With the spring high school sports season officially cancelled by the IHSA, it’s time to tip our caps to the local defending champions who will not get the chance to defend their crowns in 2020 starting with our first defending champ: Naperville Central Boys Water Polo. This Team Profile is presented by Molly Maids of the Aurora Naperville Area.
Looking to Three-Peat
The Redhawks are actually the two time defending state champion, with identical 34-1 records the last two seasons. After topping Lyons Township in the state final, NC did graduate five talented seniors including twins Jonah and Luke Klein-Collins, Sean Stablein, Brad Sanford and Bender Russo. Bender and Luke were the teams top goal scorers while Jonah was the first string goalie. All five scored at least 25 goals on the season. But the cupboard was far from bare for longtime coach Bill Saltentine as players like Harvard bound Cam Dougherty, Henry Mills and Owen Codo were all set to provide a scoring punch in the Redhawks search for a three peat. Throw in the confidence of winning three of the past four state titles and four consecutive top three finishes and there is little doubt that Naperville Central boys water polo was primed for another championship push.
Check out other teams that won’t get a chance to defend their title in our Athlete Profiles!
