10. IHSA member schools vote to expand postseason

With conferences changing all the time and teams having to travel farther and farther to schedule games, various fixes in the past have been shot down.

On December 18, the IHSA approved expanding the postseason to 48 teams per class. This will lock in three-win teams into the postseason and allow many two-win teams into the playoffs.

The goal is that teams will not have to manipulate schedules in a quest to find five easy wins. Locally, Genoa-Kingston (4-5) and DeKalb (2-7) likely would have qualified for the postseason.

“The worst thing ever is keeping the things the way they are because ‘we’ve always done it this way,’ ” DeKalb athletic director Peter Goff said. “We put through a proposal where scheduling stays with the schools. Now you don’t have to do that chase for five. We play a very tough schedule, one of the toughest in football, and we would have been one of the last teams in.”

9. Lisa Carlsen out, Jacey Brooks in for NIU women

On March 10, Lisa Carlsen’s 10-year run as NIU’s women’s head basketball coach came to an end when she resigned after a 13-17 season.

NIU wasn’t joking around in hiring a replacement. On April 1, the university announced former Buffalo assistant Jacey Brooks as the 11th women’s head basketball coach in program history.

Brooks was formally introduced eight days later as the Bulls were winning the WNIT.

“I get this call, and I’m ecstatic,” Brooks said in April. “And that was one of my questions for the administration because I wanted to stay on board at Buffalo to see that thing through. So to have that kind of support, it doesn’t always happen that way.”

Among the transfers out of the program was Carlsen’s daughter, Sycamore graduate and Daily Chronicle 2024 Player of the Year Lexi Carlsen, who went to Drake. Lisa Carlsen is an assistant at Drake now.

8. State football comes back to DeKalb. For one night. On a Wednesday. In December

NIU’s Huskie Stadium hosted the IHSA football championship games in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021, with years to prepare each time.

The Class 7A and 8A games, slated for Nov. 29, were moved to Dec. 3 in DeKalb due to a combination of the snow and scheduling conflicts at Illinois State University.

In the 7A game, Brother Rice shut out St. Rita 16-0 for the title. In the 8A game, Mount Carmel beat Oswego 20-3, another win at NIU for Huskies legend and Caravan coach Jordan Lynch.

“It’s hard to win. This is something we can definitely get used to, and it’s not common,” Lynch said. “It’s the second time in Mount Carmel history that we’ve done it, but a lot of the credit goes to all these guys up here, especially the seniors that have put up a lot of hard work in the four years and lots of sacrifice, and these guys deserved it.”

7. Genoa-Kingston girls soccer rattles off historic win streak, historic season

From 2015 until 2022, the G-K girls soccer team posted losing records each year. Before 2025, the winningest season in program history was a 15-6-1 mark in 2007. And the Cogs had only won a regional once, back in 2010.

All that made 2025 hands down the best year in the history of the program.

The Cogs went 21-3. When they beat Rockford Christian 4-0 to claim a regional title, it was their 19th win in a row. They lost in the sectional semifinals to Rock Island Alleman.

“As much as my personal achievements are very high up there and impressive, getting a team record then extending it by six games, it was really impressive,” said Ally Poegel, who set 10 girls basketball records at the school but also scored 19 goals for the Cogs in 2025. “I feel like my basketball mindset, breaking all those records, transferred over into soccer.”

6. DeKalb beats Sycamore in the FNBO Challenge, snaps 10-game trophy game losing streak

The DeKalb girls basketball team got to stand on the floor of the NIU Convocation Center and do something no Barb had done in a decade - hoist the challenge trophy over their heads and celebrate.

The Barbs beat Sycamore 40-29 on Jan. 31, ending a 10-game losing streak in games played at the Convo.

“Knowing it was the last one and that I have to compete for the trophy, it was a lot of pressure, but I knew I could do it because I put a lot of work into it,” DeKalb senior Brytasia Long said. “I know what it feels like. This is my third year on varsity, so this is my first time [winning here], but I’m happy that my last one ended on a good note.”

It was the second time the Barbs beat the Spartans in the 2024-2025 season. In November, they won 52-27 at a tournament at Burlington Central to snap an overall 16-game losing streak to Sycamore.

The teams haven’t played this season. They’ll meet for the trophy on January 30.

5. Banner boys basketball season

Four regional champions out of seven teams. Two teams in a sectional final. One sectional champion. A team with a 30-game win streak. Three conference champs. The accomplishments could keep going.

In short, it was a good year for boys’ basketball in the Daily Chronicle coverage area.

Kaneland reached a supersectional, won the Interstate 8, won 30 games in a row and lost to eventual 3A state champ DePaul Prep. The Knights’ I-8 rival Sycamore also won a regional title.

DeKalb earned a share of the DuPage Valley Conference with a thrilling win over Waubonsie Valley, then used that as a springboard to a regional title. The Barbs lost their sectional semifinal to Warren, the eventual 4A state runner-up.

Hinckley-Big Rock lost a heartbreaker to Aurora Christian in its sectional final after winning the Little Ten tournament and sharing the regular season title, the first time they’ve done either since 2013.

“This is probably my favorite season ever playing high school basketball,” said Kaneland guard Marshawn Cocroft, now a senior. “Even though we didn’t get the goal we wanted, we still had a great season. We have to keep our heads up and get ready for next season.”

4. Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis wins another title, leads four girls wrestling medalists, including Sycamore’s first

As a sophomore last year, Angelina Gochis made it two for two in claiming IHSA girls wrestling state championships.

She wrapped her 36-0 season, leading a group of four area medalists, including teammate Brooklynn Sheaffer. The Knights were third as a team.

Ema Durst became the first Sycamore girls wrestler to medal at state, taking fourth at 120. Alex Gregorio-Perez was sixth at 105.

“I just felt really nervous for some reason,” Gochis said. “I had never really felt like that. I felt a lot of pressure, making sure I was a two-time champ. That was my way into the finals, and I was just nervous. ... It was rough.”

3. Sycamore boys win state track title; Aidan Wyzard with four medals, one title

After 2024 didn’t go exactly as planned due to an injury at the state meet, 2025 was pretty much a storybook for Aidan Wyzard and the Sycamore track team.

Dylan Hodges won the 400 and was on the 4x400 relay team that took third.

Wyzard captivated the crowd with a thrilling finish in the 200, clocking a personal best of 21.36 seconds to win the state championship. A year before, he suffered a hamstring injury after recording the top long jump in the prelims, causing him to miss the finals and set in motion a long rehab process.

“If you would’ve told me at the start of the year that I would be a 200-meter state champion, I wouldn’t believe you,” Wyzard said. “We were so focused this year. My main goal was to long jump, but things turned. I ended up running the 200 in the middle of the year. I had never run it before, only a few times. My time I ran was competing for state medals. I knew we had to do whatever we could to get points at state. My times started dropping, and ever since then, I’ve pushed myself.”

2. Sycamore football coach Joe Ryan announces retirement

Joe Ryan will leave Sycamore with 156 coaching victories and 210 for his coaching career between his time with the Spartans and at Princeton.

In 22 years at Sycamore, he only missed five postseasons. The Spartans went 5-5 in his final season, winning their final game in Cahokia to ensure Ryan would coach a playoff team in his final season.

Sycamore last missed the playoffs in 2017. Before that, it was 2008. His last game was a 42-14 loss to Cary-Grove in the first round of the 5A playoffs.

“It’s a whirlwind,” he said. “It’s been a good ride, a good ride. It’s never been about me. It’s always been about our program and the kids. So, I’m just going out with the seniors. I got the same emotions as seniors. I don’t get to do it again, and they’re not going to get to do it again.”

Rob Stover was named Ryan’s successor in December.

1. NIU football joins the Mountain West; NIU athletics (mostly) joins the Horizon

It’s the story that spans two years and will even go into a third.

The rumors in late 2024 were confirmed with so much pomp and circumstance in early 2025, and they’ll become a reality on a football field somewhere to be determined, likely in September 2026.

NIU football is leaving the Mid-American Conference, joining the Mountain West for football and the Horizon for most other sports.

The schedule still hasn’t been finalized, but the home and away games have been announced for football. The Huskies will be heading to Air Force, New Mexico, San Jose State and UNLV next season. They’ll host Hawaii, UTEP, Nevada and Wyoming.

With the landscape of college football becoming more and more challenging for small schools, NIU athletic director Sean Frazier said the move to the Mountain West sets the athletic department up to be competitive.

“If I gave up, we’d never be in the Mountain West,” Frazier said. “We’d never be in the Horizon. I would have packed it up, I would have gotten in the fetal position, and I would be underneath this desk, and the thing would be over.”