Wrestling/Scouting Tri-Cities regionals
Nicholas Drendel has little else on his mind.
“There is nothing else for me to accomplish but winning it all,” the West Aurora senior said of his goal for the upcoming wrestling state series.
Last year at the University of Illinois’ Assembly Hall, St. Charles East senior Brandon Rubino claimed the ultimate rubber match when he denied Drendel 5-1 in the Class 3A 112-pound final.
Drendel has been on a mission all season, becoming the last area wrestler to remain undefeated.
The Blackhawks’ senior leader extended his season-long winning streak to 32 matches with three consecutive pins en route to the DuPage Valley Conference crown at 125 pounds last weekend in Wheaton.
“(Drendel) never seems to be out of position,” said St. Charles North coach Ken Moromi. “(West Aurora coach Mike DiNovo) is such a good teacher, and (Drendel) is such a good competitor.”
“You can’t say enough good things about him,” said Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ryan Ferguson.
“He is a gunslinger,” said Naperville North coach Tom Champion.
Drendel and his West Aurora teammates will travel to league rival Naperville Central on Saturday for a berth in the Downers Grove North sectional the following weekend.
The team champion will compete in the dual-meet state series at Hinsdale South the Tuesday after the individual state tournament.
For Drendel to claim a state title, the uncommitted prospect will have to navigate a field that includes fellow unbeaten upperclassmen Eddie Klimara (Providence) and Dan Saltillo (Stevenson).
The two are both ranked ahead of Drendel in the Illinois matmen.com rankings.
Batavia will also be in the field at Naperville Central.
The Bulldogs will gladly welcome back seven starters who were forced to forfeit their matches against archrival Geneva in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division season-finale last Friday.
Joey Shump and Augie Watson are looking to book return dates to Champaign; freshman Laren Eustace recently made news with his impressive conference championship.
“The only thing I’m thinking about is the regional, taking each match one a time,” said Watson, the Bulldogs’ standout 152-pounder.
Geneva and the two St. Charles high schools will convene at Glenbard North, which also feeds into the Downers North sectional.
“We’re in a meat-grinder of a regional,” said Geneva coach Tom Chernich. “We’re at a regional where you are going to have to show up. When you’re in the western suburbs, you have to expect that you’re in a tough regional. That’s just the nature of the sport.”
Junior Henry Zupke, in his first year on varsity, captured the Vikings’ lone Upstate Eight Conference championship at 215 pounds.
Nick Bradberry (152 pounds) and Brad Martens (112) are the other best bets for Geneva.
St. Charles East coach Steve Smerz has read this screenplay before.
“You have to be wrestling at you peak right now, or your season is going to be over,” Smerz said. “I think we showed (our potential) in the conference tournament with six guys in the finals. I feel like if you get out of our sectional, you have a good chance of placing at state.”
St. Charles North junior star Tim Noverini will compete at 140 pounds in his quest to become the first back-to-back state qualifier in program history.
The other two corresponding regional tournaments will be conducted at Bolingbrook and Schaumburg.
In Class 2A, Yorkville will be the epicenter of a long-awaited rematch between Marmion and fellow Suburban Christian Conference superpower Montini.
The Cadets, who did not even have a program when the Broncos began a run of eight state championships in 11 years, are looking to avenge a 31-30 regular-season loss to Montini.
The rugged field also includes the host Foxes and their five returning state qualifiers as well as traditional smaller-school powers Morris and Sandwich.
“I’m a team guy,” Marmion coach Dean Branstetter said. “I know a lot of our guys have a goal to make it to (individual) state. I told the boys a couple of weeks ago that nothing would surpass a team state championship. If we win our regional, we have to be careful thinking, ‘OK, now we’ve won a state championship.’ We have to guard against that. We’ve never really beaten Montini in anything significant. I cannot see how (the team race) is not going to be close.”
“Bonus points are going to be the difference,” said Montini coach and former West Aurora three-time state champion Israel Martinez.
Ben Whitford is the Cadets’ defending state champion, and Martinez has elected to bump up Michael Sepke, ranked second at 125 pounds, to combat the two-time national champion at 130.
The top three place-winners at Yorkville will advance to the Lincoln-Way West sectional.
The final local program, Kaneland, will be in the Class 2A field at Sycamore, where the hosts, the champion of the Big Northern XII, will be a prohibitive favorite to advance to the LaSalle-Peru team sectional.
Dan Goress’ championship run in the league was the Knights’ only victory at their conference meet, but seniors Kyle Davidson and Jimmy Boyle are determined to make another trip to the University of Illinois.
Ben Kovalick, the Knights’ imposing 215-pounder, was runner-up in the league.
“This is the best Class 2A has been since class expansion,” Geneva coach Chernich said.