Naperville Central finishes 2-1 in Home Opener
November 29, 2014
NCHS 26 – Batavia 46
NCHS 39 – Downers Grove South 31
NCHS 73 – Lane Tech 0
Naperville Central won two of three duals at home on a Saturday morning. Central was defeated by Batavia in the opening round but bounce back with a tough 39-31 victory over Downers Grove South. Naperville then shut out Lane Tech with 73 points.
Winning all three of their matches were Jake Keating, Derek Wilke, Ben Williamson, Cam Hayes, and Rick Marciniak. Keating scored two wins by fall and one more by forfeit. He did not wrestle out of the first period. Wilke won a tough 6-4 victory over Doranski of Batavia, then got a fall and technical fall in his other two matches. Williamson posted a fall, a 15-0 technical fall, and a 9-0 major decision. Ben did not give up a point in all three matches combined. Hayes also earned a technical fall and fall. Cam scored a huge 4-3 win over Johnson of DGS. Marciniak had a great day, winning by fall, major decision and forfeit. He did not give up an offensive point.
Freshman Jason Heatherly scored a gigantic overtime win against Bonds of DGS. He also posted a major decision. The freshman was awarded the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award for his performance. Shuji Mizoguchi won two matches including a come-from-behind win against Freidrich of Lane Tech. Riley Guttosch earned two wins by fall. One fall was a come-from-behind effort against Chapman of DGS.
Alex Hunter and Hayden Saldivar each got pins against Lane Tech. Kyle Hildebrand scored a 2-1 victory in the dual with Lane. Zach Pauley, Robby Martins and Christian Nussbaum each won a match by forfeit.
NCHS JV1 team also finished 2-1 on the day. The NCHS JV2 team competed at Plainfield South and won two of four duals. They finished 5th place in the 8 team dual event. The freshman competed at the Hinsdale Central tournament and took 6th place out of 10 teams. Nick Keating and David Degeneffe both took first place while Sam Piazza and Justin Leonard both took 2nd place.
Family and friends of former Naperville Central coach Bill Young were present prior to the start of the dual to witness the unveiling of a recognition banner. Coach Young, who recently passed away after a long illness, is considered the father of wrestling at Naperville. For 40 years, his contributions to wrestling are too numerous to list. It was fun to acknowledge the Hall of Famer, Bill Young.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, November 25th, the Naperville Central wrestling community, including wrestlers, parents, family members and friends all gathered to work at Feed My Starving Children. FMSC is a charity that sends food to children all over the word. With numbers of more than 85, the group helped bag food for an hour and a half to help the needy. It was a special event. Special thanks to all that helped with the effort, especially Elissa Martins who helped organize the day. This work is part of a charity / fund-raising effort that will continue later in December.
Naperville Central loses to Glenbard North
NCHS 10 - GN 54
December 5, 2014
Naperville Central lost to Glenbard North by a score of 54-10 at North. Ben Williamson defeated Marne by a score of 6-2. The win tied Williamson for the most wins in Naperville Central school history. Cam Hayes continued to impress with a solid 10-1 major decision at 145 pounds. The third win for the Redhawks came from Robby Martins. Martins scored takedowns in the second and third periods to lock down a 7-3 victory.
In one of the more exciting matches of the night, Jake Keating took down top-ranked Gomez of GN three times before succumbing by fall late in the third period. Keating held a 9-7 lead after the first period. The sophomore won the team's "I'm Somebody" award for his effort.
The Redhawks lost at the JV1 level by a score of 31-38. NCHS won six matches in the dual including three by fall. Both the JV2 and freshman levels lost to Glenbard North.
Naperville Central finishes 2-1 at Mega Duals
December 6, 2014
NCHS 72 - Neuqua Valley 5
NCHS 28 - West Aurora 30
NCHS 49 - Oswego 19
Naperville Central finished with two victories at the Mega Duals held at St. Charles East High School. In the opening dual, Central defeated Neuqua Valley by a score of 72 - 5. The Wildcats brought a team of 6 individuals. Derek Wilke, Cam Hayes and Riley Guttosch all won by fall. Rick Marciniak and Robby Martins both won by decision.
In the second dual, Central was defeated by West Aurora. Jake Keating won by fall at 106 pounds. West Aurora answered with three wins in a row to take the team score 6-13 team score lead. Luc Jandt entered the line-up with a 8-3 victory at 132 pounds. Ben Williamson scored a technical fall at 138 pounds and Cam Hayes battle for a 7-3 decision to make the team score 17-13. West Aurora won 4 of the next 5 matches. Riley Guttosch scored his second fall of the day. Christian Nussbaum was awarded a win by forfeit. Hayden Saldivar dropped the final match in overtime.
The Redhawks bounced back with a solid victory against Oswego. Derek Wilke was the first to win for the Hawks, scoring a first period fall. Luc Jandt won his match by fall at 132 pounds. Ben Williamson scored a 9-1 major decision and Cam Hayes locked a fall at 145 pounds. Rick Marciniak won by a score of 15-6. Riley Guttosch locked down his third win by fall for the day at 160 pounds. Kyle Hildebrand fought to a 3-1 decision. Hayden Saldivar battled to a 4-2 win. Jake Keating had a solid effort, defeating Hughes in the final match of the day at 106 pounds.
Three match winners for the day were Jake Keating, Luc Jandt, Ben Williamson, Cam Hayes, and Riley Guttosch.
Ben Williamson picked up a win by forfeit in the first match of the day against Neuqua Valley. Ben breaks the record for the most victories in NCHS history. Ben wins the "I"m Somebody" for his effort, both today and over the last four years.
The NCHS JV1 team defeated West Aurora 46-22, defeated Neuqua Valley 57-18 and defeated Oswego 60-13 in their Mega Duals held at West Aurora high school. The NCHS JV2 team defeated Libertyville 39-18 and defeated St. Charles East 42-27. They lost to West Aurora 39-41.
The NCHS freshman team competed at the Lyon's Tournament. Derek McDaniel took first place at 138 and Andre Pittman took first place at 220 pounds. Justin Leonard took second place. Nick Keating and David Degeneffe took 3rd place. Raymond Ross took 4th.
Naperville Central wins Cross Town Dual Against Naperville North
December 12, 2014
NCHS 42 – NNHS 22
The Redhawks won the cross-town classic at home on Friday in front of a large crowd. The visitors from the North jumped out to a 15 team-point lead by winning the first three weight classes. Riley Guttosch was defeated by decision at 160 pounds and Robby Martins and Kyle Hildebrand were both defeated by fall at 170 and 182 pounds.
Alex Hunter put the Hawks on the board with an exciting come-from-behind victory at 195 pounds. Hunter gave up a takedown midway through the third period but escaped to tie the match and scored the winning takedown late in the match. He was recognized as the team’s “I’m Somebody” award winner for his win. Christian Nussbaum battled to a 2-4 loss against Zhang at 220. Nussbaum gave up the winning takedown late in the third period.
With the team score at 3-18 in favor of Naperville North, the Redhawks ran off five straight wins. Hayden Saldivar chose down in the second period of a 0-0 tie, reversed and pinned his opponent at heavyweight. Jake Keating won the battle of the 106 pounders by a score of 14-6. Shuji Mizoguchi scored a pin as the buzzer expired in the first period to put Central ahead 18-17 in the team score. Derek Wilke match Shuji with a first period pin at 120 pounds. Luc Jandt gave up the first takedown in his match but scored an escape and takedown in the third period and added another takedown in the third period to win 5-3.
Naperville North’s Kruk won by technical fall at 132 pounds over freshman Jason Heatherly to inch the team score back to 27-22 but the Redhawks won the final three matches to put the dual in the win column. Ben Williamson’s match lasted just 15 seconds. He won by fall at 138 and Cameron Hayes stayed undefeated at 145 with a 3-1 win verses Burkhart. In the final match of the night, Rick Marciniak erased a 4-1 deficit with 10 points in a row followed by a third period fall.
Naperville North won the JV1 dual by a score of 32-37 and the JV2 dual by a score of 30-42. The Huskie freshman won 24-48.
Naperville Central is now 5-3 in duals and 1-1 in the DVC.
Naperville Central takes 4th at 12 team Hoffman Estates Tournament
December 13, 2014
Naperville Central finished in fourth place at the Hoffman Estates Tournament. The Redhawks finished just 13 team points from second place. In the final place round, NCHS won seven of the eleven matches.
Finishing in first place was junior Cam Hayes. Hayes, 145, was unseeded in the tournament but scored a 16-0 technical fall against the fourth seed and pinned the first seed in the semifinals before working to a 3-1 decision in the finals against Josh Alexander of Bolingbrook.
Two Redhawks took second place. Ben Williamson won by technical fall to advance to the finals but was defeated by Barzowski of Notre Dame 2-4 in overtime. Derek Wilke won 15-0 and 13-5 to get to the finals before losing to Piuti of LWC 2-10.
Three Central wrestlers finished in third place. Senior Riley Guttosch came from behind in his final match and locked down an exciting fall. Riley finished the day with two pins. Jake Keating also won by fall in this final match to take the bronze. Jake got two pins as well. Shuji Mizoguchi locked down a fall in the first period of his consolation match too.
Rick Marciniak earned a trip to the semifinals with a fall and finished in fourth place. Christian Nussbaum ended the day with three hard earned victories, two of which were pins, to take fifth. Kyle Hildebrand scored three wins in the wrestle-backs to take fifth place. Luc Jandt wrestled back for a fifth place finish with two wins. Heavyweight Hayden Saldivar had three wins of his own to take sixth.
Robby Martins won a match against Libertyville to finish at 1-2. Jason Heatherly and Alex Hunter also wrestled for the Redhawks.
The Naperville Central JV1 team won the Streamwood Dual Team Tournament. They defeated South Elgin, West Chicago and Highland Park. The NCHS freshman team wrestled Lyons, Glenbard South, and Fenwick at Lyons.
Naperville Central finishes in 11 place at 24 team Rex Whitlatch Invitational
Ben Williamson brings home gold
December 19-20, 2014
Naperville Central finishes in 11 place at the competitive Rex Whitlatch Invitational held at Hinsdale Central High School. Central had five place winners and won all five final place matches. Every Redhawk wrestler came away with at least one victory.
Ben Williamson advanced to the 138 pound championship match after posting three wins by decisions: 12-2, 8-0, and 5-3. In the finals, Williamson opened with the first takedown against Johnson of Downers Grove South. Johnson countered with an escape and a takedown to take a 3-2 lead, but Williamson escaped to tie the score as the first period expired. Williamson was unable to escape after picking down in the second period. Johnson picked down to start the third period and nearly escaped a couple of times before Williamson caught him with a deep wrist-and-half and scored the deciding three point nearfall. Williamson ended the day 4-0 and the team’s I’m Somebody” winner.
Jake Keating, 106, won his opening match 10-3 before being defeated by the number one seed. Keating then ran off three consecutive wins in the wrestlebacks advancing to the consolation semifinals before losing to the number two seed. Keating locked down a 4-0 decision in his last match against Kohlberg of Rolling Meadows to take fifth place.
The Redhawk wrestlers made the podium with 7th place finishes. At 145 pounds, Cam Hayes defeated Thompson of Homewood-Flosmoor by a score of 6-0. Hayes finished the day with a record of 3-2 and had a pin and technical fall in previous matches. At 152 pounds, Rick Marciniak turned in a quality performance finishing 4-2. Marciniak defeated Maher of Downers Grove South by a score of 4-1. Marciniak had two pins and a decision in his previous matches. Sophomore Christian Nussbaum also had a 3-2 day with his 7thplace finish at 220 pounds. Nussbaum locked down a 5-3 decision in his place match against Johnson of DeKalb. Nussbaum won his previous matches both by decision.
Seven Redhawk wrestlers fell one match short of placing in the tournament. Nick Nunziato entered the Redhawk line-up and posted three wins in the tournament at 132 pounds. Luc Jandt scored two wins at 126 pounds including one of them by fall. Shuji Mizoguchi, Derek Wilke, Riley Guttosch, Robby Martins, Kyle Hildebrand, and Hayden Saldivar all came away with a victory.
The NCHS JV1 team won two of three duals at Bolingbrook. They defeated Bolingbrook and Joliet Central, and just missed defeating Oak Lawn.
The NCHS Freshman wrestled at Hinsdale South in a quad. Four wrestlers came away with three wins.
The Redhawks send a Sophomore team to Maine South for a Freshman-Sophomore Invitational. Brad Catalono won the tournament with Jacob Viehmann and Quinn Farrell, Michael Norwood and Darian Bornor taking second. The team took 4th place out of eight teams.
Naperville Central finishes 2-1 at Home
December 30, 2014
NCHS 63 – Joliet Central 9
NCHS 72 – Oak Lawn 4
NCHS 28 – Geneseo 41
Naperville Central won two of three duals in a quad held at Naperville Central High School. The Redhawks opened with a 63-9 victory against Joliet Central and followed that with a 72-4 defeat against Oak Lawn Community. Against Geneseo, a top ranked team in Class AA, the Hawks had a 28-23 lead before Geneseo pulled away in the final three matches.
Derek Wilke recorded two falls followed by a 6-1 defeat against Warner of Genesco to finish 3-0 on the day. Wilke won the “I’m Somebody” Award for his efforts.
Other triple winners include Luc Jandt. Jandt, 126, scored two falls and won a match by forfeit. Ben Williamson won a match by fall, then beat Graw of Genesco in overtime. Rick Marciniak won a match 9-1, another by fall and another by forfeit. Jake Keating won his two matches that he wrestled at varsity.
Winning two matches on the day were Shuji Mizoguchi, Nick Nunziato, Cam Hayes, Alex Hunter, Christian Nussbaum, and Hayden Saldivar.
Cam Baumgartner recorded his first ever varsity win. Baumgartner scored a fall against Martinez of Joliet Central at 103 pounds. Laddie Skarecky also won by a score 15-0 at 170 pounds against Joliet Central.
The NCHS JV team won all three of their duals. They beat Joliet Central 66-6, Oak Lawn 72-6 and Geneseo 43-25.
Central Defeats St. Charles North, Plainfield East
January 2, 2015
NCHS 68 - St. Charles North 7
NCHS 24 - Stevenson 33
NCHS 43 - Plainfield East 30
Naperville Central won 2-1 at home. Central defeated St. Charles North in the opening dual 68-7. The second dual against Stevenson came down to the final match, but Stevenson won 24-33. Central won the final contest against Plainfield East 43-30.
Triple winners on the day were Jake Keating, Derek Wilke, Cam Hayes and Laddie Skarecky. Ben Williamson finished 2-0, including a win in overtime against Collins of St. Charles North.
The Redhawks only lost two matches against St. Charles North. Five match were won by fall. Derek Wilke won by technical fall. St. Charles gave up five wins by forfeit.
Against Stevenson, the Hawks lost the first five matches from 170 to heavyweight and found themselves down 0-21 in the team score. Keating started the comeback with a fall and Mizoguchi answered with a pin of his own. Derek Wilke scored a 5-0 decision against Carter. Luc Jandt and Nick Nunziato lost by decision to make the team score 15-27. Ben Williamson and Cam Hayes scored decisions to pull the Redhawks to within three team points. Rick Marciniak scored a takedown in the third period to tie his match and then scored a takedown in overtime to win. His win made the team score 24-33. At 160 pounds, Riley Guttosch nearly pulled out a tin, but lost in double overtime to make the final score 24-33.
Central bounced back with a 43-30 defeat of Plainfield East. The Redhawks scored six pins in the dual. Riley Guttosch and Laddie Skarecky also won by decisions.
Laddie Skarecky won in come-from-behind fashion by a score of 2-10 in the match for his second win on the day. He was awarded the “I’m Somebody” award for his efforts.
The Naperville Central JV team took 2nd place at the 11 team Libertyville JV tournament. The Redhawks were in the team lead for most of the tournament. NCHS had five in the finals including three champions, Cam Baumgartner, Zach Pauley, and Robby Martins.
Naperville Central Sweep the Quad at Libertyville
January 3, 2015
NCHS 51 - Schaumberg 16
NCHS 39 - Libertyville 22
NCHS 59 - Crystal Lake South 10
Naperville Central won all three of their duals at Libertyville, defeating Schaumburg, Libertyville and Crystal Lake South. The Redhawks won seven of nine duals in the past five days.
NCHS defeated Schaumberg by a score of 51-16. The Hawks won 10 of the 14 matches, four by pin. Darian Borner won his first varsity match by a score of 5-1 at 220 pounds. Laddie Skarecky scored eight points in the third period to come back to win 11-10 in his match.
Against host Libertyville, Central won 39-22. Shuji Mizoguchi and Derek Wilke both scored falls and Rick Marciniak won by technical fall 16-0. Kyle Hildebrand scord a 2-1 victory with a reversal in the third period.
In the final dual of the day the Redhawks defeated Crystal Lake South by a score of 59-10. The Redhawks won 12 of 14 matches. Laddie Skarecky, Kyle Hildebrand and Alex Hunter all won by fall. Nick Nuniato bumped up to 138 pounds and won 3-1. Riley Guttosch was down 2-4 in his match but scored five points in the second period and six more in the third period to by 13-5. Riley ended the day with three solid wins and was awarded the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award.
Finishing undefeated on the day were Derek Wilke, Rick Marciniak, Riley Guttosch, Laddie Skarecky, and Alex Hunter. Hunter finished the day without being scored upon. Ben Williamson also finished undefeated with two wins.
The NCHS JV1 team won all three of their duals at Libertyville.
The NCHS freshman finished in 6th place at the Hinsdale South tournament.
Naperville Central defeats Wheaton North
January 9, 2015
NCHS 30 - Wheaton North 27
Naperville Central defeated Wheaton North at Wheaton by a score of 30-27. The two teams split matches 7-7. The starting weight class was 113 pounds. Shuji Mizoguchi worked to a 6-3 decision and Derek Wilke added a decision at 120 to give the Redhawks an early 6-0 team score lead. The Falcons answered with three wins in a row. Luc Jandt was pinned, Nick Nunziato was defeated by technical fall and Ben Williamson was defeated by a score of 1-3.
With Wheaton North winning 6-14, Cam Hays scored a 4-1 in at 145 pounds to pull the team score to within five points, but then WN scored a major decision against Rick Marciniak and a decision against Riley Guttosch. Laddie Skarecky scored a key 3-1 decision for the Redhawks but the Falcons beat Kyle Hildebrand by a score of 1-3 to make the team score 12-24.
Alex Hunter was taken down early in the first period of his match at 195, but scored a reversal and a fall. The six team points earned for pin helped bring the team score to 18-24. Alex’s fall earned him the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award. Christian Nussbaum battled but lost at 220 pounds by a score of 5-7 to give the Falcons a nine point lead.
Wheaton North gave up a forfeit at heavyweight to Hayden Saldivar to make the score 24-27 going into the final match of the night at 106 pounds. There Jake Keating found a way to lock down a first period fall for the 30-27 victory for the Redhawks.
Naperville Central is now 2-1 in duals in the DVC.
Wheaton North won the duals at the JV1, JV2 and freshman levels.
Naperville Central Wins All Three Duals at Downers Grove North
January 10, 2015
NCHS 63 – South Elgin 6
NCHS 56 – Champaign Central 12
NCHS 49 – Downers Grove North 12
Naperville Central won 34 of 42 matches at Downer’s Grove North in a quad that included Champaign Central and South Elgin. All 14 NCHS wrestlers came away with a win.
Triple winners include Jake Keating (106 pounds, two wins by fall), Shuji Mizoguchi (113 pounds, one win by technical fall), Luc Jandt (126, two wins by fall), Ben Williamson (138, one win by fall, one by technical fall), Cam Hayes (145, two wins by fall), Rick Marciniak (152, two wins by fall, one by technical fall), Laddie Skarecky (170, did not give up a technical point), Christian Nussbaum (220, two wins by fall).
Christian Nussbaum scored two first period pins and won a hard fought dual against Smith of Downer’s Grove North by a score of 3-2. He was awarded the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award for the day.
The Redhawks are now 16-5 on the year.
Naperville Central JV1 team took 5th in the 16 team Bolingbrook Invitational. Cam Baugartner brought home a gold at 106 pounds. Mujtaba Ahmed and Robby Martins both took 2nd.
The NCHS JV2 team took 4th place at the 8 team Naperville Central JV2 tournament. Nick Keating took first place, Jacob Viehmann, Sam Piazza, Gabe Villa, and Andre Pittman all took 2nd place.
Naperville Central defeats Lake Park on Senior Night
January 15, 2015
NCHS 50 – Lake Park 15
Naperville Central (17-5, 3-1 in DVC) defeated Lake Park at home on Senior Night by a score of 50-15. Naperville Central seniors how have been associated with the wrestling program were honored with their parents prior to the varsity dual.
Mustafa Ahmed, Cameron Baumgartner, Antonio Bonano, Matt Chobak, Riley Guttosch, Richard Hu, Rick Marciniak, Nick Nunziato, Hayden Saldivar, Derek Wilke, and Ben Williamson were recognized as well as Cathy Harrington and Re’Jahnique Matthews.
Lake Park forfeited six weight classes leaving eight contested matches at the varsity level. NCHS and Lake Park split those matches four and four. Senior Derek Wilke bumped up a weight class at 126 pounds and won by decision 4-0. Senior Nick Nunziato lost a decision at 132 pounds, but outscored his opponent 5-3 in the third frame. Cam Hayes lost to ranked Schoen by a score of 3-0. Senior Rick Marciniak scored three takedowns in route to a 14-1 major decision at 152 pounds. Kyle Hildebrand looked tough at 182 pounds, winning 9-0. Senior Alex Hunter lost by fall to top-ranked Vittal at 195 pounds. Senior Hayden Saldivar attempted a match winning headlock with time winding to but missed and lost 1-5.
At 106 pounds, Senior Cam Baumgartner battled to a tight 2-1 victory. In the match, both wrestlers were penalized for fleeing the mat but Baumgartner scored an escape for the difference. The win gave the Redhawks a 50-15 team victory and earned Baumgartner the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award.
Lake Park forfeited their JV1 dual to Central. Naperville Central won the JV2 dual by a score of 47-30. Lake Park won the freshman dual 33-54.
Naperville Central Wins the Marty Williams Invitational at Mahomet-Seymour
January 17, 2015
NCHS 1st place / 20 teams
Ben Williamson and Jake Keating Champions
Naperville Central brought home the first place trophy at the Marty Williams Invitational held at Mahomet-Seymour High School. The Redhawks won six of seven place matches to take the championship. NCHS had seven individual placers including three finalists with two taking home gold. Naperville Central finished the tournament with a record of 31-17. Of the 31 wins, 15 were by fall.
Ben Williamson and Jake Keating won the tournament. Williamson won the championship at 138 pounds by winning four matches, three by fall. He won in the finals by a score of 5-0. In all five matches, Williamson did not give up a single point. Keating won the blue ribbon by winning three decisions by scores of 12-4, 10-2 and 5-2. His performance earned him the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award.
Derek Wilke scored a fall and a 17-3 major decision in route to his advancement to the finals. Wilke lost in the finals and finished in second place. Both Cam Hays and Rick Marciniak took third place and finished with records of 3-1. Hayes won by fall in the first round, then won by scores of 4-2 and 10-1. Rick Marciniak also won in the first round by fall, then won by scored of 13-3 and 4-2. Marciniak toughened out his last two matches wrestling on an injured knee.
Nick Nunziato and Riley Guttosch both came out of the tournament with four wins apiece. Nunziato won his last two matches by one point each, 6-5 and 5-4. Three of Guttosch’s wins were by fall. Shuji Mizoguchi and Kyle Hildebrand both earned two wins in the tournament. Both of Hildebrand’s wins were by pin. Laddie Skarecky finished 1-2 with his win by pin. Christian Nussbaum also came away with a win. Alex Hunter wrestled at 195 pounds. The Redhawks won the tournament without the services of their heavyweight, Hayden Saldivar, who had the flu.
The Naperville Central JV2 team competed in five duals at Rolling Meadows, winning three of them. NCHS freshman team wrestled at Neuqua Valley and won both of their duals against Neuqua and Hinsdale South.
Naperville Central defeats Wheaton Warrenville South
January 23, 2015
NCHS 30 – WWS 27
Naperville Central defeated DVC foe Wheaton Warrenville South at South by a score of 30-27. There were five lead changes in team score in the event. This was the last dual of the season as the Redhawks finish with a record of 18-5, 4-1 in the DVC, good enough for second place in the conference for the regular season. It was senior night for the Tigers.
The dual started at 145 where Cameron Hayes scored a last second takedown to defeat Flores by a score of 7-6. Hayes, down 2-5 going into the third period, recorded an escape and two takedowns in the final frame to erase the deficit. The win earned him the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award and put the Redhawks ahead 3-0 in the team score.
Rick Marciniak did not wrestle due to injury, so Central gave up the 6 points at 152. Senior Riley Guttosch recorded a 19-4 technical fall at 160 pounds to add 5 team points for the Redhawks to make team score 8-6. The tigers then ran off four wins in a row. Laddie Skarecky was defeated by fall at 170, Kyle Hildebrand lost by decision 5-12, Alex Hunter lost by decision 2-9, and Christian Nussbaum battled into second overtime before losing in overtime to Beck by a score of 1-3. The four wins by the Tigers put them ahead 8-21.
Naperville Central started the comeback with Hayden Saldivar winning a solid match at 285 by a score of 3-0. Cam Baumgartner recorded a fall at 106 pounds for his second consecutive victory at varsity. Shuji Mizoguchi fought to a 5-1 decision at 113 pounds. Mizoguchi scored an escape and takedown in the final period to secure the win. Senior Derek Wilke eaned a second period fall at 120 and Luc Jandt added a major decision at 126 pounds. The five wins earned 22 team points and put the Redhawks in the team lead by a score of 30-21.
Nick Nunziato scored the first takedown, but could not hold on, losing 2-9 at 132 pounds. Ben Williamson lost the battle of two returning state qualifiers at 138 pounds by a score of 2-3. Ben scored a takedown in the first period and Johnic scored a reversal in the second period. The match was decided by a penalty point for Johnic in the third period. The two wins by WWS earned them 6 team points, but it wasn’t enough as the Redhawks prevailed 30-27.
The NCHS JV1 team defeated WWS 57-12 and the NCHS JV2 team won 42-20. Wheaton-Warrenville South freshman won 20-42.
Naperville Central Junior Varsity competes at DVC Tournaments
January 24, 2015
Cam Baumgartner 1st place at 106 pounds, DVC Champion
The Naperville Central junior varsity teams competed at the JV1 and JV2 tournaments, both held at Glenbard North High School. Both teams finished in fourth place in the conference.
The JV1 team was led by champion Cam Baumgartner. Cam takes home the gold at 106 pounds as he pinned his opponent in the final match. Mujtaba Ahmed, Zach Pauley and John Szczap all advanced to the championship round, taking second.
Nick Keating, and Steven Bumpus took 3rd place, Joe Lopez, Derek McDaniel, Karolis Ugintas, and Robby Martins took 4th place, Tyler Sturlis took 5th, Tyler Hampton, Darian Borner and Jack Stempora took 6th and Mustafa Ahmed took 8th.
In the JV2 tournament, Jacob Viehmann, Cade Wilke and Michael Norwood took 3rd place, Jimmy DeTulleo, Nick Prater, Gabe Villa and Alex Raulicks took 4th place, Sam Piazza, Ramin Malake and Brad Catalano took 5th, Justin Leonard took 6th, and Quinn Farrell and Zeke Hill took 7th place.
Also, the NCHS freshman team competed at Reavis High School in a quad. The Redhawks defeated Lyons Township and lost to Libertyville and Reavis. Notable results: Jacob Smitas won all three of his matches, all by fall. Blake Jackson was 3-2 on the day, wrestling 5 matches. Shiv Kapoor scored two falls
Naperville Central Takes Third Place at DuPage Valley Conference Tournament
Ben Williamson DVC Champion, 138 pounds
January 31, 2015
Naperville Central finished in third place at the DVC Wrestling Tournament held at Naperville Central High School. Ben Williamson and Derek Wilke advanced to the championship match. Ben Williamson takes home gold at the 138 pound weight class. Glenbard North won the tournament.
Each weight class was separated into two pools of three with the pool winners going for first and the others going for third or fifth.
Ben Williamson, senior, defeated Indelli of Wheaton North in the first round by a score of 6-0, avenging a loss earlier in the season. After pinning Lapsey of Naperville North in round two, Williamson faced foe Johnnic of Wheaton Warrenville South for the second time this year. Williamson was defeated by Johnnic 2-3 in the dual. In the final match, Williamson scored the first takedown, but Johnnic scored a quick reversal to make the score 2-2 out of the first period. Johnnic picked down to start the second period and Williamson was able to ride him out for no score. Williamson scored an escape 30 seconds into the third period to take a 3-2 lead and finished the match with a takedown and nearfall off Johnnic’s takedown attempt. Ben Williamson was the team’s “I’m Somebody” Award winner for his terrific efforts.
Derek Wilke looked impressive with a 13-3 major decision against Griffin of Wheaton North in his pool. Wilke, 120 pounds, won by forfeit to make the finals. In the championship match, Wilke was pinned by top ranked Augustyn of Glenbard North.
Jake Keating scored two takedowns in his final match to take third place at 106 pounds against Chaparro of Lake Park by a final score of 5-4. Keating won in his pool with a fall against Balosky of WN. Shuji Mizoguchi took third at 113 pounds. He defeated Jones of WWS by a major decision 11-3. Hayden Saldivar also took third place at 285.
Seven NCHS wrestlers took 4th place in the tournament by winning a match in pool competition. Luc Jandt scored a fall at 126 pounds, Cam Hayes won 8-4 at 145 pounds, Rick Marciniak won 3-2 at 152 pounds, Riley Guttosch scored a fall at 160 pounds, and Christian Nussbaum won 4-1 at 220 pounds. Christian Nussbaum’s victory was over Royer of Wheaton North, a wrestler that defeated him earlier in the season.
Redhawks Take Second at IHSA Regionals
Sectional Qualifiers: Jake Keating, Shuji Mizoguchi, Ben Williamson, Cam Hayes, and Riley Guttosch
February 7, 2015
Naperville Central took 2nd place to Marmion at the IHSA Regional Tournament held at Batavia High School. Nine schools competed. The Redhawks had five wrestlers finish in the top three in their weight class, thereby qualifying for the IHSA Sectional tournament. Three other Redhawks finished in 4th place, becoming alternates.
In the team score, the Redhawks were in second place after the first round of action but fell to fifth place after the semifinals. After the wrestle backs round the Hawks climbed back to third place and passed Metea Valley in the final round by winning five of their last eight matches to end in second place, first amongst all public schools.
Jake Keating, 106, was seeded first in his bracket and received a bye into the semifinals where he pinned Fischer of Batavia to advance to the finals. There he faced VanPouke of Naperville North, a wrestler whom he defeated in the dual but lost to at the conference tournament. VanPouke scored the first takedown and held a 2-1 lead out of the first period. Keating came back in the second period scoring a takedown, reversal and back points for a 8-5 lead going into the third period. Another reversal sealed the championship for Keating 10-5 and a birth to the sectional quarterfinals.
The Redhawks had seven wrestlers in critical third and fourth place matches. First up was Shuji Mizoguchi at 113 pounds who faced Doranski from Batavia, a wrestler whom he lost to in December. Mizoguchi scored two takedowns and two sets of back points to cruise to a 14-4 victory. Ben Williamson pinned Young of East Aurora to take third and become a four time sectional qualifier in his career. Cam Hayes scored an escape and takedown in the second period against Flores of Wheaton Warrenville South and that was enough for a 3-0 third place win at 145 pounds. Riley Guttosch defeated Ford of West Aurora for the second time in the day by a score of 6-4 to become a sectional qualifier at 160 pounds. Riley won the team's I'm Somebody Award for his fantastic effort.
Senior Rick Marciniak won two matches in route to his third place match. He defeated Ervin from Metea Valley 9-8 and Wallerstein of Batavia 9-2. He lost by fall in the third place match to take fourth. Senior Hayden Saldivar battled for two wins at heavyweight. He avenged a loss by defeating Szymel of Naperville North by a score of 5-3 and he won against Papiemik of Metea Valley 5-0. Saldivar was pinned in his final match to finish in 4thplace. Christian Nussbaum fell just shy of qualifying for sectionals, losing 1-3 in overtime to Beck from WWS. Nussbaum scored two pins to make the third place match.
Derek Wilke finished the tournament at 1-2. He scored a technical fall against Foster of WV. Nick Nunziato upended Bratland of WV in the first round and finished 1-2. Junior Luc Jandt locked down a pin against Kerth of WWS. Sophomore Laddie Skarecky beat Wellington of WA in the tournament. Kyle Hildebrand and Alex Hunter each finished the tournament 0-2.
Naperville Central to Send Ben Williamson and Jake Keating to State
February 14, 2014
Naperville Central will be represented by Ben Williamson and Jake Keating at the IHSA State Tournament in Champaign next weekend. Williamson took 3rd place at the Downers Grove North Sectional while Jake Keating took 4th place. Williamson, Sr. 138, will be making his third trip to state while Jake Keating, So. 106 will be competing for the first time.
After taking third place at the Batavia Regional, Williamson faced Rueck of Shepard in his opening match and scored a second period fall. In the quarterfinals, Williamson squared off against Johnson of Downers Grove South. This was a rematch of the Whitlatch Tournament final earlier this year, a match that Williamson won. The Redhawk scored a reversal and three point nearfall at the end of the second period to take a 5-0 lead. Williamson added a takedown and finished with a 7-1 victory to make the semifinals. There, Williamson lost to rival Jonnic of Wheaton Warrenville South by a score of 0-6. In the state qualifying match, the semifinal wrestlebacks, Williamson scored a takedown in the third period for the only score of the match and won 2-0, thereby stamping his ticket to state. He became only the second individual to qualify for state three times in high school (Luke Roth being the first). Williamson faced Johnson of DGS again for third place and won 3-2.
Jake Keating had a first round bye due to winning the Batavia Regional. In the quarterfinals, Keating scored seven points in the second period against McCarthy of St. Rita to take a 9-3 lead into the third fame and scored six more there to win 15-4. In the semifinals, he was thrown and pinned against Egan of Mt. Carmel. In his state qualifying match Keating scored a takedown in the first period, reversal in the second period, and a takedown to a fall in the third period to get his name on the state qualifying board. In the third place match Keating scored three escapes and just missed taking third, losing 305 against Johnson of Brother Rice.
Both Keating and Williamson will see action Thursday with first round action due to start around 6:00pm. Interested viewers can see the webcast from IHSA.org.
Junior Cam Hayes won two matches at the event and missed qualifying for state by just one point. Hayes, 145, defeated Carlson of Hinsdale South by a score of 8-3 to open the tournament. The 1-1 tie was broken up with a low leg attack late in the third period. After giving up a reversal that tied the match, Hayes scored a reversal with 3 back points to clinch victory. In the quarterfinals, Hayes scored takedowns in the first and third period to help him win 5-0. Hayes was defeated by highly ranked Gasberro of Marist in the semifinals 7-10. In the semifinal wrestle-back Hayes scored an escape in the second period to tie the score against Carter from Metea Valley, but gave up an escape in the third period and could not find the winning takedown. Cam Hayes wrestled very tough finishing 2-2 in the event.
Senior Riley Guttosch, 160, was pinned in his first match. In his wrestle-back match, Guttosch scored two takedowns in the first period including a throw that added two more nearfall points. But Guttosch was unable to hold on and lost in overtime by a score of 10-12.
Shuji Mizoguchi qualified for Sectionals for the second time in his high school wrestling career, the first being his freshman year. Mizogucjhi lost by scores of 3-14 and 7-18.
Ben Williamson and Jake Keating Wrestle at IHSA State
February 21, 2015
Ben Williamson finished 2-2 in at the state tournament and advanced to the final eight before bowing out. Jake Keating was eliminated after losing his only match.
Jake Keating was defeated by top ranked Kirk Johansen of Glenbard North at 106 pounds. Keating battled Johansen into the third period. Keating scored a takedown in the second period. Johansen was defeated in the following round, thereby eliminating Keating from the tournament.
Ben Williamson scored a 6-1 victory against Ordonez of York in the opening round at 138 pounds. Williamson was winning 1-0 late in the third period of the match with the only point scored an escape by Williamson in the second period. With just one second left in the match, Williamson was penalized for stalling to tie the score and send the match into overtime. In overtime, Williamson scored a takedown with three point nearfall for the victory.
In the state quarterfinals, Williamson was pinned by Shayne Oster of Lockport in the third period. Williamson scored the first takedown and took a 2-0 lead to the second period. There, Williamson was called for stalling twice in a row (once for not returning his opponent to the mat and once for putting himself in a potentially dangerous situation). The ensuing escape by Oster make the score 2-3 for the Lockport wrestler going into the third period. Williamson was unable to escape and was pinned at the 5:11 mark. Oster was the eventual champion at 138 pounds.
In the wrestle-backs, Williamson defeated Jon Cullen of Cary Grove by a score of 3-1. Williamson. Neither wrestler scored in the first period. Williamson scored an escape to start the second period and added a takedown to take a 3-0 lead to the third period. Cullen scored a late escape. The win by Williamson put him in the final eight in the bracket.
In the second round wrestle-back Williamson was defeated by Andrew Mehrholz of Deerfield. Mehrholz tied up with an underhook and attempted a throw, but Williamson countered with a re-throw, but couldn’t hold on as Mehrholz was able to roll out of the situation. Then Mehrholz scored a takedown and three point nearfall to take control of the match. Williamson attempted several throws and turns to try to get back into the match, but was only able to score a takedown.
Ben Williamson finishes his stellar high school wrestling career as a three time state qualifier with a school record 137 wins.
Naperville Central Recognizes Wrestlers, Coaches, Managers and Parents at Awards Banquet
February 23, 2015
Naperville Central recognized their wrestlers, coaches, managers, and parents at the 2015 wrestling awards banquet. Coaches Chris Nutt, Mike Curley, Noah Fitzenreider and Rob Porter each spoke about every kid about how they contributed to this year’s success.
Managers Cathy Harrington, Re’Jahnique Matthews, Hanna Donofrio, Alyssa Kasper, Keley Villanova, Lydia Twaddle and Cassie Minter were thanked for their contribution to the program with taking stats and running scoring tables. Special thanks to Cathy Harrington for organizing the girls all year. Both Cathy and Re’Jahnique are seniors.
Videographer Tom Hamill was brought up for his fine work behind the camera all season. Tom did an excellent job this year.
Pat Murphy, our resident director of operations was recognized.
Iron Man winners were Kyle Hildebrand, Luc Jandt, Rick Marciniak, Shuji Mizoguchi, John Szczap, Derek Wilke, and Ben Williamson. These wrestlers never missed a practice or a meet all season.
Captains were Ben Williamson and Derek Wilke.
All Conference winners will be announced at a later date, but Ben Williamson will automatically be all-conference as he won the DVC tournament.
The freshman wrestler of the year was Derek McDaniel.
The JV wrestler of the year was Cam Baumgartner.
The most improved wrestler award was Cam Hayes.
The hardest worker award went to Cam Baumgartner.
The most inspirational award winner was Rick Marciniak.
The most valuable wrestler of the year was Ben Williamson.
The Red/White winner was Riley Guttosch.
Special Thanks all parents and especially to Mrs. Stacey Wilke as our parent rep, social organizer, hospitality room (merchandise) along with Maureen Chobak, Maureen Guttosch, Melissa Jandt, Cindy Marciniak our social fee director, and Mrs. Mizoguchi. My apologies to anybody I missed! A shout out to Mrs. Martins who helped with our Feed My Starving Children fund-raiser and volunteer work. Thanks to all parents and contributors for their general support from all parents (training tables, help with breakfast, and help with running clocks)
Thanks to those behind the scenes who help make our wrestling program so successful. The school administration including Andy Lutzenkirchen, Debby Adams, Jeff Nudera and Bill Salintine. Thanks to Dr. Quoc and Dr. Weithman for all their help. Thanks to the Naperville Kids Wrestling Club, especially Gary Hunt, for their contributions to our team.
Coaches Noah Fitzenreider, Chris Nutt, Mike Curley were excellent this year and had a positive impact on our wrestlers. High regards to our volunteer coaching staff who are Justin Tardy, Jake Sandborn, Nick Mondek, Ryan Burns, Tony Schlorff, Jim Graeber, Jim Caudill, Chris Dublinski, and Jeff Burdorff. They work many hours with our program with no pay. We could run a wrestling program without their help.
We lost our long-time friend and fellow coach this year, Bill Young. Coach Young will forever be known as Mr. NCHS Wrestling and he will be very much missed. We raised a banner this year in our wrestling room in his honor.
Finally this writer would like to personally thank Dena Porter and Tommy Porter. Dena is more than just the wife of the head coach. She understands the large time commitment it takes to run a successful high school wrestling program and did everything she could to help at home while the head coach is away. More than that, she is and has been a part of the program, volunteering her time to help tournaments run smoothly, organizing pre-meet breakfasts, working with statisticians, helping with fundraisers, and much, much more. Anybody who thinks that being the wife of a head coach is easy should spend 10 minutes in Dena Porter’s shoes. Thanks to Tommy Porter who at age 11 understands why his dad is so busy in the winter.