Ten years later, Naperville North looks to contend for title

May will mark the 10-year anniversary of Naperville North’s boys gymnastics state title.

Led by all-arounders, Billy Suta, Josh Soto and Dante Reyes, the Huskies are looking to make their first appearance in the state finals since 2001. Interestingly, back in 2001 the team was also led by a trio of all-arounders in Adam Rahmel, Ross Bradley and Chad Jaros.

Through the end of March, the Huskies had the posted the fifth-highest team score with a 149.3 on March 14. The Huskies will travel to the Lincoln-Way East sectional, where they’re unlikely to top host Lincoln-Way co-op, but they should have an outstanding opportunity to move on as an at-large qualifying team. The top three scoring teams that do not win a sectional title will advance to the state finals.

Billy Suta won the all-around title at the Krupke Invite at Lake Park on March 25 with a 52.65. He’s continued to progress as a gymnast this season, along with Josh Soto. The two committed themselves in the off-season and it has paid dividends. Plus, the team received a major boost when Dante Reyes became eligible to compete after missing the past two seasons. Reyes has stepped right in and been vital to the team’s success.

While the Huskies have other gymnasts competing, more often than not, their top team scores come from contributions from their big three.

New and nifty:It#146;s common for freshmen to enter high school a little naive and nervous with the transition from middle school. You usually enter a much bigger school where so much is new to you, while on the other side of the spectrum, young adults are driving now, working part-time jobs and figuring out who to ask to prom and where to go to college. For the freshman, there#146;s plenty of time for all those future responsibilities.But what happens if you go from the new kid on the block to part of a senior group?That#146;s basically what#146;s happened with Wheaton co-op freshman Ethan Sansoni. The freshman is part of a senior-laden team that is one of the favorites to win a state title this May.Seniors Mike Brackman, Darren Fill, Charlie Fisher and Baylly Shelly and junior Mark Ciesielski have been key competitors for a while now, and while Sansoni may not be driving yet or moving on to a university next fall, he#146;s fit in both nicely with his efforts in the gym as well as by being a great new teammate.#147;Ethan is doing such a great job,#148; Wheaton co-op coach Chad Downie said. #147;He#146;s a champ who has worked so hard and fits in well with a team that really is made of seniors.#148;It was four years ago when Brackman and Fill were newcomers to high school. They both stepped in and made an impact on the varsity squad.Wheaton#146;s season came to a heartbreaking end in sectional competition as Downers Grove North edged Wheaton 152.1 to 152.0 for the final at-large team qualifier. Since just missing state their freshmen year, they#146;ve finished fourth in 2009 and eighth in 2010.#147;Everyone wants to leave with the state title,#148; Fill said. #147;The thing is we#146;re all having so much fun. You#146;ll be sitting in sixth period and thinking, #145;I can#146;t wait to get on p-bars today#146; and that#146;s the feeling we#146;re keeping throughout the season and hopefully the outcome will be a state title. #147;Right now we#146;re practicing hard and enjoying each other#146;s company. It#146;s not so much, #145;Let#146;s go win a state,#146; but more #145;Let#146;s really enjoy this because we know that#146;s what could happen.#146;#148;Renovation project:The graduation of Kirk Jackson, one of the elite gymnasts in the state, obviously had made an impact on the team scores of Glenbard East this season. Still, the Rams are slowly building from their roots, while also seeing some strong efforts from a couple of their top gymnasts.Sandro Serrano is battling through an ankle injury. #147;He#146;s still working real hard on still rings and parallel bars,#148; Glenbard East coach Lee Wood said. #147;Hopefully before conference he#146;ll get back to some things, but he hasn#146;t skipped a beat on the apparatus and he#146;s a good guy that you want to do well.#148;Robo Sullivan isn#146;t scoring as high as Serrano, but has been the other top competitor for the Rams this spring.While some coaches are blessed with incoming gymnasts who have a resume of experience prior to high school, the program at Glenbard East features many freshmen who are competing for the first time, while sophomores are just in their second year and so on. It#146;s a process of development that takes patience, dedication and hunger for success.#147;I#146;m letting some of these kids get a taste of varsity now, and they#146;ve shown they can be right up there with the team,#148; Wood said. #147;We#146;ve got an amazing sophomore team, and in a couple years we#146;ll be a team to be reckoned with.#148;Freshman Kevin Noyola has already seen some success during his debut season, but Wood has been careful in balancing his lineup since he has a good mix of young talent as well as juniors and seniors.#147;It#146;s not just the rest of this season,#148; Wood said. #147;The kids are going to have a list of tricks they need to have as requirements for next year, and we#146;re already halfway there, so as much as some may call it a down year, or light varsity year, we have bright skies ahead.#148;Good news vs. bad news:The news is split at Glenbard North.The good news is that senior all-arounder Ryan Kennedy has found the success he and coach Michael Crissie were looking for on still rings.#147;It really should allow him to challenge for the all-around title,#148; Crissie said.Interestingly, this year#146;s all-around state individual champion competition is somewhat wide open with surprises since last year#146;s top finishers either graduated or chose not to compete this season. The top returning all-around finisher from last year is Wheaton co-op#146;s Darren Fill, who tied for ninth place with a 53.4. Of course, there#146;s a big handful of all-arounders who weren#146;t top 10 finishers a year ago. They will battle for the top prize, including Kennedy, Fill and Naperville North#146;s Billy Suta among others.The bad news for the Panthers is Jared Vandenack#146;s ankle. He broke it during practice last Saturday and is going to be out for at least four weeks.#147;He might be back in time for the sectional,#148; Crissie said. #147;It was a freak accident. He had been doing some high level stuff earlier in the day and then just did a back flip and landed short.#148;Easier routes: There#146;s no debating that Wheaton co-op and Downers Grove North have easier routes than teams in the Lincoln-Way East sectional, and particularly the Mundelein sectional, to get back to the state finals. As the State Gymnastics Stats website notes, three of the eight top-ranked teams according to seed scores will battle at Mundelein, while No. 2 seed Naperville North travels to No. 1 seed Lincoln-Way East. Wheaton#146;s top competition appears to be Elk Grove, with Glenbard North and Glenbard West deeper in the picture. Downers Grove North has Niles North and Fenton, among others, to contend with on May 6. 34322091¬ Josh Soto of Naperville North performs on the pommel horse in boys gymnastics action in Naperville on Monday.Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com