It’s Senior Night at Naperville North as the Huskies honor their senior grapplers before taking the wrestling mats against Naperville Central. The Redhawks fly in fresh off a 3-0 sweep in the Wheaton Warrenville South mega duals. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The ladies go first under lights starting with Central’s Annika Hull wrestling Keyi Wang. Hull wastes no time in her match holding Wang down on her back and gets the pin.
Grace Meluch is up next and it’s a replay from the previous match because she receives a pin over Kate Petriuk.
Last but not least it’s Dezi Azar capping off the Redhawk sweep under the lights. She locks up Izzy Smith in the cradle and wins the match by fall.
Redhawks and Huskies exchange pins early
Onward we go to the boy’s side with Redhawk Nithilan Gandi and Huskie Tavfik Ibragimov. Ibragimov defends the takedown, takes the top position and begins the bull riding. In the second period, Ibragimov locks Gandi in the half-nelson and pins him to win the opening match at 215 pounds to give North a 6-0 lead.
In the heavyweight division, Will Erbeck is back after qualifying for state last season as he takes on Jake Kedziora. Erbeck gets a take down on Kedziora, holds him down on his back, and the official declares the match in Erbecks favor with a pin to tie the meet at 6.
The Redhawks grab an 11-6 lead, but the Huskies take the next three matches starting with Adam Beedon reversing gears on Jack Scwartz. Beedon wins his bout at 113 pounds and the tide has turned as it’s 17-11 dogs.
At 132 pounds Jacob Cochran gets aggressive by rolling Kai Balice into the cradle and gets a much-needed victory for the Redhawks via fall because that ties the match at 17.
Ben Messier wins a wild one to keep the momentum for the Blue and Orange
The next match shows Vince Bern from Central feeding off that momentum by getting early points on Ben Messier from North to build a 9-1 lead in the 138-pound match. However, Messier turns the tables, and he retakes control with a huge reversal. The match is tied at 11 with time ticking down so Messier gives it all as he drives Bern with authority and does enough to get the three-point takedown as you can hear the crowd roaring. Messier takes it in a 14-11 decision to earn three team points.
Tyler Sternstein is back for the Huskies after qualifying for State last season and she shows how it’s done by taking care of Stavros Gerousis by tech fall at 144 pounds.
CJ Beirman gives Naperville Central spark
The Huskies hold a 25-17 lead by CJ Beirman from Central has something to say about that in the 150-pound match. His opponent is Zach Mally and Beirman keeps him on his back and pins Mally to keep the team’s striking distance within two points.
After the win by Beirman the Redhawks hit the gas with Yusuf Sikander in the 157-pound match. Sikander activities tech fall mode on Evan Marschitz, and Central grabs the lead back 25-23.
The Redhawks continue their late surge with Henry Rydwelski getting a pin on David Hurrle at 157.
190 pounds shows Paul Peradotti coming from the Gridiron to the wrestling mats and he pins Brady Valle to cap off a late dominating performance as the Redhawks take the win by a 44-25 score over the Huskies.
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