Belvidere North stuns Harlem, returns to state bowling finals

By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
BOONE COUNTY – Two weeks ago Harlem’s girls bowling team easily won its own regional tournament, 490 pins in front of runner-up Belvidere North.
But Feb. 13 was the Day of the Lady Blue Thunder as they won the Round Lake sectional, 17 pins ahead of Harlem, to ensure a return to the state finals. They were seventh in the state last season and have several players back from that team.
State will be Friday and Saturday at The Cherry Bowl in nearby Cherry Valley.
It will be a tough road for North, as its 5,794 pin-fall was fifth among the champions of six sectionals held last Saturday. Lockport led all sectional champs with 6,300 pins at the Joliet West site.
There will be three NIC-10 teams at state, including Freeport, which won the Dixon sectional. There, Lady Pretzel Montana Hughes was the individual champion with a six-game 1,363 series.
Harlem senior Skylar Russo-Perry was the Round Lake champion, recording a 1,325 series.
North was led by senior Ashley Platt and sophomore Brynn Lambrecht who each rolled a 1,280 series. Senior Annissa Hintt had a 1,127; sophomore Kylie Johnson, a 1,107; junior Emily Nakashima, a 523; and senior Kaitlyn Trimble, a 477.
As a junior, Platt was one of the stars of the 2015 state qualifier. She competed in all 12 games and recorded a 2,494 series, averaging 208 per outing, with a high game of 245.
Lambrecht (eight games, 1,370 series) and Johnson (four games, 683 series) also were on that team. Both averaged 171 per game.
Belvidere wrestlers
Two Belvidere High School wrestlers will be on the floor of Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois this weekend for the 3A state wrestling finals.
They are seniors Gage Brewer (30-12) and Henry Flores (32-14).
Brewer took second at 195 pounds, opening with a bye and then winning, 3-2 and 5-3, before losing, 4-0, in the finals. Flores was third at 138, also having a bye to start, then winning with a 2:00 pin but losing, 13-4, in the quarter-finals. In the consolation bracket, he won 4-2, then 8-5 in the third-place match.
None of the sectional qualifiers from Belvidere North or North Boone advanced to state.
North Boone chess
North Boone won 3-of-7 matches in Peoria the weekend of Feb. 12-13 to finish 102nd in a field of 146 teams at the annual state chess tournament. Neighboring Harvard (4-3) was 68th, while Marengo (3-4) was 106th.
There’s only one class these days, which puts small schools such as North Boone, Harvard and Marengo up against giants such as Barrington, Evanston and York.
The Vikings took on suburban Morton in their first match and lost, 46 1/2 to 21 1/2. But they rebounded with a 46-22 win over East Peoia. They finished Friday’s opening round with a 49-19 loss to Urbana University, then edged suburban Buffalo Grove, which has an enrollment of 1,899, by 37-31.
On Saturday, North Boone lost to St. Charles North, 49 1/2 to 18 1/2; defeated Glenbard East, 41-27; then lost its final match, in a narrow 35-33 decision, to Bradley-Bourbannis.
Back in the two-class days North Boone was the state champion in 1980 and 1993. The Vikings finished second in 1976, 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1994, while taking third in 1981.
All of those achievements came under head coach Guenther Wohlfarth.
Today’s head coach, Glen Gratz of Capron, was a student at Harvard when he was No. 1 on Board 1 in 1976 and No. 2, also on Board 1, the following year. Don Ward of Caledonia, immediate past president of the North Boone Community Unit District 200 Board of Education, finished No. 2 on Board 3 in 1976 while a student at North Boone.
The Vikings last medal winner was Richard Bennett, who was seventh on Board 7 in 2011.
Members of this year’s chess team are freshmen Noah Kroll and Hallie Mrkvicka; sophomores Jacob Dlugosz, Tyler Turner and Theresa Weiss; and juniors Jared Godsby, Chase Morgan, Dakodah Mrkvicka and Connor Rockwell.