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Naperville Central gives another good tournament showing By Gary Larsen
The Redhawks went 37-20 at this year’s 27-team Rex Whitlatch tournament hosted by Hinsdale Central, and finished a mere 1.5 points behind the fourth-place host Red Devils. “There were matches we could have won, but you can’t win them all,” Redhawks’ senior Adam Gebner said. “I think we’re picking up the pace.” Colin Guttosch (171), Matt Schefke (215) and Johnny Gustin (285) went 2-2 in the tournament for coach Rob Porter, while 145-pounder Cam Needham went 1-2. Matt Spaccapaniccia competed at 160 for the Redhawks. Carl Sandburg won the team title, followed by Crystal Lake Central, and Lemont.
112: Jon Williamson Williamson (14-6) opened with a major decision win before losing by fall in a quarterfinal against No. 2 Andrew Mason (9-3) of Lemont. Williamson reeled off consecutive pins of Glenbard West’s Jack Carlson and Proviso West’s Christian Harris. Eventual 3rd-place finisher Mitch Cook of Carl Sandburg beat Williamson by decision in the consolation semifinal, sending him to the 5th-place mat. Waiting there was Mason, and Williamson battled him well throughout an 8-7 decision loss. “(Williamson) gets better as a match goes on,” Porter said. “And he really didn’t do very good against Mason in that first match but in the second one he was only 30 seconds away from winning that match.” 119: Nick Santos “I wrestled (Addison) last year and beat him in overtime. I watched him the whole day, I know his style of wrestling,” Santos said. “We were in a tie, I felt it, and I threw him.” The senior opened with a decision win before winning a major decision in his quarterfinal match against Fenton’s Sean Havlovic. Santos then battled in a semfinal match against eventual tournament champ Ryan March (17-1), losing a 7-3 decision. “I knew he was a tough kid. We wrestled my sophomore year and he pinned me in, like, a minute,” Santos said. “I hung in there with him. It was tough to get in on him with my shots. I just need to get better on my feet. It’s nice to hang in there with a kid like (March), but I’m not going to do anything unless I can take him down.” Santos lost by 9-4 decision to eventual 3rd-placer Ben Schwartz (18-3) before pinning Addison for fifth. “It was 4-4 with a minute left (vs. Schwartz) and I stopped moving my feet a little bit,” Santos said. “I should have won that match.” “I thought he did a good job today,” Porter said of Santos. “He got a little more aggressive, he stayed out of bad situations, and he had a good day.”
130: Josh Tardy Tardy is now 18-4, with all four of his losses coming to top-shelf wrestlers, leaving his coach wondering when his junior will start gaining the respect he deserves. “He’s not getting recognized and he was unseeded in the tournament,” Porter said. “He’s a pretty good wrestler and I thought he should have been seeded.” After losing his quarterfinal match to eventual champ Argueta, Tardy won a pair of decisions in the consolation round before winning a 5-4 overtime match against 2nd-seeded Terry Ward of Hinsdale Central. Tardy capped his tournament with a 7-2 win over 4th-seeded Oswaldo Quintanilla of West Aurora. 135: John Graeber After opening with a 4-3 decision win over Highland Park’s Jeremy Tolan, Graeber lost by fall to 2nd-seeded Christian Malouf (9-3) of Crystal Lake Central, the eventual runner-up at 135. Graeber (13-7) bounced back by reeling off three decision wins in the wrestlebacks before losing to 3rd-seeded Nick Fishback on the third-place mat. “That was a tough weight class, so for John to come all the way back to wrestle for third was pretty good,” Porter said. “He did a real good job on top today and he stayed in the mix.” 140: Andy Kovalsky The senior opened the tournament with a 3-1 decision win over DG South’s Alex Anaya, and then posted a tech fall win in his quarterfinal match against Proviso West’s Jameer Thurman. Kovalsky’s semifinal match against West Aurora’s Greg Jacquez (12-5) was nip-and-tuck throughout, with Jacquez edging Kovalsky (17-2) by 5-4 decision. Kovalsky rebounded with a 7-3 decision over 3rd-seeded Andy Hoch (15-4) of Hinsdale South before topping Caravello on the 3rd-place mat. “Andy is really starting to figure it out,” Porter said. “It’s unfortunate that he lost in the semi’s but it’s all good practice and preparation for the conference and regional tournaments.” 152: Adam Gebner Third-seeded Gebner posted a tech fall to start his tournament, and then a 7-2 decision in a quarterfinal match against Rockford East’s Zach Mutton. Gebner’s semifinal was a rematch from last year’s tournament, against 2nd-seeded Jacob Gingerich (17-2) of Bradley Bourbonnais. Gebner lost a 4-3 overtime decision to Gingerich during last year’s tournament, but he posted an overtime takedown to win a 4-2 decision on Saturday. “It’s unfortunate that Adam didn’t get a chance to wrestle in the championship, but he beat a tough kid in the semifinals,” Porter said. “That match (vs. Gingerich) showed me that I have to figure out how to handle guys that pound on my head,” Gebner said. “But I got the escape in overtime and was able to take him down.” Kielbasa was carted off on a stretcher after being launched onto his neck in his semifinal match, but after a trip to the hospital he returned to Hinsdale Central to walk out on the title mat and shake hands with Gebner before injury defaulting. 189: Steve Bus “He took a long way back to the third-place mat,” Porter said. “But today was a feather in his cap. He’s showing that he’s getting better, becoming more aggressive – he showed a lot in this tournament. This was a big day for him.” Bus was given the team’s I’m Somebody Award after his tournament performance. Bus went 6-2 in improving his season record to 15-7, and the intensive mat time he gained in Hinsdale figures to only help him. “Every time I wrestle somebody, I feel like I’m picking up things that will make me better,” Bus said. “Then I can work on those things in practice.” Bus’s odyssey through the weight class started with a pin, and then a 3-1 decision loss to 6th-seeded Tim Stringer (14-4) of New Trier. That’s when he took off through the consolation round, posting three pins and two decision wins to reach the 3rd-place mat. Bus exacted revenge for his quarterfinal loss to Stringer by pinning him in the 3rd-place semifinal round. In his eighth match of the tournament, Bus lost by fall to Sandburg’s Saed Al-Azzam on the 3rd-place mat, finishing fourth as an unseeded wrestler. “Getting off the bottom, mainly,” Bus said when asked what he did well during the two-day tournament. “And I was working my ties a lot instead of letting other people tie me up.” The Redhawks will return to dual competition after the holidays. They will compete at Sandburg against Sandburg, Hinsdale South, and Mahomet-Seymour on Wednesday, December 30th. They will travel to Libertyville to compete against Libertyville, Schaumberg, and Maine South on January 2nd. In junior varsity competition the Redhawks defeated Joliet, Oak Forrest, and Bolingbrook at home on Saturday. The Redhawk freshmen-sophomore team took 3rd at the Maine South Tournament where Nathan Klass, Kyle Klass, and Steven Splan were champions. At the freshmen level, the Redhawks also swept the quad defeating Downers Grove North, Hinsdale Central, and Joliet Central Catholic. And on Friday NCHS won all three duals, JV1, JV2, and Freshman levels, against Glenbard West at home. |
Redhawks' place-winners at this year's Whitlatch
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Finishing fifth in a big tournament with only 12 wrestlers entered, Naperville Central continued to show that its program is on rock-solid footing under fourth-year coach Rob Porter.
