SVM area roundup: Dixon girls roll to BNC win at home; Oregon wrestlers win title at Polo

Oregon's Evan Flaharty looks at the official for the count as he pins Fulton's Braiden Damhoff in the 285-pound championship at the Polo Wrestling Invitational on Saturday. Flaharty was down 5-0 before coming back to win the bout with a pin.

The Dixon girls basketball team rolled to a 50-17 win over North Boone in a Big Northern Conference game Saturday night at Lancaster Gym.

The Duchesses (16-1, 2-0 BNC) led 18-3 after one quarter and 28-11 by halftime before a 15-0 run in the third period.

Ella Govig led a balanced scoring effort by Dixon with 11 points, while Kait Knipple and Harvest Day both had nine points; Knipple hit three 3-pointers. Abby Knipple added seven points for the Duchesses.

Mattison McCartney hit three 3s and led North Boone with nine points.

Stillman Valley 46, Rock Falls 28: The Rockets trailed 14-5 after one quarter and 30-12 at halftime in a Big Northern road loss.

Claire Bickett had nine points to lead Rock Falls (9-11, 1-2 BNC), while Emily Lego scored six, and Brooke Howard and Rylee Johnson both added five.

Mya Janssen’s 15 points paced Stillman, and Jenna Shelburne hit two 3s and had 12 points.

AFC 42, Hiawatha 9: The Raiders led 20-4 at halftime and 38-9 through three quarters before pitching a fourth-quarter shutout in a nonconference win in Ashton.

Brianna Gonnerman had 12 points, and Taylor Jahn scored 10 for AFC, while Reese Polk added eight points.

Delaney Wood and Crystal Haack both finished with four points for Hiawatha.

Wethersfield 48, Bureau Valley 29: The Storm lost a nonconference contest in Manlius.

Northwest Illinois Shootout

Eastland 40, Sterling 32: The Cougars closed out their own shootout with their second win of the season over the Golden Warriors, taking a 27-20 lead into halftime and a 33-28 lead into the fourth quarter.

Sarah Kempel had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go with a team-high four steals for Eastland (12-6), while Quinc Haverland had six points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Paige Joiner finished with 10 points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists for the Cougars.

Olivia Turner scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the first half for Sterling (2-18). Olivia Melcher and Madison Austin both scored six points, and Delali Amankwa added four.

Byron 72, Morrison 56: The Tigers turned a 20-15 first-quarter deficit into a 39-27 halftime lead with a 24-7 surge to top the Fillies in Lanark.

Camryn Veltrop led the way with 27 points for Morrison, and Shelby Veltrop scored 19.

Macy Groharing had 27 points, and Ava Kultgen added 23 to lead Byron, the fifth-ranked team in the latest AP Class 2A poll.

Amboy 32, Aquin 21: The Clippers won a rematch of last year’s Durand Regional final, grabbing a 16-7 lead by halftime and stretching it to 24-9 by the end of the third quarter.

Addison Pertell’s nine points paced Amboy (15-1), while Courtney Ortgiesen added eight and Elly Jones scored seven.

Hanna Broge had 10 points for Aquin.

Iowa-Illinois Shootout

Wilton (Iowa) 52, Erie-Prophetstown 25: The Panthers lost in their first trip to the IHMVCU Shootout at Augustana’s Carver Center.

Boys basketball

AFC 54, Hiawatha 32: The Raiders led 19-8 after one quarter, 37-19 by halftime, and 49-21 through three periods in a nonconference win in Ashton.

Carson Rueff had 14 points, and Kaleb Goldman scored 13 for AFC (9-6). Lane Koning chipped in 10 points, as nine different Raiders scored.

Blake Wiegartz had eight points for Hiawatha, and Ryan Barber and Cameron Emerich each hit two 3-pointers for six points.

Milledgeville 62, West Carroll 41: The Missiles led 25-18 at halftime and 40-29 through three quarters before a 22-12 surge in the fourth in an NUIC crossover win at home.

Bryce Aude and Connor Nye led a balanced attack for Milledgeville with 12 points apiece. Zack Pauley hit a pair of 3-pointers and added eight points, and Colten Hendrick had seven, as nine different Missiles scored.

Caleb Good led West Carroll with 14 points, and Garrett Law hit three 3s and finished with 11 points.

Dakota 50, Polo 37: The Marcos lost an NUIC crossover game on the road.

Brock Soltow had 16 points, and Cayden Webster scored six for Polo.

Rock Falls Shootout

Erie-Prophetstown 62, Kewanee 30: The Panthers rolled past the Boilermakers at Tabor Gym.

Reed-Custer 65, Bureau Valley 48: The Storm couldn’t keep up with the Comets in Rock Falls.

Girls bowling

Dixon 4th, Oregon 5th in DeKalb: The Duchesses rolled a 4,822, and the Hawks had a 4,693 to finish fourth and fifth at Sycamore’s Matt Clark Invite at Mardi Gras Lanes.

Oswego won the team title with a 5,794, 370 pins better than runner-up Sycamore (5,424). Oswego East’s Maya Santeliz rolled a 1,350 six-game series to take the individual title, beating runner-up Lani Breedlove of Oswego (1,301) by 49 pins.

Oregon’s Ava Wight was the top local finisher, taking third with a 1,206.

Allison Coss led Dixon with a 997, good for 20th place, while Leslie Pettorini (22nd, 995), Grace DeBord (23rd, 991) and Autumn Swift (24th, 988) all added top-25 finishes. Olivia Gingras rounded out the Dixon lineup in 39th (851).

Oregon’s Mackenzie Alford finished 26th with a 968, while Kendra Ehrler finished 32nd (940) and Trinity Hultquist took 36th (884). Kylie Krug (444) bowled four games for the Hawks, and Ahren Howey (251) rolled the last two games for her.

Boys bowling

Dukes 12th in Rockford: Dixon rolled a 5,392 to place 12th at the 16-team Belvidere Buccaneer Invite at the Cherry Bowl.

Harlem won the team title with a 6,439, 107 pins ahead of runner-up Belvidere North (6,332). Nate Perkins of Belvidere North rolled a 1,378 six-game series to win the individual title, while Harlem’s Jerry Simmons took second (1,361).

Cody Geil was 16th to lead the Dukes, rolling a 1,249 that featured games of 246, 215, 213 and 220. Clark Bonnewell took 28th with a 1,186, rolling games of 202, 233 and 220 in the morning session. David Laird added a top-50 finish, placing 48th with a 1,088 that included a 222 high game.

Wyatt Miller was 56th with a 1,008 for Dixon, and Owen Haverland and Sam Gingras split the final six games; Haverland rolled a 421 in the morning, and Gingras had a 440 in the afternoon.

Dixon's Owen Brooks wrestles Coal City's Joey Breneman during the 59th Annual Lyle King Princeton Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023 at Princeton High School.

Wrestling

Lyle King PIT: Rock Falls’ Aaron Meenen and Newman’s Carter Rude led the local contingent in Princeton, as each took third place in their weight classes.

Meenen defeated Mercer County’ Ethan Monson 4-2 in the third-place bout at 120 pounds, and Rude topped Rockridge’s Reese Finch 3-2 for third place at 138.

Newman also got fifths from Briar Ivey (120) and Daniel Kelly (145), and a sixth from Zhyler Hansen (113).

Dixon got a pair of seventh-place finishes from Steven Kitzman (170) and Shaun DeVries (285).

The Dukes were the top local team in 20th with 64.5 points, while Newman was right behind in 21st (62 points). Rock Falls finished 25th (47), and Morrison took 31st (26).

Coal City was the team champion with 245.5 points, and Dakota took second with 188.

Sycamore Invitational: At Sycamore, Sterling doubled its number of medalists from last year in taking 12th in the 24-team field.

“Last year we only got two guys in the top eight, this year we got four in the top eight,” coach Kevin Heller said. “I’m very happy with what happened today.”

Tommy Tate led the way with a third-place showing at 160 pounds, while Zyan Westbrook was eighth at 113, Dylan Ottens was eighth at 138, and Chase Ullrich was eighth at 182.

Tate dropped his semifinal bout 14-6, but bounced back with a pin in 2:36 to take third.

“The fashion in which he lost, he was very disappointed,” Heller said. “So in the third-place match, he was motivated. He was trying too hard, putting himself in a bad position [in the third-place match.] But then he fixed that.”

The Warriors were 12th as a team with 303.5 points. Rock Island took the team title with 418, and LaGrange Lyons took second (393.5).

Polo's Josiah Perez (right) battles West Carroll's Connor Knop in the 106-pound championship bout at the Polo Wrestling Invitational on Saturday.

Polo Invitational: The Oregon Hawks took the title at the Polo Invite, scoring 196 points to top runner-up Richmond-Burton (165) and third-place Parkview/Albany (153.5). Fulton took fourth (124.5), Polo was sixth (106.5), Erie-Prophetstown placed ninth (86), and West Carroll took 13th (34).

Oregon had three champions, four runners-up, a third, a fourth, and two fifth-place finishers. Lane Halverson won the 138-pound title with a pin in 1:21 in the title bout, while Anthony Bauer won an 8-1 decision in the finals at 160, and Evan Flaharty won by pin in 3:00 to take the 285-pound title.

Jackson Messenger (113), Grant Stender (152), Gabe Eckerd (170) and Jonathon Alaniz (220) all placed second, while Seth Stevens (145) took third, Quentin Berry (195) finished fourth, and Jackson Glendenning (160) and Briggs Sellers (285) both placed fifth.

Fulton had champions in Ben Fosdick, who won a 15-0 technical fall for the 145-pound crown, and Zane Pannell, who won the 170 title bout by injury default over Eckerd. Braiden Damhoff took second at 285, Broden VenHuizen (145) and Mason Kuebel (182) both finished fourth, and Skylier Crooks took fifth at 152.

Josiah Perez was Polo’s lone champion, winning 7-4 in the 106-pound title bout. Lucas Nelson (126) and Wyatt Doty (132) both took second, Chase Bremmer (138) and Maddux Hayden (195) both finished fifth, and Jaidynn McKinney (126) and Delo Fernandez (160) were sixth.

Erie-Prophetstown’s title-winners were Wyatt Goossens, a 4-1 winner in the final at 120 pounds, and Jase Grunder, who won 6-2 over Stender at 152. Luke Otten finished fifth at 182, and Aidan Jepson (138) and Victor Bonnell (145) both placed sixth.

Connor Knop led West Carroll with a runner-up finish to Perez at 106 pounds, while Noah Rannow took fifth at 126 and Dallas Bunn was sixth at 220.

Oregon's Grant Stender (left) pushes Erie's Jase Grunder at the start of the 152-pound championship at the Polo Wrestling Invitational on Saturday. Gunder won the match.
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.