Naperville-area wrestlers have a mountain to climb on Saturday.
Napervilles North, Naperville Central, Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley will compete in a Class 3A individual sectional at Downers Grove North that is arguably the toughest in Illinois.
Of the top 20 ranked teams in Class 3A by Illinois Matmen, seven will compete in Downers Grove, including No. 19 Metea Valley and No. 20 Naperville Central. Wrestlers from five teams ranked in the top 10 will also compete for a coveted berth at the individual state finals in Champaign.
“The sectional at Glenbard North is also very tough,” Central coach Rob Porter said. “The other two, not so much. But there’s nothing we can do about that except get prepared for what’s in store for us.
“It’s basically the same sectional as last year and it’s very difficult to get through it.”
Naperville Central placed second as a team behind Marmion at this year’s 3A Batavia Regional, and advanced five wrestlers to Downers Grove, led by regional champion Jake Keating (106).
Also advancing via third-place finishes were Shuji Mizoguchi (113), Ben Williamson (138), Cam Hayes (145), and Riley Guttosch (160).
Williamson is a four-time sectional qualifier and a two-time state qualifier while the sophomore Keating will be wrestling in his first sectional.
“Jake’s been wrestling at a high level all year and has learned a lot this season,” Porter said. “And Ben is wrestling with a lot of confidence this year.”
Five alive
Naperville North also advanced five wrestlers from Batavia, in second-placers Lucas Van Poucke (106), Stevie Schmult (160), and Chris Zhang (220), and third-placers Jake Hoffman (126) and Aaron Kruk (132).
Metea Valley advanced seven wrestlers from regional competition at Batavia, including five second-place regional finishers in Axl Ariza (113), Jake Toepfer (120), Kenan Carter (145), Sam Elston (170), and Dylan Ervin (182).
The Mustangs’ Joey Riordan (106) and Uri Ariza (120) placed third to advance.
Three-peat
Waubonsie Valley got three wrestlers through Batavia in Mason Kroening (170), Max Ihry (195), and regional champion Tyler Caldwell (285).
Kroening placed third and Ihry lost by 3-1 decision to East Aurora’s Tim Young on the title mat. Ihry beat Young 7-5 in this year’s Upstate Eight tournament title match.
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Caldwell recently returned to action after a bout of mononucleosis, and improved to 19-7 with his title-mat win at Batavia over the Bulldogs’ Mitch Krusz. Caldwell had been out since December, missing last week’s Upstate Eight Conference tournament, but the junior looked good at Batavia.
“He had a real tough match in the finals and it didn’t look like he was slowing down, so I’m not worried that he’s not in shape,” Waubonsie coach Brad Caldwell said.
“The Downers sectional is tough but the bottom line is that at some point you’re going to have to beat somebody good anyway. You know that going in so now it’s just time to get through that gauntlet.”
Quite a pair
Neuqua Valley advanced two wrestlers from this year’s Class 3A Bolingbrook Regional to Saturday’s individual sectional at Normal. Maurice Mitchell (120) placed third for the Wildcats while DJ Warkenthien (195) reached the title mat before losing to last year’s state runner-up at 195, Lockport’s Tyler Johnson.
Gary Larsen is a freelance writer.