Sansone, Wheaton wrap up DVC

Ethan Sansone has had a rather spectacular time in high school gymnastics.

The Wheaton co-op senior added to his impressive four-year resume during Friday's DuPage Valley Conference meet at Glenard North, winning five events, cruising to the all-around title and leading his team to another championship.

Wheaton won handily with a 150.6 while runner-up Naperville Central scored a 137.1 and Naperville North was third with a 132.6.

"It was a great way to cap off my four years," Sansone said. "I was very pleased with how I did and how the team did."

Sansone's highest scores came on floor and vault, where he recorded a 9.45 on each respectively. He added a 9.05 on pommel horse, 9 on parallel bars and concluded with an 8.8 on high bar for his final victories. Winning the all-around title really wasn't much of a race as his 53.9 easily surpassed the 49.75 by runner-up Ryan Durkin from Naperville Central.

"This was good," Sansone said. "It has gone by so fast that it's hard to keep up with everything that's happened, but each year has been different so this was a good way to finish the regular season."

It's been an emotional week for Wheaton co-op as senior David MacDonald, last year's state all-around champion, suffered a concussion at the end of the Donaldson Invitational last Saturday. The senior made an appearance early during the DVC meet but hasn't been cleared to return yet.

"We know we can't dwell on what happened and get sad about it," Sansone said. "We have to move on and do what we do best, which is gymnastics."

Looking ahead, there is a lot of hope that MacDonald will be able to return for the Wheaton Warrenville South sectional on May 7.

With MacDonald out others stepped up to fill his void, including junior Ben Szot, third in the all-around with a 48.2.

"People stepped up this week and put in their full effort," Szot said. "We have a lot of support on this team. I was happy with my performance today and things fell into place for us tonight."

Other notable scorers for the conference champs, included Austin Peabody's 8.65 on floor and 7.55 on high bar, Connor Ritchie's 8.75 on vault and 8.25 on still rings, Ben Marston's 8.5 on parallel bars and Lucas Cooperman's 8.9 on floor.

Naperville Central had scored a 140.9 or better in its previous four meets, but saw its score drop quite a bit. Still, sophomore Ryan Durkin found reason to celebrate by winning the still rings title with an 8.65.

"I changed it a little bit last Thursday to add a couple more tenths to my routine," he said. "I'm still not where I want to be score-wise, but I thought it was pretty good for just changing it."

Naperville Central senior Dom Delgrosso was fourth in the all-around with a 44.85.

Brandon Louise, who was second on vault with an 8.9 and fifth in floor with an 8.3, paced Naperville North. Liam Strejceck was fifth on pommel horse with a 7.35 and Andy Aruz was third on vault with an 8.85.

Glenbard East (124.15), Lake Park (114.35) and Glenbard North (112.050) rounded out the competition.