North’s wrestling team finished the season on February 19th with Senior Marcus Povlick finishing second in state. Povlick was the only North representative that placed at State, but the team had a total of five sectional qualifiers and six all-conference qualifiers.  

        The five sectional qualifiers were Seniors Povlick and Justin Reynolds, Juniors Leo Santos and Luke Smiley, and Sophomore Matthew Hennessey. The six All-Conference qualifiers are the five that were named and Senior Tyler Myers, who didn’t qualify for sectionals.   

Smiley, who finished in third place in Regionals and made State as the youngest state qualifier in school history last season, failed to place at State for a second year in a row as he fell short in the consolation round in his bracket at Sectionals on February 13th.

        “I felt like I got unlucky with some of the calls and I thought I had a difficult bracket,” Smiley said. “But I’m going to move on from it and try to improve next season.”

        At Sectionals, all North wrestlers fell short of qualifying for State except for Povlick, who won his bracket, becoming a Sectional champion.

        Hennessey and Santos both fell just one win short to qualify for State and Smiley and Reynolds lost in the consolation round.  Povlick also qualified for state last season along with Smiley, but only Povlick would be able to repeat.

On February 19th and 20th, Povlick competed for the state championship at the IHSA finals. At 39-1 coming in, he needed to win four matches to be named the champion. Povlick won his first three matches and entered the final with an improved record of 42-1.

        Despite the great run by the senior, he would fall just short in the final as he placed second at state. Povlick ended the year at an impressive personal record of 42-2, with his only two loses coming against state finalists.

        “I would have liked to win the championship,” Povlick said. “I should have pushed the pace more in the first two periods, but the experience was good for me because it will give me a glimpse of what college will be like.”

Povlick definitely impressed many with his finish despite finishing second. His season was one for the school, the team, and Povlick to be proud of.

        “Povlick put together the most successful season any Tiger Wrestler has ever had,” head coach Jeff Kastel said. “His second place finish is extremely bitter sweet. It was an amazing experience for him to make the finals, but I truly believe if that match was wrestled on any other day he would have come away with the win.”

Overall, the season was not one to be disappointed in for the Tigers. The talented group had a successful year behind Kastel and new assistant coaches Edwards and Shelton.

“We had so many new program accomplishments this season, the team had its highest finish in conference by taking 3rd,” Kastel said. “I am very proud of our team for what they have done. But, I still do not feel satisfied and I believe our entire program feels the same as we all want to achieve even more.”

        The team’s accomplishments were some for North to be proud of and so was the six All-Conference qualifiers they had, good for the most all time in North’s history.

“Every year the bar for success has been pushed higher and higher,” Kastel said. “Next season will be no different. The expectation is to reach even higher.”