Area roundup: Morrison, Eastland girls pick up wins at Northwest Illinois Shootout in Lanark

Morrison's Diana Robbins battles two Dakota players during Saturday's Northwest Illinois Girls' Shootout at Eastland High School. Morrison won the game 56-38.

The Morrison girls basketball team opened the Northwest Illinois Girls Basketball Shootout on Saturday in Lanark with a 56-38 victory over Dakota.

The Fillies, who were filling in for Erie-Prophetstown after the Panthers were forced into a COVID pause this past week, led 21-13 at halftime, then pulled away with an 18-6 scoring edge in the third quarter.

Shelby Veltrop poured in 20 points to pace Morrison, and Camryn Veltrop finished with 15. Diana Robbins added eight points, and Bayleigh Brewer scored six.

Hannah Bowers had 18 points, and Mary Zettle scored 16 for Dakota.

Morrison's Shelby Veltrop drives to the basket during Saturday's Northwest Illinois Girls' Shootout at Eastland High School. Shelbyn scored 20  points in Morrison's 56-38 win.

Aquin 45, Amboy 37: The Clippers were outscored 21-15 in the third quarter and 13-9 in the fourth as the Bulldogs rallied for a win at the Northwest Illinois Shootout in Lanark.

Olivia Dinges finished with 14 points, Maeve Larson added eight, Haidyn Zimmerly scored six, and Elly Jones chipped in five for Amboy, which led 13-11 at halftime.

Alyssa Hunziker led Aquin with 14 points, and Meghan Carlyle added 13.

Eastland 52, Byron 47: The Cougars rallied from a 14-5 deficit after the opening quarter to notch a win at their own Northwest Illinois Shootout.

Annika Myre had 20 points, five assists and three rebounds for Eastland (6-9), and Addison Burkholder added 10 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals and five assists. Chloe Sweitzer finished with seven points, five assists and three rebounds, and Delana Erbsen and Quinc Haverland scored six points each; Haverland also grabbed five rebounds.

Ava Kultgen’s 17 points paced Byron, and Ella Grundstrom added eight.

Serena 65, AFC 36: The Raiders fell behind 21-3 in the opening quarter and never recovered in a nonconference road loss.

Taylor Jahn hit four 3-pointers and scored 19 of her game-high 23 points in the second half for AFC, which trailed 31-8 at halftime and 48-25 through three quarters. Brianna Gonnerman scored seven.

Katie Baker had 20 points, and Paisley Twait finished with 15 for Serena.

Boys basketball

Eastland 53, Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin 37: The Cougars pulled away in the second half to win at the St. Joseph-Ogden Shootout.

Kellen Henze had 28 points for Eastland, which led 15-7 after the first quarter and 28-23 at halftime, then outscored BHRA 14-7 in the third period and 11-7 in the fourth. Carsen Heeren added 10 points, and Jaxson Sturtevant scored six.

Brett Meidel’s 12 points and Ned Hill’s 10 led the Blue Devils.

Serena 105, AFC 50: The Raiders couldn’t keep up with Serena on the road, as the Huskers scored 31 points in the first quarter, then 30 each in the second and third.

Carson Rueff scored 17 points, and Lane Koning added 13 for AFC.

Brandt Faivre (17 points), Camden Figgins (15) and Hunter Muffler (13) led Serena, which had six players score in double figures and 14 players score in the game.

Dakota 44, Forreston 30: The Cardinals lost an NUIC crossover game on the road, led by Owen Greenfield’s 19 points and five rebounds.

Wrestling

Dixon 6th, Newman 8th in Princeton: The Dukes had six top-six finishers, and the Comets’ Brady Grennan was the lone local champion at the 58th annual Lyle King Princeton Invitational Tournament.

Grennan won the title at 120 pounds, getting to the finals with three pins before claiming a 12-2 major decision in the finale. Morrison’s Nate Schaefer also advanced to the finals with three pins, but he lost 6-3 in the title bout at 220 pounds.

Briar Ivey (113) and Carter Rude (126) took third for the Comets, while Dixon got third-place finishes from Steven Kitzman (170), Brody Potter (182) and Justin Dallas (220). Rude, Potter and Dallas all won their third-place matches by pin.

The Dukes also got sixth-place finishes from Ayden Rowley (106), Chris Sitter (126) and Mitchell White (195), and finished with 128 points to place sixth as a team. Dakota won with 183.5, and Vandalia took second with 140.

Newman got a fifth place from Mason Glaudel (152) and a sixth from Daniel Kelly (132), and scored 110 points to place eighth.

Morrison had 35 points, led by Schaefer’s runner-up finish. Rock Falls finished with 11 points, with Aaron Meenen finishing fifth at 113 pounds.

Sterling Drew Kested wrestles in the 145 weight class during the 3rd place match up where he took fourth on Sat. Jan 8th during the wrestling invite at Sycamore High School.

Sterling 23rd in Sycamore: The Golden Warriors had three top-8 finishers at the 46th annual Sycamore Invitational, scoring 146.5 points to place 23rd. Yorkville won with 502 points, and McHenry was runner-up with 444.5.

Drew Kested took third at 145 pounds, winning his final match with a 3-0 decision; his first win of the day was the 100th of his career. Tommy Tate finished fourth, falling 10-4 in the third-place match at 160. Gage Tate placed eighth at 152, falling in the eighth-place match by pin.

Erie's Elijah Friedrichsen drives Oregon's Evan Flaharty into the mat en route to winning the 285-pound title match at the Polo Wrestling Invitational.

Locals win titles in Polo: Four area wrestlers – two from Fulton and two from Erie-Prophetstown – won their weight classes at the Polo Invitational, leading a contingent of 18 locals who finished in the top 4.

Fulton’s Ben Fosdick (138 pounds) and Zane Pannell (170) both won titles, with Fosdick winning a 7-4 decision in the finals, and Pannell taking a 19-4 technical fall. Erie-Prophetstown’s championships came from Andrew Bomleny (195) and Elijah Friedrichsen (285); Bomleny won a 2-1 decision, and Friedrichsen finished off his finale with a pin in 1:53 and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.

Polo was the top local team, taking third with 116 points. Oregon placed sixth (98 points), and Erie-Prophetstown was right behind in seventh (95). Fulton finished 10th (63), and West Carroll was 14th (25). Freeport won the team title with 195 points, and Genoa-Kingston was second (130).

Wyatt Doty (126) and Wyatt Queckboerner (182) were both runners-up for Polo, and Braydon Altherr (152) took third. Lucas Nelson (132), Nicholas Cain (160), Wayde Reimer (170) and Blake Diehl (220) all finished fourth for the Marcos.

Oregon got runner-up finishes from Lane Halverson (132), Seth Stevens (138) and Evan Flaharty (285), while Anthony Bauer (145) took third and Griffin Marlatt (113) finished fourth for the Hawks.

Nick Ballard took third (220) for E-P, and West Carroll’s Noah Rannow (120) also placed third.

Fulton's Zane Pannell holds Durand's Logan Brown in the 170-pound title match at the Polo Wrestling Invitational.

Girls bowling

Dixon 3rd in Sycamore: The Duchesses bowled a 4,850 at the Matt Clark Invite in Sycamore, good for third place behind Oswego (5,898) and the host Spartans (5,332).

Tianna Bryson led Dixon with a sixth-place finish, racking up a total pinfall of 1,107. Her six-game series included games of 210 and 206. Oswego’s Lani Breedlove won with a 1,332, and Sycamore’s Maxine Lathrop took second with a 1,249.

Also for the Duchesses, Grace DeBord had a six-game total of 1,026, good for 13th place, and her high game was a 210. Leslie Pettorini was 15th with a 942, and Abby Tate took 20th with an 890. Autumn Swift placed 23rd with an 885.

Hawks 6th at Cherry Bowl: Oregon placed sixth in the 14-team Belvidere Invite at the Cherry Bowl in Rockford, led by a ninth-place finish from Ava Wight.

Wight rolled a 1,190 six-game series, and she had games of 216, 208 and 202. Mackenzie Alford had a 1,038 series and a 209 high game, finishing in 24th place individually. Kendra Ehrler (968 series) and Paige Beauchem (921) also rolled six games each, and Trinity Hultquist (671 in 5 games) and Kylie Krug (109 game) split the final series.

Harlem won the team title with a 5,790, and Hononegah was a close second with a 5,769.

Boys bowling

Oregon 12th in Rockford: The Hawks rolled a 5,433 to place 12th at the 16-team Belvidere Invite at the Cherry Bowl, led by Isaac Kaltenbrun’s 14th-place finish individually.

Kaltenbrun rolled a 1,257 six-game series, and had games of 223, 243, and two 211s. He was the only Oregon bowler to roll all six games.

Brandon Rowe had a five-game total of 928, while Gavvin Surmo (736) and Stylar Klapp (730) both bowled four games. Bryan Immel had a three-game series of 463 in the morning, Codey Dunbar rolled a 486 series in the afternoon, and Roberto Hernandez (456) also bowled three games. Brady Davis had a two-game pinfall of 377.

Harlem’s Black squad won the team title with a 6,551, and Harlem Orange was second with a 6,251. Hononegah Purple was third (6,230).

Morrison's Camryn Veltrop shoots during Saturday's Northwest Illinois Girls' Shootout at Eastland High School. Camryn had 15 points in Morrison's 56-38 win.


Erie's Andrew Bromleny wrestles Lisle's Joe Raineri in the title match at 195 pounds at the Polo Wrestling Invitational.
Fulton's Ben Fosdick and Oregon's Seth Stevens wrestle in the 132-pound title match at the Polo Wrestling Invitational. Fosdick won.
Polo's Wyatt Doty battles Freeport's Markel Baker during the 132-pound title match at the Polo Wrestling Invitational.



Ty Reynolds

Ty Reynolds

Ty is the Sports Editor at Sauk Valley Media, and has covered sports in the Sauk Valley for more than two decades.