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Sports
Five wrestlers represented Morrison Junior High School at the IESA State Wrestling Finals on Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb.
Morrison Junior High School had a send-off for the wrestlers on Friday before their trip to state. After their return, a caravan and a ride through town on a firetruck was held Sunday afternoon.
Levi Milder wrestled in the 105-pound weight class; Kamden White in the 112-pound class; Brady Anderson in the 135-pound class; Asher Ernst in the 145-pound class; and Luke Carpenter in the 275-pound class.
Out of the five qualifiers. Anderson came home with a second-place finish and White had a sixth-place finish.
The team is coached by Tony Wright.
Morrison Junior High state wrestlers pictured before their send-off on Friday morning are (from left) Asher Ernst, Levi Milder, Brady Anderson, Kamden White and Luke Carpenter.
Nancy Rutledge - Shaw Media
Photo provided Erie-Prophetstown Junior High wrestlers are pictured at the state tournament at NIU over the weekend. From left are Derek Naftzger, Jake Ivey, Tim Plote and Tristan Hovey.
By SARAH FORD For Shaw Media
The Erie-Prophetstown Junior High wrestling team had four qualifiers for last weekend’s IESA state wrestling tournament at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
B o t h E r i e a n d P r op he t s t o wn schools had send-offs on Thursday before the wrestlers’ trek to state.
Tristan Hovey, seventh grade, wrestled at 126 pounds; Jake Ivey, eighth grade, wrestled at 126 pounds; Tim Plote, sixth grade, wrestled at 155 pounds; and Derek Naftzger, s e v e n t h g r a d e , w r e s t l e d a t 1 55 pounds. Jordae Crow was an alternate at 167 pounds.
Out of the four qualifiers, Hovey, who was undefeated for the season entering the tournament, was able to come home with a sixth-place finish.
“Our season was one focused on growth and improvement. Out of the 30 kids we had out, only six were eighth graders, so we were a fairly young team overall,” said coach Kyle Foster, Erie High School chemistry teacher and STEM coach.
“We had a lot of improvement from top to bottom throughout the season. Our best kids got better, and our most raw kids saw an incredible amount of improvement throughout the season. We were able to get 10 sectional qualifiers, with two being fifth graders! All of our kids showed a n i n c r e d i b l e a m o u n t o f s p i r it throughout the season, and I’m very excited to see where we go as a group.”
River Bend sends two wrestlers to state tournament in DeKalb
On Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, River Bend Middle School wrestlers Talon Meyers and Mason Kuebel competed at the IESA state tournament in DeKalb.
Sixth grader Talon Meyers wrestled at 65 pounds and went 3-2 in the tournament, finishing fourth and ending his season with a 15-2 record.
Eighth grader Mason Kuebel wrestled at 167 pounds, using four pins in the tournament to run his IESA record to 24-0 while winning the third state title at the youth level in Fulton.
Pictured at the IESA State Tournament are (from left) Coach Aaron Kuebel, Talon Meyers, Mason Kuebel,and Coach George Graham
Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Fulton’s Baylen Damhoff (left) and a Freeport Aquin opponent battle for the ball Feb. 23 at the Class 1A Eastland Regional in Lanark. Fulton’s Baylen Damhoff named to A P A ll-State team
Six boys basketball players from the Sauk Valley were honored on The Associated Press All-State Team, which was announced March 9.
Dixon, Sterling, Newman, Eastland, Fulton and Bureau Valley were all represented on the team, which was voted on by a panel of sportswriters throughout Illinois.
Eastland senior Kellen Henze was a firstteam pick in Class 1A.
Newman senior Marcus Williams was named to the second team.
Fulton sophomore Baylen Damhoff was an honorable mention selection.
HIGH SCHOOL INDOOR TRACK
Fulton girls win, EP boys second at West wood meet
The Rock Falls boys and Fulton girls won team titles at a six-team indoor meet March 7 at Westwood Sports Complex in Sterling.
Booker Cross led the Rockets to victory with four firstplace finishes, and teammate Matthew Marcum added three more wins as Rock Falls scored 124 points to defeat runner-up E r i e - P r o p h e t s t o w n ( 8 8 ) . Kewanee was third (84), Newman finished fourth, (54), Sherrard took fifth (51) and Fulton was sixth (23).
B r a x t o n F r o e l i g e r l e d Erie-Prophetstown with wins in the 200 (24.57) and long jump (6.09 meters). Ben Lantz finished first in the 400 (56.57). T r e v o r C o b o w o n t h e h i g h j u m p ( 1 . 8 0 m e t e r s ) . P a r k e r Holdorf took first in the pole vault (13 feet, 6 inches).
Fulton got a win from Joey Huizenga in the shot put (13.46 meters). Daken Pessman added a third in the 200 (26.34).
On the girls side, Fulton s c o r e d 9 8 p o i n t s t o t o p Erie-Prophetstown (84), Rock F a l l s ( 8 0 ) , S h e r r a r d ( 7 7 ), Kewanee (46) and Newman (34).
Miraya Pessman won the 60-meter dash (8.57 seconds) and ran a leg on the winning 4x400 relay team (4:36.21). She also took second in the long jump (4.35 meters). Abbigail Thyne won the 200 (29.14) and ran on the victorious 4x200 relay team (1:53.58). Annaka Hackett, Mikayla Gazo and Lauren Mahoney all ran in both the 4x200 and 4x400. Lara Bielema added a win in the 60 hu rdles (10.03), and Emery Wherry was second in that race (10.50).
Erie-Prophetstown got wins from Dylan Chandler in the 400 (1:12.71), Riley Packer in the 800 (2:34.16), Hayley Wuebben in the pole vault (9-0), and the 4x800 relay team of Chandler, Packer, Jade Nickerson and Madyson Bushaw (11:12.01). Runners-up for the Panthers were Jillian Norman in the 800 (2:54.20), Kennedy Buck in the shot put (10.49 meters) and Olivia Purvis in the pole vault (8-0).
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