SVM area roundup for Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024

Boys bowling

IHSA State Meet: The Dixon boys bowling team took home 11th place Saturday to finish the two-day state tournament at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon.

The Dukes, who entered Day 2 in fifth place, finished with a two-day total of 11,576 pins, 826 behind state champion Salem (12,402). Harrisburg took second place with 12,351 pins.

Junior Cody Geil’s two-day total of 2,455 pins led Dixon and finished 40th overall individually. Fellow juniors Clark Bonnewell (2,373) and Wyatt Miller (2,317) followed Geil for the Dukes.

Girls bowling

Dixon Invite: Sterling took fourth place at the 20-team invite with a team score of 5,046 pins. Lockport (6,061) won the team title and Hononegah (5,522) was second. Dixon (4,157) took 16th, Oregon (4,132) was 17th and Erie-Prophetstown (3,985) was 18th.

Sarah Doughty finished 10th overall and was the top scorer for Sterling with a 1,140 series. Olivia Barton followed closely with a 1,127 series.

Girls wrestling

Erie Regional: Newman freshman Blair Grennan captured the 100-pound title at the 36-team regional.

Grennan recorded three consecutive pin falls to win the title, including a pin against Galesburg’s Hannah Almendarez in 1:29 in the title match.

The top six wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the Geneseo Sectional, which will be held Feb. 9-10.

Erie freshman Ryleigh Stephens took home the title at 110 pounds with an 8-1 win over Geneseo’s Lydia King. Teammates Jaelin Hawkins and Jayda Rosenow took third place at 105 and 140 pounds, respectively. Dena Cox (fourth, 135 pounds), Michelle Naftzger (fifth, 130) and Rose Jackson (sixth, 170) also advanced for Erie.

Rock Falls had two second-place finishes in Ryleigh Eriks (120 pounds) and Ellisa Russell (155).

Fulton’s Camryn Lippens (third, 110) and Brooklyn Thoms (fifth, 140), along with Sterling’s Alize Gomez (fourth, 125), also advanced to the Geneseo Sectional.

Girls basketball

Aquin 59, Oregon 17: At the Aquin Shootout in Freeport, the Hawks fell behind 22-6 after the opening quarter and were unable to recover. Teagan Champley led Oregon with seven points, and Mya Engelkes hit two 3s to finish with six points.

Eastland 45, Forreston 26: At Lanark, the Cougars opened up a 25-9 lead by halftime to ensure the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference victory.

Keni Burkholder paced Eastland (16-9, 10-0) with 14 points and four rebounds. Lily Mullen had 10 points, six steals and six assists. Jenna Greenfield led Forreston with eight points.

Boys basketball

Rock Falls 67, Winnebago 36: At Rock Falls, Gavin Sands surpassed 1,000 career points as the Rockets picked up a Big Northern Conference win.

Sands finished with 11 points and was one of four Rockets to reach double digits. Kuitum Heald led the way with 15 points, while Ryken Howard and Devin Tanton-DeJesus each added 12.

Morrison 57, Sherrard 47: At Morrison, three Mustangs reached double digits as the Mustangs secured a Three Rivers Athletic Conference win at home.

Brenden Martin led the way with 18 points, Carson Strating added 15 points, and Chase Newman scored 11.

Milledgeville 61, Dakota 45: At Dakota, the Missiles took an 18-8 first-quarter lead and rode the momentum to an NUIC win.

Micah Toms-Smith scored 18 points, while Karter Livengood added 15 for Milledgeville.

Boys wrestling

KSB Invite: At Oregon, the host Hawks compiled 143 points to finish fourth overall, five points ahead of Dixon. Rock Island (194.5 points) won the team title. La Salle-Peru (179) was second and Burlington Central (171) took third.

Polo (83) took 11th at the 25-team event, Amboy (74.5) placed 12th and Erie-Prophetstown (32) was 22nd.

Oregon’s Nelson Benesh defeated Dixon’s Riley Paredes in a 4-3 decision to win the 113-pound class.

Dixon flipped the script at 120 pounds with Kye Dietrle besting Oregon’s Colton Flaherty by pin to take the title.

Dixon’s Jack Ragan and Dylan Bopes also took home first place at 106 and 285 pounds respectively. Amboy had a pair of winners in Amboy’s Caiden Heath (138 pounds) and Evan Flanagan (215).

Erie-Prophetstown’s Conner Johnson grabbed the top spot at 132 pounds.