Redhawks' roll buries Rams in Naperville

By Gary Larsen

It’s hard to stop a boulder that’s rolling downhill, and in Thursday’s dual between Naperville Central and visiting Glenbard East, that boulder ran over nine Rams before it finally came to a stop.

Starting at 112 pounds, Naperville Central (15-4, 5-0 in DVC duals) won the first nine matches of the DVC dual over Glenbard East (10-6, 4-1), en route to a 40-24 victory in Naperville.

“We knew they had tough upper weights, so we knew right off the bat we had to take it to them,” Central’s Cam Needham said.

The night kicked off at 112 with a wild match between Central’s Jon Williamson and East’s Angelo San Juan. San Juan led 7-4 after a cradle and three back points in the second period, but a Williamson takedown made it 7-6 heading into the third.

A Williamson escape to start the third tied the score, and he won the match with a final takedown. “He’s got really good sprawls and I couldn’t get in,” Williamson said. “And his single-leg is pretty good.”

“It was good to get the win. I like going first, and our plan was to get ahead at the lower weights and do what we can at the upper weights. So I was pumped up for it.”

A pin at 119 by Central’s Nick Santos set up a major decision win from teammate Kirk Cherep over the Rams’ Andy Smajic at 125. Central’s Josh Tardy followed with a major over Josh Backman, and Mike Gorbach’s 9-2 decision at 135 over Nick Backman followed.

“Mike’s been varsity for both his sophomore and junior years, and he kind of got squeezed out for a while this year. But he’s undefeated at the jayvee level and he’s been dominating,” Porter said. “He’s not a stranger to varsity wrestling, and that was a huge win for us.”

Through five matches the Redhawks had momentum by its throat, in part because they were being downright stubborn. “Williamson (at 112) gave up a takedown but then we didn’t give up another takedown until 171,” Porter said.

“You feel that momentum and you feel like you’re rolling on that,” Needham said. “You’re feeling good about going on the mat, and you know that (your opponent) knows that they just lost a string of matches.”

East’s Ryan Pokrywka battled well through two periods against Central’s Andy Kovalsky at 140, before Kovalsky took control in the third en route to a tech fall win.

A tech fall win by Needham at 145 and a major decision win by Adam Gebner at 152 over Steve Hilliard followed, before Joe Savina completed Central’s nine-match winning streak at 160 with a 5-2 decision win over Stefan Ivanov.

“Joe had a great match and gutted out a victory, and that iced it for us,” Porter said.

With the dual out of reach, the Rams’ big guns took the stage for the final five matches of the night, starting with Sam Pennisi at 171 pounds. Central’s Nate Freed only trailed 4-2 after a period, but Pennisi took control in the second in building a 14-5 lead.

Pennisi earned a takedown in the third before posting a pin for the Rams’ first win of the night. Central’s Steve Bus posted a takedown with time running out in the match at 189 to win a 5-2 decision before East’s Parker Settecase and Central’s Matt Schefke took the mat at 215.

Settecase’s first-period pin preceded a third-period pin by teammate Spencer George at heavyweight. George led 1-0 after two periods before finally solving the Redhawks’ James Mitchell.

“When I tried to pummel in, he brought his elbow down so I couldn’t get the underhook,” George said. “So I tried to pass it by, a little duck-under, and it worked.”

“You’re not going to hold back those big guys,” Porter said of the Rams’ upper weight wrestlers. “They are very, very good.”

The Rams’ Alec Noah ended the night with a pin of Mitch Lee at 103 pounds.

“I just told my boys that I’m not disappointed in the wins and losses,” Rams coach Kevin Carlson said. “But we talk about having pride. If you’re getting majored but you’re fighting like you’re going to lose a limb at the end of the match, then I’m okay with it. But I didn’t see that enough tonight.”
 
“At a lot of those weights, they were just better than us. But we’ll go home, get rejuvenated, and hopefully come out tomorrow and wrestle well.”

The Rams travel to West Aurora for a DVC dual on Friday and head to the Urbana Invite on Saturday. The Redhawks are idle on Friday and head to the Mahomet-Seymour Invite on Saturday.

All four of East’s wins came by fall on Thursday, and Carlson has let his big guns in the upper weights know that they need to push even harder for bonus points with the season winding down.

“We had a talk a few weeks ago and told our big guys that if they’re our go-to guys, they have to be our go-to six (point) guys,” Carlson said. “So they’re starting to figure that out and we’re working a little different in the room. I’m spending a little more one-on-one time with those guys in the room and they seem to like it. As good as they are, I think they can get even better in the next few weeks.”