Naperville Central finishes with win against Waubonsie Valley

Only seven matches took place Friday night when Waubonsie Valley hosted Naperville Central in the regular-season wrestling finale for both teams.

The Redhawks got a slightly bigger slice of the victory pie, winning four matches to the Warriors' three. Those four wins and seven wins earned by forfeit gave Naperville Central a 65-10 win.

Redhawks coach Noah Fitzenreider said his team is excited to start the postseason, which begins Jan. 26 with the DuPage Valley Conference meet. Naperville Central is ranked 11th in Class 3A in the illinoismatmen.com poll.

"The guys are ready to go. The regular season was great, it was exciting. But they have a goal to do big things in the postseason," Fitzenreider said.

The second match of the evening, at 138 pounds, saw the Redhawks' Kyle Guttosch win by fall.

Teammate Ryan Silva followed with a fall at 145.

Shane Roth was down 3-1 with just seconds left in his bout at 160. But he turned his fortunes around quick enough to win by fall at 5:46.

"I knew I was able to move him (in the third period). I really wanted this match," Roth said. "I changed it. I was not able to move him around the first two periods."

Ben Cianchetti, who is an honorable mention selection in the illinoismatmen.com 195-pound weight class rankings, finished his evening quick with a fall just 19 seconds in the match.

Cianchetti said that Naperville Central's team concept has been crucial to his success.

"We work hard as a team. The coaches have helped me and my teammates have helped me," he said.

Tommy Porter (106 pounds), Tyler Driessens (113), Colin Baumgartner (120), Leo Keating (126), Elrin Esporlas (132), Jackson Punzel (170) and Cameron Palmer (182) all won by forfeit.

"We want to get better every single day. We want to get everyone as far as they can in the postseason," Roth said.

The first Waubonsie Valley victory of the evening came at 152 where Antonio Torres won by major decision. Garrett St. Clair (220 pounds) and Charlie Millington (285) each won by decisions.

Injuries played a big factor in Waubonsie dressing just seven wrestlers. Coach Brad Caldwell said he expects a more fuller lineup for the conference meet.

"(The Warriors' victories) were all good. Naperville Central is a solid team and we knew we had to wrestle our best," he said.