Noverini eases into semis; Geneva starts fast
Tim Noverini could not wait to return to the mat.
The St. Charles North junior, who became only the second athlete in program history to qualify for the state meet last year, eased into the semifinals of the Upstate Eight Conference Tournament at East Aurora with a dominant performance at 145 pounds.
“I pulled a muscle in my back two weeks prior to this weekend,” Noverini said after improving to 24-2 on the season with a technical fall. “I had never been hurt before in wrestling. It felt great to be out there again.”
For the first time in its history, the conference went to a two-day format to decide its individual champions in the 14 weight classes.
The two division team champions will be crowned on the basis of their dual-meet results; Geneva and Neuqua Valley can secure titles with wins next week.
Noverini will have two teammates in the semifinals this morning: Jordan Scalice at 103 pounds and 130-pounder Mike Sherry.
“We wrestled kind of flat today,” North Stars coach Ken Moromi said.
One-hundred and 52-pound favorite Sam Gustafson, a 22-match winner, was stunned by East Aurora senior Clinton Carlson.
Noverini will face Geneva sophomore Tony Castelvecchi in the first semifinal at 145.
“I won’t take him lightly,” the top seed said.
Geneva has five athletes alive in the championship bracket.
Nick Bradberry, the third seed at 152 pounds, faces second-seeded Luke Piggott (Neuqua Valley); the other half of the bracket is Larkin senior Brett Barry and top-seeded Batavia senior Augie Watson.
“The 152-pound bracket is loaded,” said Geneva coach Tom Chernich. “Piggot beat us 4-1 last week. If Nick wrestles (today) like he did (last night), he’ll have a chance.”
In the 171-pound division, Geneva senior Eric Timko, the second seed, will face St. Charles East junior Jerry Fialka in the second semifinal.
The top half of the bracket is a Fox showdown between top-seeded Bartlett junior Tom Gbean and South Elgin senior Ricky Garcia.
Geneva junior Henry Zupke pulled off the upset of the first round when the 215-pounder knocked top-seeded Neuqua Valley junior Sam Demkiski out of the quarterfinals with a 4-2 decision.
“We have five in the semis, which I’m very pleased with,” Chernich said.
Brad Martens (103 pounds) also made the cut for the Vikings, who need to defeat Batavia on Friday night for the River crown.
St. Charles East leads the four area schools with seven semifinalists.
In addition to Fialka at 171 pounds, the Saints’ Ryan Rubino (103 pounds), Joe Dede (119), Isaiah Vela (125), Nick Rubbino (130), Peter Bellino (135) and Mike Caddy (160) all secured wins in the quarterfinals.
Top-seeded Batavia wrestlers Joey Shump (112) and Watson (152) advanced easily, while Anthnoy Scaccia (130 pounds), Laren Eustace (140) and Cullin Rokos (189) also made the championship cut for the Bulldogs.
“We didn’t get any upsets,” Batavia coach Ben Morris said. “A pleasant surprise was Cullin Rokos winning both of his matches. Everybody else (who lost) was an unpleasant surprise.”
South Elgin leads all schools with nine in the semifinals; the other four Elgin-area U-46 schools: Streamwood, Elgin, Larkin and Bartlett all advanced two.
Lake Park, the final champion of the one-division league, has six in the semifinals.
Neuqua Valley leads the three Indian Prairie high schools with five entrants in the championship bracket, with Waubonsie Valley advancing four and Metea Valley represented by sophomore Conrad Zoucha at 103 pounds.