Bowling, chess, wrestling tournaments this weekend

By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
BOONE COUNTY – Belvidere, Belvidere North and North Boone teams will be on the road this weekend, competing in a variety of sporting events and activities as the 2015-2016 winter season comes to an end.
Buc and Blue Thunder girls bowling teams will be in Round Lake for the sectional tournament, along with qualifiers from Marengo and Vernon Hills Regionals.
The Lady Blue Thunder took second in the Harlem Regional on Feb. 6 and are gunning for a return to the state finals, where they took seventh last year. The Lady Bucs were third at Harlem with another NIC-10 team, Rockford East, in the fourth and final qualifying spot.
Sophomore Kylie Johnson sparked North at the regional with a six-game 1,212 series, averaging 202 per outing. She was followed by senior Ashley Platt and sophomore Brynn Lambrecht, each with a 1,178; senior Annissa Hintt, a 1,098; junior Emily Nakashima, a 699; and senior Kaitlyn Trimble, a 338.
The Lady Bucs were led by senior Sara Deddo with a 1,289 series, an average of 215 per game; followed by sophomore Holley Steelberg with a 1,176; senior Madelyn Deardorff, a 1,093; sophomore Hannah Lowery, a 967; sophomore Hailey Carter, a 752; and freshman Alexis Sherman, a 182 single game.
Belvidere wrestling
Belvidere placed fourth in a field of nine teams at the Rochelle 2A Regional, while Belvidere North was eighth. The Bucs came home with two individual champions; the Blue Thunder had one. Qualifiers will advance to the sectional this Saturday.
The first local champion was senior Ecclesias Fambro (25-3) of North, at 126 pounds. He moved through his weight class by taking 8-0, 9-3 and 5-1 decisions. Belvidere’s Steve Montez (22-16), a sophomore, also competed at 126 and did not place.
Belvidere’s Henry Flores (29-13), a senior, won at 138 pounds. He pinned his first opponent in 2:35, then won by 9-3 in the semi-finals. In the title match, he edged top-seeded Jarid Stimport (26-6) of Freeport, 5-3.
Finally, Belvidere senior Gage Brewer (28-11), the No. 1 seed at 195 pounds, pinned his first opponent in just 43 seconds before defeating Matthew Hunter (27-16) of Sycamore, 4-1, for the championship.
Runners-up included junior Yves Worou (8-4) of Belvidere at 106 pounds; senior Tanner Pavlak (19-20) of Belvidere at 120; and junior Deon Roby (25-13) of Belvidere at 220.
The only local third-place winner in the regional was senior Jason Tapia (23-14) of Belvidere at 145 pounds. He defeated North’s Eric Martinez, 7-2, in the consolation finals. Martinez is a senior who was 5-5 coming into the regional.
Other fourth-place finishers were sophomore Mitch Panzka (27-10) of Belvidere at 113 pounds; and sophomore Kent Myerson (13-11) of North at 132.
North Boone wrestlers
In 1A regional competition at Aurora Central Catholic High School, North Boone finished fourth while four of its wrestlers earned places.
Championships were won by junior Kade Demann (22-7), who pinned his opponent in just 36 seconds at 126 pounds, and junior Zach Westlund (23-8), who won by a fall in 1:51 at 132. Both were the top seeds in their weight classes.
Senior Alex Manriquez (14-16) was second at 138; senior Teagan Ryan (7-18) was third at 160; and junior Paul Weiss (11-20) finished fourth at 145. Ryan took third with a bye and in his first and only match of the tournament; he lost a close 4-3 decision to the eventual champion, freshman Garrett St. Cloud (14-9) of Aurora Central Catholic.
North Boone freshman Austyn Gruner (5-23) did not place at 152.
North Boone chess

Chess board

North Boone’s chess team will join 145 others at the one class state championship this weekend in Peoria.
The young Viking team was 105th last year with a lineup that included four freshmen. It belongs to the 14-team Northern Illinois Chess League that includes Marengo, McHenry, Stillman Valley, Freeport, Cary-Grove and Rockford Guilford.
Members of the 2015 team were seniors Devin McFadden and Ryan Johnson; sophomores Chase Morgan, Dakodah Mrkvicka and Conor Rockwell and freshmen Jacob Dlugosz, Darren McFadden, Tyler Turner and Theresa Weiss.
Head coach was Glen Gratz with assistants Jeff Corn and Anthony Lagrassa.