2023-2024 Season Notes

 Naperville Central

Wrestling

2023 – 2024 Season

Naperville Central Opens 2023-2024 Season With Two Wins

Saturday, November 25, 2023

1.       NCHS 58 – Batavia 14

2.       NCHS 45 – York 35

3.       NCHS 27 – Lincoln Way West 40

Naperville Central opened their 2023-2024 season with two straight dual meet wins against Batavia and York (Elmhurst) before falling to Lincoln Way West.  The quadrangular was held at Naperville Central High School.  Both Batavia and York high school football teams advanced to the IHSA state semifinals, competed last weekend.

Top performers for Central were Chris Bern (157), Austin Aguinaldo (106) and Jacob Cochran (113), all of whom won all three matches.  Bern earned a fall and two decisions.  Cochran won two matches by fall and picked up another win by forfeit.  Aguinaldo earned a fall, decision and a forfeit.

The first dual was against Batavia with the starting weight class at 120.  Vince Miller (120) won by forfeit and senior Tyler Martin (126) won by decision 9-1.  The Bulldogs answered with three straight wins.  The Redhawks retook the team score lead with five straight wins.  Hagan Tayler (150), Bern and John Carens (165) all locked down falls and Henry Rydwelski and Jacob Smetters took forfeits.  Batavia won at 215, then Naperville Central accepted four forfeits to close the dual with a 58-14 win.

Dual two against York saw the Redhawks give up four straight falls to go down 0-24.  Taylor (150) started the big Central comeback with a fall.  Bern (157) added a decision and Carens (165) indented his opponent’s shoulders to the mat to put Central on the board 15-24.  After another Dukes’ fall, NCHS scored five consecutive falls to secure the win.  Those falls came from Smetters (190), Niko Besteiro (215), Will Erbeck (285), Aguinaldo (106), and Cochran (113).  Final score, 45-35.

The Warriors of Lincoln Way West won the final dual of the night.  Central did have six wins in the contest coming by way of Mitchell Kaszuba (132, fall), Chris Bern (157, decision 7-1), Niko Besteiro (215 by fall), Aguinaldo (106, decision 7-2), Cochran (113, fall) and Martin (126, decision 9-6).  Lincoln Way won 27-40.

The NCHS JV1 team won all three contests in the same gym, defeating Batavia 60-27, York, 63-16, and Lincoln Way West 51-29.

The Redhawks sent a freshman-sophomore team to the Plainfield South Superduals and won the event in impressive fashion.  Central opened with a 75-6 defeat of Oak Lawn, then defeated hosts Plainfield South 66-18.  NCHS won their pool defeating Mt. Prospect 75-6 to advance to the championship dual against crosstown rival Naperville North.  The Redhawks were victorious by a score of 54-30.  The freshman-sophomore team won 52 individual matches against only 11 losses.

The Naperville Central Girls Varsity Team battled at the Niles West Girls Tournament and placed 14th out of 30 teams with just seven wrestlers.  Newcomer freshman Dezi Azar (120) led the way finishing 4-1 in her first high school wrestling tournament to place third.  Azar defeated Ramirez of Lockport 10-5 and won by fall against Pelayo of Hoffman Estates to qualify for the semifinals.  After losing to Matthews of Addison Trail, Azar won both of her consolation matches over Espinosa of Addison Trail by fall and McCain of Round Lake 4-2.  Veteran Junior Ellen Purl (125) wrestled out of a pigtail match in a bracket of 32 and won her first three matches to qualify for the semifinals.  She won all three matches by fall against Guadarramma of Mundelein, Castillo of Addison Trail, and Flores of Montini.  Purl finished 3-3 on the day in sixth place.

Third year starter Annika Hull (105) won her final two matches, a major decision 16-3 over Ridley of Hoffman Estates and a fall over Soto, also of Hoffman Estates to finish third in a five-wrestler round-robin.  Youngster freshman Gracie Meluch (115) bounced back from a first round to pin three consecutive opponents to finish in 7th place, or first place in the consolation bracket.  Those falls came at the expense of Skibicki (Lockport), Aparka (Addison Trail), and Zamora (Fenton).  Junior Bianca Arrendondo (130) defeated Carreon of Niles West in the first period.  Freshman Sophia Liu (135) won by fall in the first period of her match against Diaz (Maine East).  Arrendondo and Liu finished 1-2.  Arianna Rico wrestled at 155, finishing 0-2.

Naperville Central Defeats Waubonsie Valley

11/30/2023

·       NCHS 69 – Waubonsie Valley 12

Naperville Central improved to 3-1 on the young season posting a DVC contest win at Waubonsie Valley by a score of 69-12.  The Redhawks won five of seven contested matches and picked up seven forfeits from the Warriors.  Central won the first five matches and Waubonsie won the final two.  Four of the Redhawks five wins came by way of fall.  Central outscored WV 27-4 in takedowns.

Chris Bern (157) was on his way to a technical fall when he pinned his opponent in the third period.  He scored seven takedowns in his match.  Next up, Henry Rydwelski (175) racked up six takedowns of his own before winning by fall in the second period.  Niko Besteiro (215) looked impressive posting four takedowns before earning a fall.

Perhaps one of the more exciting matches of the night came from heavyweight Will Erbeck.  He was able to execute takedowns in each of his three periods, four total, in route to a 8-2 decision.  Varsity returner  Jacob Cochran (113) added the fourth fall for the Hawks in the third period after scoring six takedowns of his own.

Meanwhile the Naperville Central Girls won three of five matches against the Waubonsie Valley girls team.  Freshman standout Dezi Azar posted a first period fall at 125.  Junior Ellen Purl (125) added a victory to her record by scoring two takedowns followed by a second period fall.  Down 2-6, Bianca Arrendondo came from behind to score a win by fall in the second period of her match.  Definitely the most exciting match at all levels was the 120 pound match between Grace Mulech (120) and Ava Kus of Waubonsie Valley.  The match included three lead changes and 36 combined points scored.  Both wrestlers scored on multiple throws.  The second period proved thrilling with each wrestler scoring two takedowns and near-falls and 19 points scored in the two minutes.  Mulech succumbed by fall late in the third period.  Sophia Liu wrestled at 130 pounds.

The Redhawk Junior Varsity 1 and Junior Varsity teams both won by scores of 71-9 and 84-18 respectively.  The Hawk Freshman team also won 60-18.

In all, Naperville Central won 54 total matches against 11 loses verses Waubonsie Valley.

Naperville Central Improves to 6-1 Winning Three Duals at Mega-Duals

December 2, 2023

·       NCHS 61 – Wheaton Warrenville South 12

·       NCHS 53 – Oswego 22

·       NCHS 53 – West Aurora 17

Naperville Central varsity swept the 2023 Mega-Duals held at St. Charles East High School to improve to 6-1 on the season.  Central won 30 individual matches and lost just 12 on the day.  The Redhawks had 17 of their wins com by way of fall.  Four individual wrestlers completed the day undefeated: Nicolas Besteiro (215), John Carens (165), Will Erbeck (285) and Austin Aguinaldo (106).

Central defeated Wheaton Warrenville South to open the day by a score of 61-12.  Eight matches were contested with the Redhawks winning five of them, three by fall.  The Tigers forfeited six matches.  In the second dual, NCHS defeated Oswego by score of 53-22.  The Hawks won eight matches of thirteen, seven by fall and five in a row.  In the final contest, Naperville Central bested West Aurora 53-17 with nine wins and an additional win by forfeit.  Seven of those wins were pins.

The top performer of the day was light-heavyweight standout Niko Besteiro who finished 3-0 with three pins improving his record on the year to 6-1.  All six of Besteiro’s wins have come by fall.  Matching Besteiro’s efforts is junior heavyweight Will Erbeck who also had himself a strong day.  Erbeck battled to two tough decisions, winning 5-2 with two tough takedowns against Kibbe of WWS and 6-5 against Chacon of West Aurora.  In that match, Erbeck overcame a 3-1 deficit with a take down and near-fall in the second period and secured the win with a late escape in the third period.  Erbeck also posted a fall against Oswego.

Sophomore Austin Aguinaldo (106) won by fall against his opponent from Oswego to remain undefeated at 7-0 on the season.  John Carens (165) finished 3-0 on the day with wins of 12-4, 15-0 and a first period fall.  Carens improves to 6-1 on the season tied for third on the team with ten takedowns.  Senior Hagen Taylor (150) also finished the day undefeated, finishing 2-0 and improving to 4-1.

The middle of the lineup proved successful for the Redhawks with four wrestlers in consecutive weight classes finishing 2-1 on the day.  Tyler Martin (126), Mitchel Kaszuba (132), Vince Bern (138) and CJ Bierman (144) combined for eight wins, five of which ended with a slap of the mat.  Bierman lead the team with eight takedowns combined in his matches.  Henry Rydwelski (175) and returning state qualifier Jacob Smetters both finished 2-1 with two falls each.  Smetters has improved to 5-2 on the season.  Sophomore and second year starter Jacob Cochran (113) continues to impress his coaches with his efforts.  Cochran added two more wins to improve to 6-1 on the season.  One of his wins was by fall.  Vince Miller (120) and Chris Bern (157) both wrestled and added a win to their records.  Bern leads the team with 17 takedowns on the season.  Bradley Anderson (150) lost in his only match to top ranked Serio of West Aurora.

The Junior Varsity 1 team completed in the Mega-Duals and won all three of their duals at West Aurora High School and remains undefeated on the season upending Wheaton Warrenville South 72-6, Oswego 63-18, and West Aurora 49-30.  Triple winners were Dalton Meluch (106), Jackson Bell (113), Jack Schwartz (126), Stavros Gerousis (138), Javier Sevilla (165) and Nate Radtke (215).  The Junior Varsity 2 team defeated Oswego and West Aurora and lost to St. Charles East.

The NCHS Freshman Wrestling Team took 1st place at the Lyons Freshman Tournament.  Oscar Binkowski, Justin Skrid, Nicolas Olvera and Sashvin Yogandran all brought home gold for the Hawks.  Making the finals was Josh Melsa, Igor DeCastro, Simon Hayes, Tyler Gonzalez, Connor Parkhurst, and Mauricio Perez-Gomez.  Blake Highhouse and Sean Serbinski took third place.

Naperville Central Blanks Neuqua Valley

December 7, 2023

·       NCHS 69 – Neuqua Valley 0

Naperville Central improved to 2-0 on the DuPage Valley Conference and 7-1 on the season.  The Redhawks won all eleven matches contested and picked up three additional wins by forfeit.  Five matches were won by fall and the Hawks outscored the Wildcats 29 to 6 in takedowns.

After Central’s Dalton Meluch picked up a forfeit at 106 pounds, Jacob Cochran (113) scored takedowns in both the first and second period before pinning his opponent.  Flynn Collins (120) recorded his first ever varsity win for the Redhawks in impressive fashion.  He also scored takedowns in all three periods to major Brady Podracky 16-6.  Tyler Martin (126) added three more takedowns for the Redhawks before winning by fall in the first period.  Mitchell Kaszuba (132) picked up a forfeit.

In one of the more exciting matches of the day, Vince Bern (138) came from behind to defeat Jay Chidley 8-5.  Bern scored a reversal and back points on a roll in the second period and added another set of takedown-back points in the third to secure the tightly contest.  CJ Bierman (144) earned a takedown in each period of his match against Nicholas Page to secure a decision 8-2.  Hagen Taylor (150) improve his record to 5-1 on the season with a win by fall over Curtis Burke in the second period.  Taylor racked up twelve match points prior to his pin including four takedowns.

Senior Christopher Bern (157) overcame a takedown by Dzhamaludin Nurudinov.  Bern was able to escape and scored a takedown directly to a pin with only a half-second left in the first period.  John Carens (165) is now 7-1 on the season after earning a 12-2 major decision against Maddox Menendez.  Carens scored three takedowns, two in the first period and one more in the second to coast to his win.

Henry Rydwelski (175) looked impressive with a solid 13-4 major decision against Delvidas Lewiton.  Rydwelski led the team with six takedowns in his match.  Jacob Smetters (190) fell behind 2-3 after the first period, but overcame the deficit with and escape and takedown in the second period and a late nearfall in the third period to win 8-3.  After a surprise switch by Neuqua Valley, Nicolas Besteiro (215) won expectantly by forfeit.  The Wildcats bumped up Ethan Schoeck to heavyweight.  William Erbeck scored fall in 59 seconds to secure the shout out.  Erbeck is has improved to 7-1 on the season.

The Naperville JV1 team also won with a shut out 76-0.  The Hawks Freshman team won 63-18.

Naperville Central Girls Finish 13th at 32-Team Munch Tournament

12/8/2023

·       Dezi Azar (125) 5th

·       Bianca Arrendondo (130) 6th

·       Gracie Meluch (115) 7th

The NCHS girls traveled to Pontiac High School for the annual Munch Girls Wrestling Tournament, placing 13th of 32 teams.  Central won 14 of 27 matches and had three girls place in the event.

Leading the way for Lady Redhawks was upstart freshman Dezi Azar (125).  Azar, now 9-2 on the season, advanced to the quarterfinals and won all of her matches in the wrestle-backs to finish in third place.  Azar won four matches and lead the team with a combined eight takedowns.  Bianca Arrendondo (130) lost in her opening match but returned with four consecutive wins two by fall.  Arrendondo advanced to her place match with a headlock and pin, finishing in 6th place.

Newcomer Gracie Meluch (115) finished 3-2 on the day with all three wins by fall.  Meluch qualified for the seventh place match.  Junior Ellen Purl (120) ended the day at 2-2 with two takedowns and two falls.  Annika Hull (100) won a match.  Sophia Liu and Arianna Rico also completed.

Naperville Central Runner Up’s at Prospect Tournament

12/9/23

1 Libertyville 199.0

2 Naperville Central 169.5

3 Prospect 160.5

4 York 149.5

5 Joliet Catholic 139.0

6 Fremd 120.0

7 Moline 112.0

8 McHenry 100.5

8 Prairie Ridge 100.5

10 Fox Lake Grant 99.0

11Round Lake 74.0

12 Belvidere North 64.0

13 Addison Trail 57.0

14 Grayslake Central 54.0

15 New Trier 39.0

16 Lake Zurich 20.0

Naperville Central finished second at the Mudge/McMorrow Tournament held at Prospect High School.  Central edged host Prospect for the runner up prize.  Libertyville won the tournament.  Of the sixteen participants for the Redhawks, thirteen placed in the top eight.  Naperville Central and Prospect were nearly tied for second going into the place matches, but the Redhawks were able to pull away winning nine of the thirteen place matches in the final round.  Austin Aguinaldo (106) and Niko Besteiro (215) made the finals and took hope silvers.  Hagen Taylor (150), Jacob Smetters (190) and Will Erbeck (285) all posted four wins earned bronze medals.  NCHS won 43 individual matches, 22 by fall, against 27 losses.  Last year Central finished in sixth place.

Niko Besterio advanced to the finals after posting three consecutive falls against opponents from Joliet Catholic, Fremd and York.  He lost 0-5 in the finals against McGrory of Libertyville.  Besteiro improves to 10-2 on the season with nine wins by fall.  Austin Aguinaldo received a bye in the first round, won by fall in the quarterfinals and advanced to the championship match by defeating Hutchinson of Grant 9-2.  Aguinaldo lost his first match of the year in the finals to MeMarco of Grayslake Central 5-11.  Aguinaldo still has the best record percentage on the team at 9-1.

Central’s three bronze medal winners include Hagan Taylor (150) who posted an amazing four falls in the tournament, the last one for third against Quirk of Prospect in 47 seconds.  Will Erbeck (285) defeated Pizano of Belvidere by fall in the preliminaries and won 4-0 over Dalach of Joliet Catholic to advance to the semifinals.  After losing there, Erbeck won both matches on the backside including a throw and pin in the place match against Fallaw of Prairie Ridge in the second period.  Erbeck leads the team in wins with 11 against only two losses.  Senior Jacob Smetters (190) proved to be the heart attack kid as he posted three consecutive decisions by scores of 4-3, 4-3 and 5-2, the last for third against Olascoaga of Addison Trail.  Smetters is now 10-3 this season.

Four Naperville Central wrestlers won their 5th place matches to help the Redhawks secure second place in the tournament.  All four finished with records of 3-2.  Chris Bern (157) finished with a hard fought 4-3 decision against Schuldt of McHenry.  Bern continues to lead the team for the season in the takedown category with 33.  Mitchell Kaszuba (132) added three more pins to his total, the last one against Valdez of Addison Trail.  Sophomore Jake Moore (113) made the most of his first varsity experience winning three matches in the tournament.  CJ Bierman (144) wrestled as well as he has all season advancing to the semifinals.  He opened the tournament with nail-biting 4-3 double-overtime win over Carney of Libertyville, holding him down for the ride-out to win.  Bierman won by fall to get to the semifinals.  After falling to the fifth place match, Bierman impressively won by major decision 13-2 over Alvarez of Belvidere.  Moore opened the tournament with a 6-1 decision over Martinez of Addison Trail for his first ever varsity win.  Moore took 5th with a pin against Christophersen of Grayslake Central.  Moore posted two wins by fall.

Henry Rydwelski (175) lost a heart-breaker in round one and made up for it with four consecutive wins to finish in seventh place.  Rydwelski racked up 16 points, wining 16-6 in the final match verses Bautista of Prospect.  John Carens (165) also took seventh defeating Grazzini of York by fall in 1:40, his second pin of the day.  Jacob Cochran (113) and Flynn Collins (120) both placed 8th.  Cochran improved to 9-4 on the season while Collins continues to impress with his varsity experiences showing a winning varsity record of 3-2 on the year.  Vince Bern (138) won two matches and Tyler Martin (126) added a win to his record with a 15-4 major decision against Wagner of McHenry.  Senior Christian Kuta (285) got into the varsity lineup and competed in the event.

NCHS Streamwood JV Dual Meet Tournament Champions

The NCHS JV1 team traveled to Streamwood for the Streamwood JV1 Dual Tournament and won all three duals defeating Bartlett 81-0, South Elgin 50-30, and in the finals, Wheeling 84-0.  Central won 38 matches at the tournament against only five losses.  Of the 38 wins, 30 were recorded as falls.

Triple winners were Javier Sevilla, Luci Antonietti, Gavin McDonald, Paul Peradotti, Landon Lucero, and Jackson Bell.  Sevilla, Antonietti, McDonald and Peradotti all finished with three falls.  Bradley Anderson, Quinn O’Donnell, Aaron Nussbaum, Jack Schwartz, and Yusuf Sikander all ended undefeated at 2-0.  Zaide Azar and Caelon Young both won the only match they competed in.

Naperville Central will host the Crosstown Classic this year with Naperville North coming to visit on Thursday, December 14.  Girls, junior varsity and freshman matches will begin at 5:30pm.  Varsity matches are expected to begin at 7:15pm.  The varsity will travel to Oak Forest on Saturday for a set of four duals while junior varsity teams will compete at home and at Maine South.  NCHS girls will travel to Grant on Monday and Batavia on Wednesday.

Central Girls Wrestling Compete at Grant

12/11/2023

The Central Girls team traveled to Grant High School in Fox Lake to compete in the Girls Block Party.  Seven total teams battled in a scramble format.  The Lady Redhawks won twelve of fourteen matches, eleven by fall and one by technical fall.  All matches were decided prior to the start of the third period.  All seven Hawks won matches including Annika Hull, Gracie Meluch, Ellen Purl, Dezi Azar and Arianna Rico who all won both of their matches.  Arianna Rico won her first two matches of the season, both by fall.

Lady Redhawk Wrestlers Mix It Up at Batavia

12/13/2023

The NCHS girls continued their busy week with a scramble-wrestling event hosted by Batavia.  Nine schools matched up for a couple of matches with each wrestler receiving two matches.  Central won eight matches against seven losses.  All eight matches were won by fall.

Desi Azar won both of her matches including an exciting fall against Sylvester of West Aurora.  Azar scored two takedowns in the match before securing the fall in the second period.  Young Gracie Meluch added two more wins to here record.  Ellen Purl looked impressive with two come-from-behind wins, the second against Molina of West Aurora.  Arianna Rico got an extra match by way of a 5-man bracket and made the most of it, pinning Giakouni of Batavia in 40 seconds.  Rico finished the day 2-1.  Annika Hull, Bianca Arrendondo and Sophia Liu also competed.

Naperville Central Wins Crosstown Classic

·       Naperville Central 46 – Naperville North 6

12/14/2023

Naperville Central defeated crosstown rival Naperville North in front of a sellout crown hosted by Central.  The dual was contested in the main gym.  The Hawks are now 8-1 on the season and 3-0 in the DVC.  In the dual, Central won twelve of the fourteen matches with many coming down to the final seconds.  The Redhawks won three matches by fall. 

Naperville Central won the first ten matches of the evening, but it was not easy.  The battle started at heavyweight.  Central’s Will Erbeck and Steven Harvey went scoreless in the first period.  After a Harvey escape, Erbeck scored a takedown with nearfall points to move up 5-1.  Another Harvey escape made it 5-2 entering the third period.  Erbeck locked down the victory with an escape and takedown for a 8-2 decision.  Cycling down to the light weight classes, Austin Aguinaldo (106) of Central and Adam Beedon also went scoreless in the first period.  Aguinaldo opened the second period with an escape and takedown and Beedon added an escape.  Up 3-1, Aguinaldo tacked on a takedown to win 5-1.  Next up, Jacob Cochran (113) defeated Alexander Paunkov by fall 44 seconds into the third period.  Cochran scored a takedown and back-points in the first period to take a 7-0 lead and added another takedown in the second before securing his fall.

Redhawk Ty Martin (120) and Connor McDonald had one of the more exciting matches of the night.  Martin open with a low single leg takedown, but McDonald took the lead with a reversal to the back 4-2.  A late escape pull Martin within one heading to the second frame.  There, Martin took the lead with an escape and takedown 6-4.  Picking bottom, McDonald pulled within one with his escape then took the lead with a takedown up 7-6.  Martin escaped to knot the score 7-7 and with less than a minute left, he scored the winning takedown for a 9-7 decision.  At 126, Central’s Mitchell Kaszuba earned a 7-4 victory over Ben Messier.  Kaszuba was able to control the first period with a takedown and ride-out and added a takedown and near-fall in the second period.  Up 6-2, Kaszuba earned an escape in the third period.  Messier got a takedown, but was unable to score again.  Vince Bern wrestled at 132 for the Hawks and fought for a 13-0 major decision over Michael Arredondo.  Bern scored takedowns in each of the three periods and back-points in both the first and third periods.

Naperville North’s standout Tyler Sternstein wrestled CJ Bierman at 138 that ended in the strangest way.  Bierman scored a takedown and nearfall points on a cradle early in the match, but Sternstein recovered with an escape.  Sternstein went to work on top scoring a two-point near-fall and then caught Bierman with a spadle cradle taking him to his back.  Both wrestlers struggled with Sternstein stretching back to secure the fall.  In the process, Sternstein put himself on his back and was called pinned defensively.  Hagan Taylor (NC) squared off against Zachary Mally in a battle of tough 144 pounders and Taylor came out on top.  Taylor scored an early takedown and near-fall points to go up 4-0.  After a Mally escape, Taylor ended up on top with another takedown.  Mally bounced back with a takedown in the second period, but Taylor was able to reverse and get the fall last in the second.

The most exciting match of the night came at 150 pounds.  Central’s sophomore Yusuf Sikander competed in his first varsity match against Evan Marschitz.  The match had four lead changes and 33 total match points scored.  Sikander scored the first two takedowns sandwiched around a Marschitz escape.  Marschitz then took the lead with a reversal and back points 6-4 to end the first frame.  Marschitz extended the lead with an escape and nice double for a takedown.  A penalty point for stalling added to Marschitz’s total.  However, Sikander was able to escape and score two more takedowns in the second period to pull within one, 10-9.  The third period provided more fireworks.  Marschitz earned a penalty point to go up 11-9.  Sikander was able to score three takedowns in a row, around Marschitz escapes to take the lead 15-14.  Marschitz then regained the lead again with a reversal, 16-15.  As the final seconds ticked by, Sikander reversed back for the winning score 17-16.  Both wrestlers laid exhausted upon the final buzzer.  Sikander’s first ever varsity win will be memorable.

Senior Hawk Chris Bern defeated Nick Oblanzny in a hard-fought match by decision 8-4.  Bern scored the first takedown, but Oblanzny answered with a takedown in the first period as well.  Tied 3-3, Oblanzny earned an escape, but Bern was able to lock down a takedown and a ride out to go ahead 5-4 to the third.  Bern got out for an escape and iced the decision after a third takedown.

Huskie Matas Budreika put Naperville North on the scoreboard with a well-earned 11-8 decision over Central’s John Carens at 165.  Budreika scored takedown and nearfall points early.  In the second period, down 0-4, Carens tied the score with a takedown and a cradle, but Budreika reversed Carens in the process and added three near-fall points of his own to go up 9-4.  Caren’s attempt at a comeback fall just short.  He was able to score a takedown and another cradle to pull within one at 9-8, but a reversal by Budreika secured the win.  Henry Rydwelski and Kyle Gatlin faced off in a key match at 175.  After a scoreless first period, Rydwelski earned an escape and takedown in the second.  Gatlin got away making it 3-1 going into the third.  Another escape in final period made the score 3-2, but that’s how it ended with a win for Rydwelski.

Central and North split the final two matches of the night.  At 190 pounds, Matt Murphy of North won 6-4.  Murphy scored takedowns in the first and second period while Smetters scored escapes in both periods and a reversal in the second to end on the top position.  The score tied at 4, Murphy won with a double leg takedown in the third.  Senior Nicolas Besteiro capped off the night with a 5-2 decision at 215 over Mathew Randal.  With nobody scoring in the first period, Besteiro earned an escape and a penalty point to move up 2-0 to the third period.  After Besteiro gave up an escape, he scored a key takedown in the third.

The NCHS and NNHS girls had five matches against each other with the Redhawks winning three of them.  The Huskie Keyi Wang defeated Annika Hull in an exciting trip-overtime thriller by a score of 4-2.  Central wrestler’s Gracie Meluch and Ellen Purl both posted first period falls in their matches.  Naperville North’s Lauren Cook took advantage of several takedowns and secured a second period fall over Sophia Lui.  Arianna Rico came from behind to win by fall over Harper Hastings.

In other action, the NCHS Junior Varsity 1 team defeated NNHS by a score of 47-19.  In JV2 action, Central defeated North 48-28.  The Redhawk freshman team beat the Huskies 51-21.

Naperville Central Sweeps Four Duals at Oak Forest

12/16/2023

·       NCHS 66 – Bradley Bourbonnais 3

·       NCHS 58 – Mt. Prospect 23

·       NCHS 57 – Oak Forest 18

·       NCHS 57 – Rochelle 29

Naperville Central improved to 12-1 on the season after sweeping all for duals competed at Oak Forest High School.  Hagan Taylor, Mitchell Kaszuba, Will Erbeck, and Jacob Cochran all finished with a record of 4-0.  Taylor led the way with three falls.  In all, Central won 42 individual matches against just 12 losses.

The Redhawks won six of seven matches contested against Bradley Bourbonnais.  Flynn Collins (120) scored a 11-6 decision and Vince Bern (138) earned a 7-0 win.  CJ Beirman (144), Hagan Taylor (150), and John Carens (165) then all posted falls.  Henry Rydwelski (175) lost a hard fought match by decision, but Jacob Smetters (190) picked him up with a fall in 37 seconds.

Central won five of eight matches against Mt Prospect in the second dual of the day.  Tyler Martin (126) opened the dual with a fall as the first period was about to expire.  Mitchell Kaszuba (132) followed with a fall of his own.  Vince Bern lost his match at 138 pounds.  CJ Bierman (144) continues to impress with a second period flat-backer.  Henry Rydwelski (175) scored a major decision 13-5 and standout Niko Besteiro (215) was a winner by pin.

The Hawks won seven of ten matches verses host Oak Forest.  Sophomore Jacob Cochran (113) scored a technical fall prior to the third period.  Vince Bern is showing improvement at 138 pounds adding a fall to his win total.  Oak Forest won three of the next four matches however senior leader Hagan Taylor (15) locked his opponent’s shoulder to the mat.  Naperville Central won all four of the last matches starting with a 13-5 major decision win by Henry Rydwelski (175).  Next a second period fall by Jacob Smetters (190).  Niko Besteiro and Will Erbeck both scored first period falls at 215 and 285 respectively. 

In the final matchup, NCHS won seven of twelve from Rochelle.  Mitchell Kaszuba (132) finished off a 4-0 day winning by fall in the first period to improve to 13-5 on the season.  Vince Bern (138) added a late pin with just three seconds remaining his him match.  Hagan Taylor (150) needed only 31 second to dispatch his opponent.  He leads the team in falls with 12 and improve his overall record to 14-2 on the season.  Chris Bern (157) added another pin.  Bern is tied with Rydwelski in the team takedown category with 44.  Bern has a record of 14-5.  Speaking of Henry Rydwelski (175), he locked down a 5-1 decision to cap of a three-win day and improve to 13-5.  Jacob Smetters eked out a 6-5 decision for his third win as well.  The senior has a matching record of 13-5.  Red hot Jacob Cochran (113) finished of a four win day with a second period fall.  Cochran improves to 14-4.  Sophomore Jake Moore won two matches at the event.

The NCHS JV 1 team wrestled in a quadrangular and won all three dual impressively defeating Oak Forest 58-18, Joliet Central 78-5 and Bolingbrook 68-12.  Wining all three matches was Luciano Antonietti, Gavin McDonald, Jack Schwartz, Bradley Anderson, Zaide Azar, Christian Kuta, Paul Peradotti, and Javier Sevilla.  Antonietti, McDonald, Schwartz, Anderson and O’Donnell won all their matches by fall.  Aaron Nussbaum finished 2-0 and Sean Fitzgerald finished 1-0.  Central won 40 of the 47 matches competed, 30 by fall.

Naperville Central put together a freshman-sophomore team that traveled to the very competitive Maine-South Freshman-Sophomore Tournament and finished in second place out of nine teams.  Hersey High School won the tournament with 212 points, Central finished with 179 and taking third was Libertyville with 119.  Bringing home gold for the Redhawks was Igor De Castro (113), Stavros Gerousis (138), Justin Skryd (150), Nick Olvera (165), and Chase Castro (175).  Making the finals and taking second place was Dalton Meluch (106).  Third place finishers were Sean Serbinski (101), Cayden Castro (126), and Caelon Young (157).

Central Girls Finish in 5th Place at 37-Team Ottawa Girls Holiday Hootenanny Tournament

12/28/2023

The Lady Redhawk wrestling team battled valiantly, placing four of seven entrants at the Ottawa Girls Wrestling Tournament.  Naperville Central won 19 matches against just 10 losses at the tournament.  Minooka fielded a full team and won the event.

Freshman standout Dezi Azar walked away as tournament champion at 125 pounds winning all four matches including a dramatic fall in the finals against top-seeded Charelouis of Minooka.  Azar improved to 17-2 on the season and also leds the team in takedowns with 27.  Junior Ellen Purl (120) earned two pins, the second in the quarterfinals and finished in fourth place.  Purl is now 14-7 with all fourteen wins coming by fall.  Junior veteran Annika Hull (100) proved she is a force.  Hull finished 4-1 earning four wins by fall including her place match against Almazan of Shepard.  Young Gracie Meluch (110) wrestled out of a pigtail match all the way to fifth place, posting another five falls to her growing resume.  Her place match was a pin against Henson of Streator.  Meluch is tied with Azar for most wins on the season with a 17-6 record.  All of her 17 wins are by fall as well.  Bianca Arrendondo (130) and Arianna Rico (145) both finished in the top eight by finishing with identical 2-2 records.  Sophia Liu wrestled at 130 pounds.

Naperville Central JV Team Brings Home Gold From Libertyville

12/28/2023

The Redhawk JV team dominated the challenging 13-team Libertyville Tournament scoring 279.5 points.  Lyons Township took second place with 193 and Glenbrook South finished third with 158.  Naperville Central sent ten wrestlers to the finals, six bringing home blue ribbons.  Of the eighteen entered, NCHS placed sixteen, twelve it the top three.  Every Redhawk won a match and the team finished 49-16 in total.

Standing on top of the podium were Dalton Meluch (106), Jake Moore (113), Jack Schwartz (126), Bradley Anderson (150), Nick Olvera (165), and Christian Kuta (285).  Silver medalists were Cayden Castro (126), Austin Schiltz (138), Quinn O’Donnell (144) and Luciano Antonietti (190). Castro lost to his teammate in the finals.  Schiltz just missed a championship, losing in overtime in the finals.  Flynn Collins (120) and Paul Peradotti (175) earned bronze.  Other placewinners were Jackson Bell (5th, 113), Yusuf Sikander (5th, 157), Caelon Young (6th, 157), and Nate Radtke (6th, 215).  Sean Fitzgerald finished 2-2 and Gavin McDonald finished 1-2.

Meanwhile, Naperville Central hosted a home-friendly dual, mostly at the freshman level with Lyons Township.  No team scores were kept.  Central won 15 of 22 matches with big wins posted by Evan Horn, Igor De Castro, Connor DeBora, George Sbarboro, Jad Salem, Simon Hayes, Johnny Brower, Ethan Pangman, Leon Elenovski, Mason Costantine, Logan Hornbaker, Eli Mallory, Mason Betz-Waters, Joseph Tamsevicius, and Nate Fenton.

Central Finished in 16th Place at Prestigious Flavin

12/29/2023 - 12/30/2023

●        NCHS 47 - Glenbard West 23

●        NCHS 15 - Yorkville 52

●        NCHS 33 - York (Elmhurst) 36

●        NCHS 27 - Lockport 43

●        NCHS 26 - Chatham Glenwood 47

●        NCHS 30 - Barrington 31

Naperville Central restarted their wrestling season after a thirteen day layoff competing at the competitive The Flavin 16-team dual meet tournament hosted by DeKalb High School.  The Redhawks took fourth place in the eight team “Wayne Miller” Bracket on day one which qualified them for the Bronze Pool on day two.  Will Erbeck, Central’s outstanding heavyweight, turned in the team’s top performance by winning all six matches, four by fall.  The junior leads the team in wins with a 22-2 record.  Mitchell Kaszuba won all three matches on day one, two by major decisions, improving to 16-5 on the year.  The 126 pounder sat out day two due to injury.  Jake Cochran (113) and Ty Martin (120, 126) both finished with 4-2 records.  Three of Cochran’s wins were pins and he now ranks second on the team with 18 wins against 6 losses.  Junior Aaron Nussbaum (215) posted his first career varsity win at the event as well as freshman Justin Skryd (150).

Central opened the event by defeating Glenbard West by a score of 47-23.  The Hawks won eight of twelve matches and the two teams traded forfeits.  Five of those wins came by fall.  Next up the Hawks faced Yorkville, a team that took 4th in state last year.  Yorkville won the match 15-52.  Ty Martin (120) and Mitchell Kaszuba (126) both came away with wins, including bonus points.  Will Erbeck won by forfeit.  Dual three saw the Redhawks take on Elmhurst York.  The contest came down to the final match with York coming out on top 33-36.   After a loss at 175 pounds, Jacob Smetters (190) won by fall.  York answered with a pin at 215.  Will Erbeck flexed his muscles after earning a first period fall at heavyweight.  After Naperville Central gave up a forfeit at 106 and York gave up forfeits at 113 and 120, senior Mitchell Kaszuba won by decision 14-7.  York then rattled off wins at 132, 138, 144 and 150.  Chris Bern (157) stopped the bleeding with a 7-1 decision and John Carens battled to a 5-1 win, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the team score deficit.

Day two a depleted Redhawk team faced three very competitive teams, starting with Lockport.  The Porters defeated the Hawks 43-27.  The loss was not without some highlights for NCHS.  Jacob Smetters (190) won by fall and Will Erbeck continued his winning streak with a 8-6 hard-fought victory.  Jacob Cochran (113) continues to improve earning a second period fall.  Freshman Justin Skryd earned his first ever varsity win making quick work of Naseem Jabar of Lockport earning a pin in 31 seconds.  Surely looks like the first of many by the standout.  Henry Rydwelski won the last match of the dual with a late, second period fall.  In the second dual Central fell to Chatham Glenwood 47-26.  Will Erbeck (285) earned another pin.  Jacob Cochran (113) earned his second victory of the day with a second period mat-slapper.  Hagan Taylor (144) scored a technical fall, winning 22-5.  Sophomore Yusuf Sikander (157) battled to a third period fall.  Henry Rydwelski (175) added the final win with a 10-7 win.

Dual three saw Naperville Central take on Barrington to a battle that was decided in the final match.  Central won seven matches while Barrington won six.  The two team forfeited 106.  Cochran (113) nearly won his fifth match of the competition, but lost by one, 6-5.  Senior standout Ty Martin earned four takedowns in route to a 12-4 major decision.  Central gave up falls at 126 and 132.  The Redhawks answered with a fall from CJ Bierman (138) and a 11-7 victory from Hagan Taylor (144).  Barrington came back with wins against Javier Sevilla and Yusuf Sikander at 150, 157.  Down by eight team points, the Redhawks cut the Barrington lead to one with decisions from John Carens (165) and Henry Rydwelski (175).  Rydwelski’s win was a major decision 13-3 scoring six takedowns to add to his team-leading total of 56.  After a Barrington victory at 190, the Hawks needed a pin from Aaron Nussbaum at 215.  The junior scored six takedowns to earn his first ever varsity win by a score of 16-8.

NCHS Freshman Finish Second at Hinsdale South Tournament

12/30/2023

The Central freshman team took second place at the Hornet Freshman Invite scoring 195.5 points.  The two way race was won by Glenbard West with 207 points.  Host Hinsdale South took third with 147.  Twelve teams participated.  Central sent five to the finals, winning four championships.  Igor de Castro (113), Nick Olvera (165), Chase Castro (175) and Sashvin Yogandran (215) all walked away with first place medals.  Josh Bern (126) made the finals and placed second.  Other placewinners include Sean Serbinski (4th, 106), Calum Bohan (3rd, 150), Tyler Gonzalez (4th, 157), and John Melsa (3rd, 285).

Naperville Central Rings In New Year With Two Victories

1/2/24

·       NCHS 51 - Schaumburg 21

·       NCHS 74 - Plainfield South 6

Naperville Central improved to 15-6 on the season after earning two dual victories at home against Schaumburg and Plainfield South.  Wrestlers with two victories include Jacob Smetters, John Carens, Will Erbeck, Henry Rydwelski, Jacob Cochran, Vince Bern, Niko Besteiro, and Austin Aguinaldo.  Chris Bern, Justin Skryd, Ty Martin and Mitchell Kaszuba finished 1-0.

Against Schaumburg, Central won ten of the fourteen matches, including the first seven.  Carens (165), Rydwelski (175), Smetters (190), Besteiro (215) and Erbeck (285) all posted falls for the first five matches.  Aguinaldo (106) earned a victory in overtime and Cochran (113) landed the sixth fall of the day.  Flynn Collins was defeated at 120, but Mitchell Kaszuba (126) avenged the loss, battling to a 7-4 decision.  Vince Bern fought to a 11-4 win at 132.  Schaumburg won the next three weight classes, but Chris Bern (157) capped off the dual victory with a first period fall.

Central won twelve of thirteen matches against Plainfield South, and another match by forfeit.  Locking down falls for the Redhawks were Rydwelski, Smetters, Erbeck, Cochran, Collins, Vince Bern, CJ Bierman, Taylor, Justin Skryd (150), and Carens.  Aguinaldo won by forfeit.  Justin Skryd earned his second varsity win, this time in front of the home crowd.  Niko Besteiro won the most exciting match of the day, a 4-3 nail-bitter against Matt Janiak that could have gone either way.  Ty Martin (126) added a technical fall, winning 17-1.

NCHS JV teams won both of their duals, a 73-6 win against Schaumburg and an 84-0 win against Plainfield South.

Naperville Central Defeats DeKalb 37-28

1/4/2024

In what may go down as one of the more exciting duals in recent memory, the Naperville Central Redhawks defeated the DeKalb Barb by a score of 37-28.  The contest was tied twice, saw five lead changes in the fourteen matches and came down to the final match.  Central won eight matches against six losses.  The win makes NCHS 16-6 on the season and 4-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference.

Starting at 106, NCHS’s sophomore Dalton Meluch faced off against Jaden Bradley.  Meluch put on a valiant effort, scoring a takedown in the match, but lost by fall in the second period.  Redhawk Jacob Cochran (113) went the distance with Kaden Klapprodt, taking the lead in the third period before succumbing by decision 12-14.  With the Barb ahead 0-9, veteran wrestler Ty Martin (120) put the Hawks on the board with a hard fought 3-1 decision over Eduardo Castro.  Martin was in on the legs for a potential takedown in the final seconds of both the first and second periods before finally getting his break in the third for the victory.  Next up, senior Mitchell Kaszuba (126) wasted no time in earning a fall over Tyler Daub, with the mat slapped in 35 seconds, tying the team score at 9-9.

Vince Bern (132) put the Redhawks ahead for the first time of the night, the first lead change, with a convincing 9-4 decision over Ayden Shuey.  Bern scored takedowns in each of his three periods.  DeKalb retook the team score lead 12-15 when Hudson Ikens pinned Central’s CJ Bierman in the second period.  The Barbs added to their lead with a 6-17 major decision against young Stavros Gerousis at 144 pounds.  Although a losing effort, Gerousis starved off a pin or technical fall against the starter from DeKalb.  Senior standout Hagan Taylor (150) moved the Hawks to within one after pinning Michael Hodge with a headlock in the second period.  The match was tied at the time of the fall.  Chris Bern moved Central ahead once again with a excellent effort at 157, winning by major decision 10-2.  After a scoreless first period, Bern captured the lead with an escape, takedown and nearfall to open the second period and added two more takedowns for the bonus teampoint in the third.  The win put the Hawk up 22-19.  DeKalb then moved up to the lead, the fourth lead-change of the night, with wins at 165 and 175.  Jacob Luce earned a fall in the second period over John Carens of Central and Sean Kolkebeck held on to a 2-5 decision over Central’s Henry Rydwelski.

With the Barbs up 22-28, senior and returning state qualifier Jacob Smetters needed 39 seconds against Elvis Mora to tie the team score 28-28.  With two matches left in the dual, the two teams split evenly winning six matches apiece, senior Niko Besteiro put up three takedowns against Lamar Bradley to win by decision 7-1.  It was the fifth lead change of the night and put the result of the dual in the hands of the heavyweights.  Jeremiah Pineira of DeKalb opened the match with a takedown and put Will Erback to his back momentarily.  Erbeck was able to roll off without giving away nearfall points.  After several close calls, Erbeck was finally able to shed his opponent for the reversal and in the process caught Pineira on his back.  The fall was quickly called, securing the victory for the Redhawks 37-28.

Naperville Central will need a victory over Metea Valley next week to finish undefeated in the DVC.  In the under-level contests Naperville Central defeated DeKalb 62-9 at the JV1 level and 48-35 at the freshman level.  Central also won five of seven matches at what would be considered the JV2 level.  The girls did not compete against DeKalb as the Barbs sent their girls elsewhere.

Naperville Central Hosts 15-Team Girls Invitational

1/5/2024

Naperville Central hosted their first ever girls invitational wrestling event, inviting fifteen girl’s teams to do battle in the aux gum.  No places or team scores were kept, but several Lady Redhawks showed their stuff against good competition.  Dezi Azar (125) improved to 19-2 posting two more falls, both in the first period.  Junior Annika Hull (100) posted three straight wins to improve to 12-9.  Hull won the first match by technical fall 23-4 and won the last two by pin.  Ellen Purl (120) finished 1-1 with a fall.  Gracie Meluch (110), Bianca Arrendondo (130) and Arianna Rico (145) all won a match.  Sophia Liu competed at 125.

Redhawks Now 18-6 After Two Victories in Downers Grove

1/6/2024

·       NCHS 61 - South Elgin 18

·       NCHS 46 - Downers Grove North 3

Naperville Central finished off a busy week of wrestling with two more dual victories, one against South Elgin and the other against hosts Downers Grove North.  The two wins improves the Redhawk record to 18-6 on the season with just one more dual contest left in the regular season.

Central won eight of eleven matches versus South Elgin.  Jacob Cochran (113), CJ Bierman (138), Hagan Taylor (144), Henry Rydwelski (175), Niko Besteiro (215) and William Erbeck (285) all won by fall.  Vince Bern (132) was a winner by major decision 15-5.  John Carens won by decision 12-8.

Next up the Redhawks faced off with the Trojans of Downers Grove North.  Ty Martin (120) started off with a solid 9-5 decision over Vela of DGN.  Martin is now 18-8 on the season and leads the team in technical falls.  Mitchell Kaszuba (126) followed with a 10-1 major decision over Mongello for his 20th varsity win of the season.  Kaszuba now 20-5.  Vince Bern (132) continues to show improvement, winning by decision 7-4.  Bern, 16-12, cruises to the hand-raiser over Cummings after scoring two takedowns in the first period by a score of 7-4.  Next up CJ Bierman (138) scored takedowns in each of all three periods to get a major decision 14-3 against Chiarelli.

Senior veteran Hagan Taylor (144) pinned Kelly in the second period over Kelly.  That win improves Taylor to 21-6 and increases his team lead in pins to 17.  Yusuf Sikander (150) earned his third varsity win with a hard-fought 15-10 decision against Manzo.  Sikander scored four takedowns and a three-point nearfall in the opening frame and held on from there.  Senior multi year starter Chris Bern (157) battled to a 6-3 decision to Schaefer to cap off a successful week.  Bern’s scoresheet shows three takedowns for his total, one scored in each period.  Bern holds a record of 19-7 and is second on the team with 53 total takedowns.

Upstart sophomore Paul Peradotti (165) earned his first ever varsity win of his career with a 10-3 decision over John LaSota.  Peradotti impressed the fans scoring four takedowns in the match.  Henry Rydwelski was the ninth Redhawk wrestler in a row to win in the dual.  The 175 pounder won 5-1 verses Nicholson and improved to 20-9 for the 2023-24 season.  Rydwelski leads the team in takedowns with 66 and major decisions (6).  Luci Antonietti (190), who was credited with a win by forfeit in the previous dual, fell short of earning his first true varsity win, losing 0-5 to Lewis of DGN, but Antonietti went the distance for the Hawks.

Niko Besteiro (215) continued his hot streak with a second period fall over Davis.  Red hot Besteiro is now 19-3 this season.  Season win-leader William Erbeck (285) had to come from behind to win 6-3 over Rodriguez his his match.  Erbeck scored a reversal in the second period and added nearfall points in the third.  He owns a sparkling 27-2 record and is second on the team in the pin category with 15.

Young Dalton Meluch (106) earn his first ever varsity victory, but is wasn’t easy.  Meluch defeated Logan Loftus by a score of 11-8.  Meluch opened with a takedown, but Loftus escaped and got a takedown to move ahead 2-3 after one.  Meluch picked bottom to start the second and took the lead after scoring a reversal.  Loftus came back with a reversal of his own to retake the lead 4-5.  An Meluch escape tied the score and a takedown put Meluch ahead 7-5 moving to the third period.  Loftus picked down and closed within one after getting an escape.  Meluch answered with another takedown to take control of the match 9-6.  The Trojan escaped to make a match of it, but Meluch put the match away with yet another takedown, his fourth of the match.  Loftus escaped, but it wasn’t enough.  Jacob Cochran (113) took a 1-0 lead into the third period of his match against Tiangco and added a reversal and a penalty point to win 4-0 in the final match of the dual.  Cochran is second on the team in wins with 22.

The Naperville Central JV1 team was off this weekend.

Naperville Central put together two JV2 teams, Team Red and Team White to compete at the annual NCHS JV2 Invitational at home.  The Red team won the nine-team event with 209 points.  Naperville North took second with 16.5 points and Oswego took 3rd with 122.  The NCHS White team scored 81 points and took 7th.  Caelon Young won the 157 pound weight class.  A plethora of Redhawks made the finals and took second including Justin Rodriguez (106), Kai DiClemente (113), Landon Lucero (120), Tony Coclanes (126), Oscar Binkowski (138), Zaide Azar (150), Nick Zbylut (175), and Nate Sadowski (215).  Taking third were Henry Erives (106), Jackson Bell (113), Jack Sjordal (120). Austin Schiltz (138) Mark Klavohn (144), Nithilan Gandhi (190), and Sean FitzGerald (285).  Fourth place finishers were Gibson Berkowitz (106), Daniel Liaw (120), Connor DeBora (126), Qais Azar (144) and Eli Mallory (157).  Finishing fifth include Evan Horn (106), George Sbarboro (126), and Jayden Davis (215).

Meanwhile the NCHS Freshman team traveled to Morton for a dual and the Redhawks won by a score of 66-6.  Central won 18 matches against only three losses, all 18 matches won by the Redhawks were by fall.

Central Wrestling Team Enjoys Sweep on Senior Night

1/11/2024

·       NCHS 84 – Metea Valley 0

Naperville Central won all four contested matches against a depleted Metea Valley wrestling team.  All four matches were won by fall.  With the win the Redhawks improve to 19-6 on the year and a perfect 5-0 in the DVC.  It was the final regular season dual for the Hawks as they look ahead to the DuPage Valley Conference Tournament and the IHSA Regionals later in the month.  Prior to the dual, Naperville Central recognized their seniors.

Ty Martin (120), CJ Bierman (138), Javier Sevilla (150) and John Carens (165) were the wrestlers who received matches.  None of the matches made it to the third period.

The NCHS Girls wrestled under the lights with Arianna Rico and Dezi Azar both posting wins.  Rico came from behind to win by fall in the third period.  Azar scored on a takedown go-behind followed by a half nelson to win by fall in the first period.  In all there were six girls matches with Gracie Meluch, Ellen Purl, Bianca Arredondo and Sophia Liu also competing.

Seniors and their parents each walked out to be recognized by Principal Jackie Thornton, Athletic Director Chris Kirkpatrick, and Head Coach Noah Fitzenreider.  All had memories of past Redhawk wrestling experiences, thanked their parents, coaches and teammates and announced what they plan on pursuing post high school.  Senior wrestlers were Luciano Antonietti, Christopher Bern, Niko Besteiro, John Carens, Sean FitzGerald, Mitchell Kaszuba, Tyler Kim, Dylan Kosloski, Christian Kuta, Tyler Martin, Alexander Quintanalopez, Nate Radtke, Javier Sevilla, Jacob Smetters, and Hagan Taylor.  Wrestling Manager Ella Smith was also recognized with her parents for her fine work helping with stats, table work, video, and team organization.

The Naperville Central JV1 team defeated Metea Valley by a score of 73-0.  The JV2 dual score was 75-0 in favor of the Redhawks.  The Freshman won 72-6.  In all, NCHS won all matches save two against the Mustangs.

Naperville Central Hosts West Chicago

1/9/2024

Naperville Central JV2 and freshman teams invited West Chicago for a friendly competition at home.  No team scores were kept, but the Redhawks won 16 matches against 15 losses.  Winners include Jackson Bell, Blake Highhouse, Jeremiah Starks, Johnny Brouwer, Qais Azar, Dylan Wickmann, Eli Rodriguez, Mason Constantine, Max Leon, Tyler Gonzalez, Vardhan Singu, Matthew Jabbar, Tyler Thornton, Zayd Qureshi, Connor Parkhurst and Nate Sadowski.

Naperville Central Girls Participate in Batavia Scramble

1/16/2024

For the second time this season the Lady Redhawks travelled to Batavia for a wresting scramble.  It was the final tune-up prior to the IHSA Girls Regional coming up next week.  Three Hawks finished 2-0 including Dezi Azar who improved to 22-2 on the season.  Freshman Gracie Meluch added two more falls to her team-leading total.  Meluch is 20-9 with all 20 wins coming by fall.  Meluch also leads the team in takedowns with 37, one more than Azar.  Arianna Rico improved to 11-9 after posting two wins of her own.  Ellen Purl will enter Regionals with a record of 15-11.  Annika Hull is currently at 12-11 with 11 falls.  Bianca Arredondo owns a record of 10-14.  Sophia Liu rounds off the girls team and has two wins.

Naperville Central Welcomes Downers Grove South

1/16/2024

After a winter storm cancelled key events for the Redhawks, NCHS JV2 and freshman teams welcomed Downers Grove South for another opportunity to wrestle.  Central won seven matches against ten losses.  Among the winners were Kai DiClemente, Daniel Liaw, Jeremiah Starks, Johnny Brouwer, Vardhan Singu, Connor Parkhurst and Sashvin Yogandran.

Naperville Central Wrestling Team 2024 DuPage Valley Champions

1/19/2024

1.       Naperville Central 273

2.       DeKalb 257

3.       Naperville North 213.5

4.       Neuqua Valley 110

5.       Waubonsie Valley 93

6.       Metea Valley 50

Naperville Central won the 2024 DuPage Valley Wrestling Tournament held at Metea Valley High School.  The Redhawks advanced 13 of 14 wrestlers to the finals of the six team tournament and crowned five individual DVC Champions, tied for the most in school history (five champions were crowned in 2019 and 2020).  Eight Redhawk wrestlers finished as runner-ups and NCHS had a third place.  In all, the Hawks won 19 matches against just 9 losses.  Naperville Central has only won one other DVC team championship in school history, in 2019.

Leading the way for the Redhawks was standout Will Erbeck (285).  Erbeck, now 30-2 on the season, barnstormed his way to a DVC championship pinning both Jones of Metea Valley and Hobson of Waubonsie Valley.  Just prior to Erbeck’s title match, Central’s Niko Besteiro (215) defeated Bradley of DeKalb to being home his gold.  Besteiro advanced to the finals by pinning Housar, WV.  Besteiro is now 22-3 on the season.  Senior Chris Bern (157, 22-7) added a medal to his board with a DVC championship effort against Nurudinov of Neuqua Valley.  Bern needed several takedowns in the third period to come from behind for the win.  Bern defeated Allen of DeKalb in the semifinals by fall.

Seniors Tyler Martin (120) and Mitchell Kaszuba (126) went back-to-back for DVC championships.  Martin won his second consecutive DVC championship.  He joins an elite list of former Redhawks/Redskins who have at least two DVC titles (Steve Chirico 1977, 1978), Vince Marrone (1981, 1982), Dick Dorn (1988, 1989), Scott Benson (1990, 1991, 1992), Jeff Burdorf (2002, 2003, 2004), Chris Graeber (1007, 2008), Kyle Guttosch (2018, 2019), Tyler Driessens (2019, 2020), Tommy Porter (2019, 2022), and Ethan Olson (2020, 2022, 2023).  It wasn’t easy for Martin as needed overtime to defeat Castro of DeKalb 3-1.  Martin just missed winning in regulation as a last second takedown was wiped off after it was determined that it occurred just after the final buzzer.  Martin won by fall in the semifinals over Paunkov of Naperville North.  Mitchell Kaszuba etched his name amongst Redhawk greats winning his first DVC gold medal.  Kaszuba defeated Messier of NN 6-1 in the finals after advancing by pinning Fowler of DeKalb in the semifinals.

Defending DVC champion Vince Bern (132) fell just short of repeating in 2024, but the sophomore will have a couple more opportunities.  Bern lost to Sternstein of NN in the finals by fall.  Bern defeated Stivey of DeKalb 14-9 in the semifinals.  Senior Hagan Taylor (144) brought home a silver after advancing to the finals by defeating Wojtowich of Waubonsie Valley 10-6.  Taylor lost by an identical score in the finals to Ikens of DeKalb.  Fellow senior John Carens (165) made the championship match when he beat Menendez (NN) 3-2.  Carens lost by fall to Luce of DeKalb who was one of the OW’s in the event.  Senior Javier Sevilla (150) entered the tournament unseeded, but took the role of the dark horse all the way to the finals.  Sevilla won by fall over Verge of WV in the quarterfinals and scored a huge victory over the number one seed in the semifinals, a 9-5 win against Pape of Neuqua Valley.  Sevilla lost in the finals by a score of 1-13 to Matthews of DeKalb.  Jake Smetters, senior at 190, made the finals with a fall over Nurudinov (NV) in the semifinals.  Smetters lost to Murphy 1-10 to become DVC runner-up.

Two NCHS juniors also took second place at the DVC Championships.  Henry Rydwelski eked out a 1-0 decision in the semifinals over Gatlin of NN.  Rydwelski lost 8-12 to Kolkebeck of DeKalb.  CJ Bierman (138) continues to who improvement. Bierman advanced to the finals by way of a fall over Arroyo, WV.  Bierman came close to standing atop the podium, dropping a tight 1-3 decision to Ikens of DeKalb.  Sophomore standout Jacob Cochran 113 proved his worth with a second finish at the DVC’s.  Cochran won by fall over Paunkov NN, then battled to a 4-6 decision loss to Klapprodt, DeKalb.  Dalton Meluch scored needed team points for Hawks by taking third place in the tournament.  Meluch lost in the semifinals to Bradley of DeKalb.

Naperville Central JV2 team DVC Champions

1/20/2024

After hearing of Friday’s varsity DVC Championship the Redhawk JV2 team took the mats to prove they have what it takes to win their own tournament.  Central outscored Naperville North 268.5 to 236 for the first place trophy.  Waubonsie Valley took third with 121 points.  Central won seven of the fourteen weight classes and advanced 13 wrestler to the finals.

DVC champions include Igor DeCastro (113), Josh Bern (126), Austin Schiltz (138), Quinn O’Donnell (144), Justin Skryd (150), Caelon Young (157), and Sashvin Yogandran (215).  DeCastro and Bern defeated their teammates in the finals.  Bring home a silver medal were Jackson Bell (113), Tony Coclanes (126), Cayden Castro (132), Nick Haddad (175), Nate Sadowski (215), and Josh Melsa (285).

Bronze medalists at the DVC Championships were Gibson Berkowitz (106), Vince Miller (120), Ethan Pangman (138), Mark Klavohn (144), Tyler Thornton (175), and Nithilan Gandi (190).  Taking forth: Blake Highhouse (120) and Leon Elenovski.  Taking fifth: Oscar Binkowski (132), Calum Bohan (150), Nick Zbylut (165).  Jayden Davis took sixth place.

Meanwhile NCHS sent 29 wrestlers to Dundee Crown for a final wrestling quad against Libertyville, Dundee Crown and Lyons.  Every Redhawk saw the mat.  Central won 16 of 44 matches.  Landon Lucero and Johnny Brouwer both came away with two wins.

Redhawk Girls Wrestling Team Competes at IHSA Girls Regional

1/27/2024

The 2023-2024 Redhawk girls wrestling team competed in the first ever IHSA Girls Regionals this weekend.  The tournament was held at Shepard High School.  Wrestlers competing needed place in the top six of the 41 team event to advance to the IHSA Girls Sectionals.  Naperville Central placed three out of seven girls competing.  The Hawks won 14 matches at the tournament against 13 losses.  Ellen Purl (120) and Dezi Azar (125) were back-to-back finalists, both taking second place.  Gracie Meluch (115) took sixth place.  All three wrestlers will compete at Schaumburg February 9-10 for a chance to advance to the IHSA Girls State Tournament which will be held in Bloomington.

Ellen Purl, one of 25 competitors at 120 pounds, came into the tournament unseeded.  Her incredible run to the finals included four wins by fall, two of which were come from behind victories.  Purl defeated Gavin of Hinsdale Central in the opening round of 32 to advance to Basmajian of Metea Valley in the round of 16.  Both matches occurred on Friday.  Purl came from behind to pin Basmajian who was seeded seventh.  Saturday morning saw Purl in the quarterfinals against Horton of Glenbard West.  Once again Purl came from behind to win by fall.  Horton had earlier defeated the second seed.  Now a semifinalist and assured a ticket to Sectionals, Purl took a 0-0 match into the second period and pinned Madrigal of Lockport to make the finals.  Purl lost by fall to top seeded Sylvester of West Aurora in the championship match.  Purl finished with a well-earned silver.

Top seeded Dezi Azar competed at 125 pounds.  She won by fall on Friday night against Paz of Wheaton North to qualify for the quarterfinals.  Saturday morning Azar learned that she became a sectional qualifier by way of medical forfeit from Harty of Wheaton North.  Azar pinned Rochsh of host Shepard in the semifinals to make the finals.  Senior Aphay of Riverside-Brookfield won by fall over Azar in the title match.

Freshman newcomer Gracie Meluch (115) won her Friday night match by fall over Landgrebe of Batavia to make the quarterfinals.  Saturday morning Meluch lost by fall to Duncan of Wheaton Warrenville South.  Needing two wins to advance to sectionals, Meluch placed Thornton’s shoulders to the mat for the stick in the first match.  Thornton is from Lemont.  The victory advanced Meluch to the “blood round” of the tournament, which is the “win or go home” match.  Meluch rolled Skibicki of Lockport to her back for the fall and earned her ticket to sectionals.  Meluch lost to Konopka of Glenbard West in the consolation semifinals and to Duncan once again in the fifth-place match, finishing sixth.

Junior Annika Hull (100) just missed her chance to make the sectional tournament, losing in the blood round to Dodgers of Leyden.  Earlier, Hall pinned Almazon of Shepard to make the blood round.  Hull finished 2-2 on the tournament and is an alternate for sectionals.  Annika finishes the season with a record of 14-13.

Junior Bianca Arredondo, competing at 130 pounds, finished 1-2 on the day.  Arredondo won by fall over Sorica of Lyons Township.  Freshman Arianna Rico, wrestling at 145 pounds, won her Friday match over Workman of Lyons to make the quarterfinals.  Arredondo ends her season at 11-16.  Rico finished 1-2.  Freshman Sophia Liu lost both of her matches in the event but went the distance against Magyar of Neuqua Valley, almost scoring in the third period to tie or win.  Magyar won 5-1.

Purl, now with a season record of 19-12, Azar (25-4) and Meluch (23-12) will compete Friday and Saturday, February 9 and 10 at Schaumburg High School.

Naperville Central JV1 team DVC Champions

1/27/2024

1.       Naperville Central 264.5

2.       Naperville North 184

3.       DeKalb 145

4.       Neuqua Valley 90

5.       Metea Valley 75.5

6.       Waubonsie Valley 47

Just like the varsity and the JV2 teams did last week, the Redhawk JV1 team won the DuPage Valley Conference Tournament, thereby winning at all three levels.  The event was hosted by DeKalb High School.  In the 48-year history of Naperville Central wrestling, the Redhawks have only once before won championships in all three levels in the DuPage Valley Conference, in 2019.  Central doubled up their losses with wins, finishing with an overall record of 30-15.  The Hawks competed 19 wrestlers in the tournament, twelve of whom made the finals and nine of those finished as DVC Champions out of fourteen weight classes.  Of the 30 wins, 18 came by fall and one more by technical fall.

The nine individuals that brough home gold were Dalton Meluch (106), Jake Moore (113), Flynn Collins (120), Gavin McDonald (132), Stavros Gerousis (138), Yusuf Sikander (157), Nick Olvera (165), Paul Peradotti (175), and Luciano Antonietti (190).  McDonald won three matches, all by fall to dominate the 132 pound weight class.  McDonald finishes the year with a stellar 19-3 JV record with 18 pins, the most on the junior varsity team.  Gerousis also won both of his matches by pin.  He end the season with an unblemished JV record of 17-0.  Nick Olvera won the 165 pound class and he is only a freshman.  Olvera is undefeated at the JV level with a 13-0 record.

Senior Luci Antonietti finished his senior season strong, winning both matches, including a 9-4 decision in the finals.  Antonietti concludes with a 22-2 season JV record.  Antonietti finishes tied for the most wins at the JV level.  Look for Antonietti to possibly be on the 21-man dual team.  Sikander lead the team in takedowns in the tournament with nine to add to his team-leading total of 42 on the season.  The champion concludes the season with a 16-3 record.

Sophomore Dalton Meluch won 16-3 and then pinned his opponent in the finals to become DVC champion.  His season record is 15-3.  Jake Moore needed only one win to become a gold medalist, but it wasn’t an easy match.  Moore eked out a 5-4 decision over Beedon of Naperville North to improve to 13-1.  Collins also needed just one victory to stand atop the podium.  He defeated Fowler of DeKalb 13-5, scoring three takedowns in the match, to improve to 10-3 for the season.  Sophomore Paul Peradotti scored a 9-4 decision for gold over Dobrzycki of Naperville North.  Peradotti concludes the JV season with a 19-2 record.

Finalists include Jack Schwartz (126), Zaid Azar (144), and senior Christian Kuta (285).  Finishing the season with a victory and third place were Justin Rodriguez (106), Bradley Anderson (150), and Aaron Nussbaum (215).  Other wrestlers were seniorNate Radtke (4th at 190), senior Alexander Quintanalopez (4th at 285), senior Sean FitzGerald (6th at 285), and senior Tyler Kim (157).

Naperville Central Repeat as IHSA Regional Champions

2/3/2024

1. Naperville Central 251.5

2. West Aurora 194

3. Naperville North 173

4. Bolingbrook 87

4. Neuqua Valley 87

6. Waubonsie Valley 48

7. East Aurora 45

8. Metea Valley 14

Naperville Central won the IHSA Regional title, repeating as champions.  The tournament was held at East Aurora High School.  All fourteen wrestlers competing for the Redhawks placed in the top three and therefore qualified for the IHSA Individual Sectional Tournament next weekend at Hinsdale Central.  Wrestlers placing in the top four at sectionals will become Illinois state qualifiers and will earn a trip to the University of Illinois to wrestle in the State Farm Center the following weekend.  It was the first time in school history that Central qualified all fourteen wrestlers.  Central crowned six regional champions, had twelve in the finals and two others placed third. 

In addition, as tournament champions, Naperville Central has qualified for the sixteen-team state dual series.  The round of sixteen begins with the IHSA Dual Sectional on Thursday, February 20 where the Hawks will face host Downers Grove South.  The team winning that dual will qualify for team state the following weekend.  It won’t be easy and the Mustangs of DGS also qualified all fourteen of their wrestlers to sectionals.  Central has only qualified for dual state twice in its school history (2009, 2012).

The Redhawks won 28 matches in the event to just 8 losses.  Of the wins, fourteen came by fall and one other came by technical fall.

Central’s sophomore Jake Moore, competing at 106 pounds, entered the tournament with a record of 4-2.  Moore advanced to the finals by way of a pin against Dean of West Aurora.  In the finals, Moore faced off against Beedon of Naperville North.  After two scoreless periods, Moore scored a reversal and rode his opponent out for a regional title.  Fellow sophomore Jacob Cochran pinned his way to a 113-pound title.  His wins came against Podracky of Neuqua Valley and Harris of Bolingbrook.  Cochran will take a 27-8 record to sectionals with 18 pins, second best in both wins and falls.  Senior Ty Martin made it three gold medals in a row for the Hawks.  Martin (120) pinned Duffield of Waubonsie Valley and defeated McDonald of Naperville North by a score of 11-5 to make the finals.  Martin’s title did not come easy.  Tied 2-2 late in the third period against Craig of Bolingbrook, Tyler scored his winning reversal and held on for the 4-2 victory.  Martin improves to 24-9 on the season.

NCHS’s Mitchell Kaszuba (126) just missed earning a regional title, losing 6-7 in the finals against Matkovich of West Aurora.  Kaszuba, 24-6, won his match in the semifinals over Hudson of Bolingbrook 14-3.  Vince Bern opened with two victories in a row at 132 pounds, pinning Amini of Metea Valley and defeating Piatt of West Aurora 12-6.  Bern was stopped by Sternstein of Naperville North in the championship match.  Vince Bern will enter sectionals with a 20-15 record.  At 138 pounds, Stavros Gerousis stepped in for his injured teammate and made the most of his opportunity, making it to the finals and earning a ticket to sectionals.  Gerousis defeated Chidley (NV) in the semifinals by a score of 3-2.  Gerousis lost to Ortiz (WA) in the finals.

In perhaps the most loaded weight class of 144, senior Hagan Taylor battled to a regional title.  Taylor won by fall in the quarterfinals over Ayala (WA), then Taylor won a hard-fought 14-8 decision against Wojtowich (WV).  Taylor faced off against Camacho of Bolingbrook for gold.  That match ended early when Camacho defaulted by injury.  Taylor’s record is now 27-7 with 18 wins by fall.  Senior Javier Sevilla (150) improved to 5-7 on the year after finishing 2-1 on the day.  Sevilla lost in the semifinals to Pape (NV) by a score of 1-6 and then needed two wins to qualify for sectionals.  Two wins he earned, both by fall; the first verses Lackings of East Aurora and the second over Verge (WV).  Senior standout Chris Bern, 157, punched his ticket to sectionals with two pins in the quarter and semifinals to Stribley (WV) and Poe (Bolingbrook) respectively.  Bern competed against Quintana (WA) in the finals.  Bern fell behind early and his comeback attempt was cut short by time, losing 6-12.  Bern holds a record of 24-8 and continues to be second on the team in takedowns with 66.

Senior John Carens defeated Evans (NV) to open his efforts at 165 pounds.  Carens lost in the semifinals to Budreika (NV) 1-8, so he too needed work back in the wrestle backs to qualify for sectionals.  Carens advanced to the third-place match with a bye, then defeated Menendez (NV) in a tough 7-3 match.  Carens will carry a 21-14 record to sectionals.  At 175 pounds, Henry Rydwelski placed second after losing to Gatlin of Naperville North in the finals.  Rydwelski made his way to the finals with a technical fall over Oribo (WV) 17-2 and a major decision to Hernandez (EA).  Rydwelski is now 25-11 and leads the team in takedowns with 76.  Senior and former state qualifier Jacob Smetters, 190, won against Cruz of Bolingbrook 14-0 and then stuck Diaz’s shoulders to the mat for a pin in the semifinals.  Smetters battled Murphy of Naperville North in the championship match, falling short 2-10.  Smetters will try to repeat as a state qualifier, taking a 22-12 record to sectionals.

The final two weigh classes proved to be two of the most exciting matches in the finals for the Redhawks.  First up, senior Nico Besterio, 215, battled Walker of East Aurora in the finals after Besterio upended Ibragimov (NN) in the semifinals 7-3.  Walker earned a first period takedown and lead 2-1 after one period.  Besterio got an escape and a takedown in the second period, but Walker answered with an escape to make the score 4-3 in favor of Besterio.  Walker tied the score with an early escape in the third period, but then took a second injury timeout that, by rule, allowed Besterio to pick bottom when wrestling resumed.  Besterio took the lead with another escape and added an insurance takedown to win a regional title 7-4.  He is now 24-3 on the season.

Junior Will Erbeck entered the tournament as the number one seed and a record of 31-2.  After a win by fall over Charon (WA), Erbeck squared off against Amoh of Bolingbrook in the finals and the last match of the event.  A missed headlock by Erbeck put Amoh ahead 2-0 early.  Erbeck got the escape to finish the period.  In period two, Erbeck fought off the bottom for a reversal, but gave up an escape to make the score 3-3 heading into the third period.  Amoh got off the bottom for the 4-3 lead quickly and that’s how the score remained at the second clicked off the clock.  Erbeck tried several throws, but none scored until the final seconds.  Another headlock by Erbeck put Amoh on his back, but he immediately rolled through putting the wrestlers on the mat, side by side.  In the ensuing scramble, Erbeck high bridged and came out on top – scoring the fall with just three second left.  The pin brought the crown and his teammates to his feet and capped off a great day for the Redhawks.  Erbeck, now 33-2 continues to lead the team in wins and falls with 20.

Naperville Central Qualifies Five to State

2/9-10/2024

Naperville Central competed in two IHSA Individual Sectional Tournaments with the boys competing at Hinsdale Central High School and the girls at Schaumburg High School.  Four Redhawk boys and one girl placed in the top four and qualified for IHSA Individual State.  Hagan Taylor (144), Chris Bern (157), Niko Besteiro (215) and Will Erbeck (285) will take their place on the State Wall of Fame while Ellan Purl (120) historically becomes Naperville Central’s first ever girls state qualifier.  The boys will compete next weekend, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 15-17 at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois.  Ellen Purl will compete at state in the Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington Illinois on Friday and Saturday, February 23-24.

The boys qualified all fourteen wrestlers to the sectionals and won 24 matches to 26 losses, with twelve wins by fall.  Nine of the fourteen qualified for the “blood round.”  The blood round is the consolation semifinals and is called that due to it being the state qualifying match, or “win or go home” match.  The Hawks won four of five of those matches.  The Hinsdale Central sectional was dominated by private schools Mt. Carmel, Marist and Marmion.  The three schools combined gathered 28, or exactly half of the state qualifying spots.  The other thirty teams battled for the remaining 28 spots.

Senior Hagan Taylor (144) advanced to the quarterfinals due to his first-place finish at the regionals.  There, Taylor brought down the house by pinning Hobson of Marmion who was ranked 4th.  The pin came early in the second period.  In the semifinals, Taylor lost to Acuna of Mt. Carmel by a score of 10-12, moving Taylor to the consolation semifinals, or blood round against Mally of Naperville North.  Taylor won by fall over Mally in 34 seconds to punch his ticket to state.  Taylor lost the rematch to Hobson 8-20 to finish in fourth place.

Senior Chris Bern (157) won his preliminary match by fall over Farley of Oak Lawn before facing 2nd ranked Enright of Mt. Carmel.  After failing to defeat Enright, Bern dropped to the consolation bracket requiring him to win three matches in a row to qualify.  Three matches he did starting with Ahrens of Lyons by fall in the first period followed by Favia of Marmon by score of 8-2.  In the blood round, Bern squeaked out 4-3 decision over Tomkins of Marist.  Bern didn’t stop there, scoring a 5-1 decision over Shadid of Glenbard West to finish in 3rd place.  That win likely puts Bern in a better spot on the state bracket.  Bern finished with five wins in the IHSA Sectionals.

The first of the two big anchors, senior Niko Besteiro (215) worked his way to a state final birth.  Besteiro lost his opening quarterfinal match to 10th ranked Sheldon of Batavia by a score of 2-5.  Needing three wins, Besteiro pinned Breish of Sandburg in the first period and followed that with a mat-slapper over Ibragimov of Naperville North qualifying Besteiro for the blood round.  Besteiro went to work scoring in each period for an 11-2 major decision over Piehl of Downers Grove South.  In the third place match, a rematch to Sheldon of Batavia, Besteiro was defeated fall.

Will Erbeck (285), surely the recipient of the heart attack award after his dramatic come from behind pin last week at the regionals, defeated Costello of Lyons by a score of 3-1 in the quarterfinals.  Erbeck was defeated by third-ranked Ivanisevic of Hinsdale Central in the semifinals dropping Erbeck to the blood round.  There he dispatched Spraggins of Downers Grove South by a score of 6-2.  Erbeck added another win to finish in third place with a 7-5 victory over Nycz of Marist.

Five Redhawks battled to their way to the blood round before bowing out of the tournament.  Sophomore Jake Moore (106), a champion from last week’s regional, moved up to the semifinals of the sectionals after a decisive 9-0 major decision over Ortega of Glenbard West.  Moore was pinned by third-ranked Hayes of Sandburg and then lost to Moore of Mt. Carmel in the consolation semifinals.  Tyler Martin (120) also made the semifinals after defeating Ahmed of Stagg 12-5.  Martin was handed a 0-3 loss by Parker of Sandburg and then lost to Massaro of West Aurora 3-8.  Mitchell Kaszuba (126) had an excellent effort at sectionals coming out of the preliminary round.  Kaszuba defeated Bruce of Sandburg by fall.  Bruce was an honorable mention in the rankings.  Kaszuba advanced to the semifinals after defeating Woolsey of Downers Grove South 6-5.   In the semis, Kaszuba lost by technical fall to second-ranked Esteban of Marist.  In the consolation semifinals, Kaszuba just missed on a victory, losing to Matkovich of West Aurora 5-6.  John Carens (165) advanced all the way to the blood round after losing in the preliminary round to number one ranked Carrigan of Glenbard West.  Carens pinned Barba of Oak Lawn and battled Lasota of DGS to a 15-2 major decision before losing to Kalahbrenner of Mt. Carmel by fall.  Jake Smetters (190) just missed a second trip to the Hall having himself another impressive run in the tournament.  After losing to honorably mentioned Salvino of Glenbard East 1-2, Smetters advanced previous losses by pinning Murphy of Naperville North.  Smetters then won by fall over seventh ranked Jaffal of Sandburg.  Smetters lost by fall in the consolation semifinals to Lapacek of Downers Grove South.  Jake Moore and Jacob Smetters are both first alternates to state.

Jacob Cochran (113) finished 1-2 in the tournament, defeating Paunkov of Naperville North in the semifinals.  Javier Sevilla (150) won in the opening round against Contreras-Lozan of DGS by fall.  Henry Rydwelski (175) avenged a loss from regionals defeating Gatlin of Naperville North in the first round of the consolation bracket.  Vince Bern (132) lost both of his matches, his second a narrow defeat to honorably mentioned Rosas of Glenbard West.  Stavros Gerousis (138) also lost both of his matches but gained some valuable experience wrestling at the sectional level.

Meanwhile at Schaumburg High School Ellen Purl (120) began her run for a state birth by pinning Barboza of East Aurora in the quarterfinals.  Purl was pinned by the eventual sectional champion Ball of Hoffman Estates in the semifinals.  That loss moved Purl to the blood round against Ciavarella of Conant.  Ciavarella opened with a takedown in the first period with just 18 seconds left in the period.  Purl picked top to start the second period and came close to getting a turn, but no points were scored.  Up by two points, Ciavrella picked top to start the third period.  Purl scored a reversal to tie the score 2-2 and rode out the period and send the match to overtime.  In the one-minute sudden victory overtime period no points were scored.  The match then moved to two 30-second double-overtime periods on the mat with Purl picking down for the first one.  Purl worked a side roll forcing Ciavarella to illegally throw a full-nelson to avoid being reversed.  The period ended with Purl leading 3-2.  Ciavarella picked top to start the second 30-second period but was unable to turn Purl giving her the victory and an historic first-ever trip to girl’s state.  Purl was defeated for third place by Matthews of Addison Trail.

Freshman Dezi Azar (115) just missed a state birth losing in the blood round to Aphay of Riverside-Brookfield by a score of 8-10.  Azar was defeated by Aphay in the regional finals.  Azar qualified for the blood round by defeated Jones of Conant by fall and Hardin of Proviso West 10-2, both matches in the consolation bracket.  Gracie Meluch lost both of her matches at sectionals, the first one a nail-bitter 7-9 loss in overtime to Villarreal of Schaumburg.

Individual boys state action begins Thursday with Class 3A session starting at 4:30pm.  Dual sectionals against Downers Grove South will be Tuesday, February 20 at Downers Grove South with the winning team qualifying for Dual State.  Individual girls state and boys dual state both happen Friday and Saturday, February 23-24.

Naperville Quartet Compete at Boys State

Niko Besteiro reaches podium

2/15-17/2024

Four Redhawk boys traveled to the University of Illinois to test their talents against the best that the state of Illinois had to offer.  Central’s Nicolas Besteiro, competing at 215 pounds, finished in sixth place making him the twenty-fifth wrestler to place in school history.  NCHS’s Hagan Taylor, Chris Bern and Will Erbeck competed at the 144, 157, and 285 pound weight classes respectively.

Besteiro opened the round of sixteen of his weigh class against the bracket’s overall number-one seeded Matt Janiak of Plainfield South.  The first period Besteiro aggressively moved Janiak about the mat causing the official to warn him for stalling.  Janiak scored a takedown, but Besteiro was able to escape before the conclusion of the period.  Down 2-1, Besteiro picked the bottom position to start the second period and not only earned an escape, but a penalty point after Janiak was again called for stalling.  Now up 3-2 heading to period three, Janiak escaped after picking down to tie the match, but Besteiro again forced the action, earning yet another point for Janiek stalling.  Janiek, now down 4-3, scored what appeared to be the winning takedown to move up 5-4, but with just 2 seconds left, Besteiro scored a reversal to win in an upset 6-5.  The victory advanced Besteiro to the quarterfinals.

In that quarterfinal round, Nico Besteiro faced Pettit of Geneva with a spot on the state podium on the line.  In the first period, Pettit threw a headlock, but as the wrestlers landed, Besteiro rolled Pettit across his body and come out on top in a pinning position.  The takedown and three point near-fall put Besteiro up 5-0.  Pettit overcame the pinning position and earned an escape before the period ended.  Period two saw Besteiro earn an escape, but Pettit scored a takedown to close the score to 6-3.  Moving to the third period, Pettit picked bottom and cut his deficit to just one point after earning a reversal.  With the score 6-5, Besteiro was warned for stalling on the bottom.  Pettit strategically allowed for an escape to Besteiro to attempt a winning takedown, but Besteiro held Pettit off to win 7-5.  The win advanced Besteiro to the semifinals and assured him a medal at state.

In the semifinals, Besteiro just missed a chance at a trip to the finals.  Facing Favia of Marmion Academy, Besteiro was taken down in the first period.  Besteiro earned an escape in the second period and Favia earned an escape in the third period to make the score 3-1.  Besteiro forced a penalty point against Favia in the third period, but it wasn’t enough as Favia won 3-2.  Wrestle-back matches proved challenging for Besteiro as well, as he pushed both matches within reach of winning to the final seconds.  Besteiro fell to Alvarez of Yorkville in the consolation semifinals 5-3 and fell to Caraway of Normal Community 3-1 in the fifth place match.

Naperville Central’s Will Erbeck lost the opening round match to Mihalopoulos of Huntly by a score of 4-1.  In the first round of the wrestle backs, Erbeck was challenged by Hutchinson of Chicago Lane Tech.  Hutchinson scored the match’s first takedown, but Erbeck quickly reversed to tie the score 2-2.  A late escape by Hutchinson put him back up 3-2 heading to period two.  There, Erbeck picked bottom and tied the score with an escape before taking the lead with a key takedown.  Erbeck stayed on top for the remainder of the period taking a 5-3 lead to the third.  Hutchinson picked neutral, but Erbeck continued to stay aggressive, scoring a winning takedown and adding a three-point near-fall to advance with a 10-3 win.  Erbecks run at state concluded after losing 3-0 to Schmitt of Joliet West in the second round of the consolation bracket.

Hagan Taylor lost in round one to the eventual finalist Evan Gosz of Fremd by a score of 17-2.  In Taylor’s wrestle-back match, against Calen Kirchner of Schaumburg, he (Taylor) overcame a 2-0 deficit in the second period, scoring a takedown and near-fall points and nearly pinning Kirchner in a cradle.  But Kirchner was able to roll out with a reversal catching Taylor on his back for a fall.  Chris Bern was defeated by fall against both his opponents, first Peyton Marzen of Geneva then Zander Ealy of Moline.  Taylor and Bern will join Erbeck and Besteiro and the rest of the team for continued competition next week.

The Redhawks turn their attention to the IHSA Sectional Dual happening against Downers Grove South who will be also hosting the event.  The match will take place on Tuesday, February 20 with action starting at 6:00pm.  The winning team will advance to the IHSA Dual State Tournament held at the Gossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington Illinois on Friday and Saturday, February 23-24.  Quarterfinal duals will be Friday either at 5pm or at 7pm.

Also happening simultaneously at the Gossinger Motors Arena is the IHSA Girls State Tournament were Redhawk standout Ellen Purl will show off her talents in the 120-pound weight class.  Purl will be wrestling in the round of 16 with action starting at 9:00am on Friday.  Purl is scheduled to wrestle Norah Swaim of Edwardsville.

Naperville Central Heading to State

Redhawks Defeat Downers Grove South at IHSA Dual Sectional

2/20/2024

NCHS 40 – Downers Grove South 21

Naperville Central defeated host Downers Grove South by a score of 40-21 to win the IHSA Dual Sectional and qualify for IHSA Dual State.  It will be only the third time in school history that Central’s wrestling team will be heading to the Elite Eight.  Naperville Central qualified for state as a team in 2009 and 2012.  NCHS will face Yorkville in Bloomington on Friday, February 23 at 7:00pm with competition happening a the Grossinger Motors Arena.

By draw, the contest started at 175 pounds where Henry Rydwelski took on RJ Samuels.  After no score in the first period, Rydwelski picked down and escaped within the first minute.  Rydwelski then scored a key takedown late in period two and Samuels countered with an escape.  Samuels picked down to start the third period, losing 3-1 and closed the gap after an escape.  Rydwelski stayed offensive until about 30 seconds left, then switched to defense to win 3-2.  Central has a 3-0 team point lead.  At 190 pounds, Jake Smetters took on Matt Lapacek.  Smetters gave up two takedowns in the first period, but battled in both neutral and down positions.  Down 4-1, Smetters picked up to start the second period and earned near-fall points on a cradle.  Lapacek battled out of it and scored a reversal.  Lapacek attempted several turns, but Smetters stayed tough.  Going into third period and up 6-3, Lapacek picked neutral and scored a takedown again.  A cradle by Lapacek slipped allowing an escape by Smetters and the match ended with the Downers Grove South wrestler winning 8-4 and tying the team score 3-3.

Central then ran off four wins in a row.  At 215, newly minted state place-winner Niko Besteiro battled Mack Piehl for six hard minutes.  Besteiro earned a stall warning early, then scored a big takedown midway through the first period.  A cradle attempt failed and Piehl was able to escape.  Besteiro reversed to start the second frame but Piehl escaped.  Then Piehl answered with a half way through the second period.  Besteiro escaped to go up 5-4.  Piehl, picking down to start the third, knotted the score with an escape.  With 1:10 to go, Besteiro earned a stalling point to move up 6-5.  Another stalling point for Besteiro finished the match with a 7-5 win.  Central now up 6-3 in team score.  Heavyweight pitted Will Erbeck against bit Jacobi Spraggins.  Both wrestlers worked underhooks for the entire first period.  With no score, Erbeck picked down and earned a reversal to start the second.  As Spraggins attempted a stand up, Erbeck returned him back to the mat and on his back.  The resulting fall at 2:57 in the match put Central ahead 12-3.  Cycling down to the lower weights, Jake Moore took on Trevor Dinaso at 106 pounds.  Moore scored a takedown quickly on an underhook-single.  Moore then rode out Dinaso for the entire remaining period.  Second period Dinaso picked down and Moore continued to prosper on top, only getting warned for stalling with 30 seconds left.  Up 2-0, Moore picked down and fought off multiple attempts at a turn.  Moore then nearly escaped a couple of times, but got returned.  Nevertheless, Moore earned the 2-0 victory to improve the team score lead to 15-3.  Moving to 113 pounds, Jacob Cochran faced Miguel Castaneda.  Castaneda got the first takedown, but then got called for locked hands and gave up an escape point that allowed Cochran to tie the score 2-2.  Cochran got in on a single, but Castaneda was able to perform a “cut-back” takedown that also resulted in two points for near-fall.  A Cochran escape made the score 6-3 heading to the second.  With Cochran on the bottom, Castaneda earned three more near-fall points off a lift and return.  Cochran answered with a reversal.  Castaneda battled off several turn attempts from Cochran to keep the Mustang up 10-5.  Castaneda went down for the third period.  Again, Cochran worked multiple turns but was only able to earn a stall point to finish behind 10-6.  South closed the team score deficit to 15-6.

Central got two more wins in a row starting with Ty Martin over Harris Kelliher at 120 pounds.  Martin scored a quick takedown, allowed an escape, then got a second takedown with a go-behind.  Martin allowed another escape, and scored another takedown, this time placing Kelliher to his back for a three point near-fall.  Up 9-2, Martin again gave one to get two for an 11-3 lead.  Martin then worked a bar arm for a three point near-fall.  Martin picked neutral to start the third period.  A fireman’s carry scored two and three points for nearfall, enough to win the match by technical fall 19-3 putting the Hawks ahead 20-6.  At 126 Mitchell Kaszuba scored the first takedown, a double against Jadon Dinwiddie.  Kaszuba scored on top using a ball-and-chain to move up 4-0.  In the second, Kaszuba earned a quick escape and then a takedown on a single leg, trip to move ahead 7-0.  Dinwiddie picked neutral to start the third period.  He slipped on a headlock attempt that put Kaszube ahead 9-0 and the ride out finished the match with that score.  Team score: 24-6.  At 132, Vince Bern moved his feet aggressively against Drew Woolsey.  Woolsey earned a takedown with 30 second left in the period and rode for the 2-0 lead.  Woolsey escaped after picking down and Bern answered with a takedown to pull within one.  Woolsey then escapes and scored a takedown after Bern attempted an ankle roll-through.  With the score 6-2, Bern picked neutral.  Woolsey scored another takedown, but gets called for stalling on top.  Bern was able to escape but Woolsey answered with a last final takedown.  Woolsey wins 11-4, but Bern’s holds off a bonus point.  Team score 24-9.

Junior CJ Bierman returned to the lineup to face Jordan Christin-Holley at 138 pounds.  Both wrestlers battled on their feet with Bierman controlling the center.  With a 0-0 score, Bierman picked down to start the second period.  Bierman scored an escape after a failed mat return by Christin-Holley.  Then Christin-Holley failed on a takedown attempt and Bierman took advantage with a front headlock that resulted in a big pin.  Team score 30-9.  Senior state-qualifier Hagan Taylor took the mat against Nick Spirek.  Taylor started quickly with a takedown and near-fall points off a front headlock and near cradle.  Spirek was able to get out of the predicament and get an escape.  Another missed shot by Spirek resulted in another front headlock by Taylor.  Taylor missed the cradle but was able to turn Spirek with a bar-arm / half nelson.  Taylor the allowed another escape but followed with another takedown, putting Spirek on his back.  Taylor did not let go, getting the pin and six more team points for the Redhawks.  The team score became mathematically insurmountable 36-9 with three matches left.  At 150 pounds TJ Johnson quickly scored a takedown against Redhawk Yusuf Sikander that put Sikander on his back.  Sikander fought for a while, but was pinned in the first period.  With the team score 36-15, Chris Bern took center stage against Hugo Contreras-Lozano at 157 pounds.  Contreras-Lozano gets the first takedown and nearly put Bern to his back.  But, Bern fought it off and escaped to make it 2-1.  Bern returns with a takedown of his own, but Contreras-Lozano escapes to tie the score at three apiece.  The second period saw Bern pick bottom and get a quick escape.  Bern then opened a lead with a takedown and a half nelson putting Contreras-Lozano to his back.  Contreras-Lozano answered with an escape and Bern scored another takedown with just a second left on the clock in the second period to go up 11-4.  Contreras-Lozano picked down.  Bern tried bar arms and tight waists, but allowed an escape.  Bern scored a defensive takedown to go up 13-5.  Contreras-Lozano got an escape with 30 second left, but Bern scored a takedown to earn a major decision, and bonus point with a score of 15-6.  With the team score at 40-15, Central sent out freshman Nicolas Olvera against Connor Kelly at 165 and the final match.  Kelly earned a quick takedown, then turned Olvera to his back for the fall.  Final score 40-21.

Naperville Central Defeated in Quarterfinals

Central loses to Yorkville

2/23/2024

Yorkville defeated Naperville Central at the IHSA State Dual State Tournament by a score of 29-36.  The dual was competed at the Grossinger Motor Central in Bloomington Illinois.  The loss ended the season for the Redhawks in the state quarterfinals while Yorkville advanced to the state semifinals.  Yorkville went on to defeat Libertyville to qualify for the state championship dual and then finished second to Chicago Mt. Carmel.

Central won six of fourteen matches against Yorkville including the first three matches.  With the dual starting at 215 pounds, Niko Besteiro took on Ben Alvarez in a rematch from last week at the state where Alvarez won.  Besteiro took the upper hand with an open takedown.  Alvarez matched the score with escapes in the first and second periods.  Then Alvarez scored a takedown in the second period followed by an escape by Besteiro to make the score 4-3 Alvarez.  Besteiro took down to start the third period and escaped to tie the score.  Tied it was forcing overtime.  There, Besteiro drove in on a shot that forced a stalling penalty allowing the winning point for Besteiro 5-4.

At 275, Will Erbeck scored a takedown in the first period against Yorkville’s Xavion Ulloa.  In the second period, Erbeck picked down and scored a reversal and went to work on the top position.  Erbeck then pinned Ulloa at the 3:15 mark.  At 106 pounds, Jake Moore scored six takedowns in route to a 13-4 major decision over Ramsey Barton.  The bonus point put the Redhawks ahead 14-0 in the team score.  The Foxes Liam Fenoglio battled Central’s Jacob Cochran at 113 pounds.  After two periods of scoreless wrestling, Fenoglio earned a reversal and nearfall followed by a fall in the third period.  Central’s Ty Martin responded by defeated Daniel Martino at 120 pounds.  Martin took a 6-1 lead into the second period after scoring two takedowns and a two-point near-fall.  In the second period, Martin again scored takedown and near-fall points to start the second period.  Martino answered with and escape and takedown to make the score 10-4 in favor of the Redhawk.  Martin added two more takedowns in the third period for the major decision.

Yorkville decided to forfeit to Mitchell Kaszuba at 126 pounds and move up wrestlers to higher weigh classes.  The forfeit made the team score 23-6.  At that point, Yorkville won seven matches in a row, six of which included bonus points.  Vince Bern lost to Nathan Craft by a score of 7-5 at 132 pounds.  Craft scored two takedowns in the first period.  Bern responded with a takedown in the second period, but Craft earned a reversal to take command of the match.  At 138, CJ Bierman, wrestling on a sore ankle, lost to Dominic Recchia.  Recchia spread out six takedowns over all three periods to win by a score of 14-4.  Next up Dominick Coronado added five takedowns to defeat Hagan Taylor by a score of 11-2 at 144 pounds.  From there, Central had freshman Justin Skryd check-in at 150 pounds.  Cameron Peach was able to take the freshman down twice in the first and three more in the third period to win 12-3.  At 157 pounds, Yorkville’s Jack Ferguson scored two points in the first period, eight in the second and ten in the third period to defeat Chris Bern by technical fall 20-3.  John Carens was defeated by fall against Ryder Janeczko in the third period at 165 pounds.  That pin made the team score 32-23.  The Foxes mathematically won the dual by winning the next weight class, 175.  There, Luke Zook defeated NCHS’s Henry Rydwelski by major decision 14-5 making the score 36-23.  Yorkville then forfeited their match at 190 pounds to Jacob Smetters to make the final score 36-23.

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Naperville Central’s Ellen Purl Competes at IHSA Girls State

2/23/2024

Naperville Central’s Ellen Purl wrestled three times at the IHSA Girls State Tournament in Bloomington, winning one match.  The competition took place at the Grossinger Motors Central prior to the IHSA Dual Tournament.  Purl wrestled in the 120-pound weight class.  In match one, Purl was defeated by fall against Dobin of Glenbrook North.  In match two, Purl won by fall against Brooklyn Zeller of Belleville West.  Purl got of to a good start scoring a takedown and three-point near-fall to start the match.  Zeller responded with a reversal, but Purl was able to reverse back to make the score 7-2 after the first period.  In the second period, Purl scored another two point near-fall before locking down a fall at the 3:03.  In match three, Purl was pinned by Alexis Seymour of Jacksonville in the first period ending her state run.

Naperville Central Celebrates Successful 2023-2024 Wrestling Season

2/25/2024

The Naperville Central wrestling team celebrated its historic 2023-2024 wrestling season at NCHS with wrestling managers, coaches, parents and family.  There was much to celebrate.  The varsity team, lead by captains Hagan Taylor, Mitch Kaszuba, Henry Rydwelski, and Will Erbeck, finished 20-7 in duals and 5-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference.  They won the DVC tournament with five individual conference champions, tying a school record.  Winners were Ty Martin, Mitchell Kaszuba, Chris Bern, Niko Besteiro and Will Erbeck also become DVC All-Conference by winning the tournament (or qualifying for IHSA State).  The varsity team took second at the Prospect Tournament, 15th in the DeKalb Dual Tournament, first at Regionals, and IHSA Dual Sectional winners.  They qualified for dual state for only the third time in school history, previously in 2009 and 2012.  The entire boys’ varsity team qualified for Sectionals and had four state qualifiers, the second most in school history.

Meanwhile the NCHS fielded seven girls for a girls’ team winning 111 matches against 93 losses.  The Lady Redhawks took 13th of 32 teams at the Pontiac Tournament and 5th at the 37 team Ottawa Tournament.  Ellen Purl became the school’s first ever girl to qualify for Girls State.

The JV1, JV2 and Freshman teams combined to go 38-1 in duals.  Both the JV1 and JV2 teams won the DVC conference tournaments making it only the second time in school history that NCHS won the conference tournament at all three levels in the same year.  The JV1 team won the Streamwood Dual Tournament, took 1st at the Libertyville Tournament, and finished 19-0 in duals.  The JV2 and Freshman-Sophomore team took 1st at the Plainfield South F/S Tournament, 2nd at the F/S Maine  South Tournament, 1st at the NCHS JV2 Tournament, and ended 7-1 in duals.  The Freshman team took 1st at the Lyons Tournament, 2nd at Hinsdale South Tournament, and ended 12-0 in duals.

The following wrestlers were recognized as members of the All-Academic Conference Team: Annika Hull, Ellen Purl, Sophia Liu, Arianna Rico, Niko Besteiro, Mitchell Kaszuba, Hagan Taylor, Austin Aguinaldo, and Jacob Cochran.

The following wrestlers were recognized as Iron Man Winners for attending all practices and meets throughout the wrestling season: Bradley Anderson, Luci Antonietti, Bianca Arredondo, Vince Bern, CJ Bierman, Jacob Cochran, Jayden Davis, Will Erbeck, Tyler Gonzalez, Sophia Liu, Tyler Martin, Dalton Meluch, Aaron Nussbaum, Quinn O’Donnell, Ellen Purl, Nate Radtke, Eli Rodriguez, Henry Rydwelski, Jack Schwartz, Yusuf Sikander, Jack Sjordal, Hagan Taylor, Sahvin Yogandran and Henry Erives.

Wrestling managers were also recognized.  They were Rhea Thankachen, Chanelle Philips, Ella Smith, Saidi Liu, and Arianna Thigpen.

Most Valuable Awards were given to Will Erbeck and Dezi Azar.  Hardest Worker Awards was given to Hagan Taylor.  Nico Besteiro and Ellen Purl were recognized with the Most Inspirational Awards.  Most Improved was awarded to Jacob Cochran.  Stavros Gerousis was awarded JV Wrestler of the Year and Justin Skryd was awarded Freshman Wrestler of the Year.