounder Mason Kroening.
In avenging his only two losses on the season, like Gomez, Leonard earned co-MVP honors with his 6-4 triumph.
The other champions in the lower to middle weights were: 106 pounds, Lake Park junior Luke Badger; 113, Naperville North junior Lucas Van Poucke; 120, Metea Valley sophomore Phillip Sims; 152, Glenbard North junior Anthony Marre.
Placide Niygena (WW South), Cam Martin (Naperville North), Nick Sondag (Waubonsie Valley) and Bobby Papiernik (Metea Valley) captured titles at 170, 182, 220 and heavyweight, respectively.