Scouting DuPage County boys gymnastics
Top local teams: Downers Grove North, Fenton, Glenbard North, Hinsdale Central, Naperville North, Wheaton co-op.
Top meets: Krupicka Invite at Hinsdale Central, March 18; Ralph Krupke Invite at Lake Park, March 25; Vic Agliano Invite at Rolling Meadows, March 26; Canino Invite at Hinsdale Central, April 8; Addison Trail Invite, April 9; Ken Scorza Invitate at York, April 16; Dave Donaldson Invite at Wheaton North, April 23; DVC Meet, April 23; WSC Silver Meet, April 30;
Top gymnasts: John Baldwin (Glenbard West, Sr., floor, pommel horse, vault), Mike Brackman (Wheaton Co-op, Sr., all-around), Mark Ciesielski (Wheaton Co-op, Jr., floor, vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar), Nick Dawson (Fenton, Sr., floor, vault), Andrew Fairbanks (Neuqua Valley, Jr., all-around), Darren Fill (Wheaton Co-op, Sr., all-around), Ryan Kennedy (Glenbard North, Sr., all-around), Chris Koch (Fenton, Sr., floor, high bar, vault, parallel bars, still rings), Adam Kotel (Downers Grove South, Sr., all-around), Alex Laskero (Willowbrook, Sr., pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar), Tyler Leahy (Hinsdale Central, Jr., all-around), Harrison Meyer (Glenbard West, Sr., still rings), John Mixen (Naperville Central, Sr., vault, floor exercise, still rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar), Matt Rakow (Downers Grove North, Sr., all-around), Dante Reyes (Naperville North, Jr., all-around), Dave Rynearson (Naperville Central, Sr., vault, floor exercise, still rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar), John Schubert (Downers Grove North, So., all-around), Luke Schubert (Downers Grove North, Sr., all-around), Sandro Serrano (Glenbard East, Sr., pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars, horizontal bar), Dan Smith (Addison Trail, Sr., horizontal bar, vault), Kyle Smith (Glenbard West, Sr., floor, parallel bars), Josh Soto (Naperville North, Sr., all-around), Billy Suta (Naperville North, Jr., all-around), Jared Vandenack (Glenbard North, Jr., all-around), Luke Wychocki (Downers Grove North, Jr, all-around).
Outlook: Wheaton co-op will turn to senior all-arounders and fourth-year gymnasts Darren Fill and Mike Brackman to lead the team toward its fifth state appearance in seven years. The duo helped the team to an eighth-place finish last season and fourth place in 2009. Seniors Charlie Fisher and Baylly Shelly and freshman Ethan Sansoni also aim to help bring the first championship trophy to Wheaton since 2005. “I have a very good group of seniors and some underclassmen to fill in gaps,” Wheaton co-op coach Chad Downie said. “I think we will be in the mix with those other competitive teams.”
Perhaps Glenbard North senior Jesus Soto was too good of a student. Soto graduated early and therefore isn’t eligible to compete for the Panthers this spring. Glenbard North coach Michael Crissie said the team could’ve been one of the top three teams in the state with Soto, but without him they’ll have a very difficult time being a state-caliber team. “We’re looking to be competitive, but I don’t think we’ll make it back to state,” Crissie said “We have a pretty small team in terms of numbers between varsity and JV so there will be a lot of mixing and matching.” All-arounders Ryan Kennedy and Jared Vandenack’s strong scores should keep the Panthers in the thick of things most of the spring.
Glenbard West will certainly be experienced with at least six seniors expected to contribute. Hilltoppers coach Frank Novakowski projects that the team could reach a 140 if all goes well.
Hinsdale Central will aim for its third straight appearance in the state finals, but it won’t come easy as Aaron Laniosz and Andrew Vicino graduated and Will O’Donnell and Ryan O’Donnell are not returning. Junior Tyler Leahy is back for the Red Devils, who finished fifth in the state last year. Also returning are junior Kevin Vicini and senior captains Nate Wiegand and Dave Hutchinson. “We expect to work hard and improve as a team in the Hinsdale Central gymnastics traditional,” Red Devils coach Mark Wanner said.
Naperville Central coach Glen Reimers expects a nice season from senior returnees John Mixen and Dave Rynearson. Both gymnasts will compete in every event except for pommel horse. Freshman Dominic Delgrosso joins the team and should make an immediate impact. While Reimers hopes his team can hit the 120s consistently, across town Naperville North coach Brad Foerch is optimistic his Huskies can reach 140. “My top kids are Josh Soto, Billy Suta and a newcomer, junior Dante Reyes,” Foerch said. “They are all-arounders and are very good, but we have no depth after them. I’m hoping to be in the 140s and get a shot at making the top eight. We’ll see.”
Downers Grove North should have a very good chance of making its fifth straight trip to the state finals. Senior all-arounders Matt Rakow and Luke Schubert, fellow senior specialist Lee Walter, junior all-arounder Luke Wychocki and sophomore John Schubert are all back along with freshman all-arounder Strah Sopcic.
Downers Grove South lost Mike Sparapany to graduation and standout sophomore Ryan Kujawa decided against coming back to the team. Those two will be difficult to replace, but the team has senior Adam Kotel returning as well as first-year coach Kristyn Moavero. “Really I just want the boys to learn new skills and try hard and do their very best,” she said. “Sounds cliché, I know, but if they work hard then the rest takes care of itself.”
Matt Foster, who finished second in the state in the all-around last May as a freshman, decided against returning to the Addison Trail team this spring. While the Blazers certainly will miss his incredible scoring contributions, they have a handful of gymnasts who could make an impact. Senior Dan Smith will lead the way on high bar and vault while fellow senior Humberto Aguilar and juniors Alex Oliva, Justin Wheeler, Jon Martinez, Nekoda McShane and Joey Hayes could all use their specialty talents to advance far in the state series.
Horizontal bar state champ Nikko Winstead graduated and his younger brother Keawe is still a year away from high school for Willowbrook. “This is probably going to be a tough year, score-wise,” Willowbrook coach Ryan Dengel said. “Alex Laskero could have a good chance to make state on rings with Cody Golz being right behind him.”
If there’s an unfamiliar team making a big impact this spring, it’ll likely be Fenton. “I started the program seven years ago with only nine boys and each year I go up and down in numbers,” Fenton coach Paula Parat said. “However, this year the quality of boys that have been training over the past three to four years has developed enough talent to hopefully take them to state.” Seniors and fourth-year gymnasts Chris Koch and Nick Dawson should lead the Bison. who expect strong efforts from a deep group of gymnasts.
Glenbard South was dealt a blow when senior all-arounder Tom DiCarlo graduated early, making him ineligible to compete this spring. Thus the Raiders lost their top gymnast and have little strength with their senior group. “South’s team scoring goal is 125,” Glenbard South coach Steve Young said. “We hope to have a few state qualifiers.”
It’s been awhile, but York will finally be forced to rebuild as the final gymnasts from the 2008 state champion team have graduated, including Caleb Strejc, last year’s all-around champion. “We lost all our varsity guys and are very thin,” York coach Larry Ohannes said. “A lot of kids with only one or two years of experience so we hope to make some gains and get a guy to two to state individually.”
Sandro Serrano is back for his senior year to lead Glenbard East. He got hurt last year and will try to fill the void left with the graduation of standout Kirk Jackson (eighth in all-around in 2010). “He’s very compact and super strong,” Glenbard East coach Lee Wood said. “Hopefully, he can score well this year.”