Senior Eleanor Aphay became the first regional champion in Riverside Brookfield High School girls wrestling history, Feb. 3, by pinning Naperville Central freshman Dezi Azar in the final.
Aphay’s much tougher rematch at the Schaumburg Sectional Saturday had even greater implications.
With a 10-8 comeback victory at 125 pounds, she clinched a top-four finish and her third straight trip to the state meet next week, Feb. 23-24, in Bloomington.
“It means a lot to me. It lets me know all of the work I’ve put on in the last two seasons brings me back to state and I hope I have good results this year,” said Aphay (18-4), who finished fourth with a 2-2 sectional record.
“I definitely think it is more pressure, more expectations [to qualify] because I’ve gone before and it’s my last year. For a senior, you want to end your high school career on a good note.”
Aphay is going for top-six, all-state honors. Last season, she was 21-7 overall and 1-2 at state. In 2022, she became the program’s first state qualifier and was pinned in both of her state matches to finish 17-9.
The focused Aphay was tough. Falling behind 5-0 and still trailing Azar (27-5) entering the third period Saturday, Aphay used takedowns from a neutral start to prevail.
“I knew the match was very winnable but I knew obviously it was more difficult because it was the blood round to go downstate,” Aphay said.
“I barely got there but I worked very hard for it. I wanted to make sure I went downstate.”
This was the first year in which the growing sport added regionals. Top-six finishes were needed to advance to sectionals.
RBHS sophomore Danely Villagomez (22-7 at 140), a 2023 state qualifier at 135, was 0-2 at sectionals and pinned twice. Junior qualifier Frankie Abasta (18-8 at 110) did not compete because of injury.
Villagomez felt she improved upon last season’s 25-9 finish but her new weight class was tough at sectionals. Eleven of the 12 entries had at least 22 wins. Four had between 29 and 41.
“I’m going to go back down to 135 and build some muscle,” Villagomez said.
“I could feel the difference between the two weight classes. I knew the people that were good and it got into my head. This offseason, I’ll work on not worrying about how they are, the records or anything like that.”