LF_011118

26 | January 11, 2018 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeader.com
Going Places
Scouts wrestler commits
to NYU for next season
Brittany Kapa, Sports Editor
Quinn Dailey has stayed
tight-lipped about his
plans for after high school,
until now.
Unsure if he would
get into this No. 1 school
choice Dailey mainly confided
in his family to help
with the decision.
In December, Dailey
received word that he
had been accepted into to
New York University, and
would be wrestling there
next year.
“I have to say I’m pretty
at ease with myself,” Dailey
said. “I’m proud of myself
with how far I’ve come.
“NYU was always a
little bit of a stretch. It’s
a pretty tough academic
school ... I wasn’t too sure
(I would get in.) I’m really
happy to say that I pushed
for it and I got it.”
During the initial stages
of college-hunting, Dailey
was setting his sights on
smaller schools, but none
seemed to fit the bill.
“I had a whole little recruiting
process,” he said.
“Originally, NYU wasn’t
in the picture. I didn’t
know where I wanted to
go and I didn’t know how
well I stood up academically.”
Dailey used a recruiting
website to search out potential
colleges. His search
led him to Washington and
Lee University, a small liberal
arts school in Virginia.
“We jumped on that, but
(me and my family) didn’t
really feel out the (college)
scene,” he said. “I went
down there, visited.
“It was a pretty small
Quinn Daley, shown here at a Dec. 28 wrestling meet
at Lake Forest, has committed to wrestle at New York
University next year as a freshman at the school.
Brittany Kapa/22nd Century Media
school. I didn’t really
know if it was for me, personally.
It was so small
and secluded. It was still a
very nice school, very historical,
but it wasn’t really
for me.”
After that his search led
him to Trinity College in
Hartford, Conn. In a very
Goldilocks-and-the-threebears
situation, Trinity
wasn’t academically challenging
enough for Dailey
either.
“I ended up pursuing
NYU pretty heavily,” Dailey
said.
In summer 2017, Dailey
visited NYU and participated
in a wrestling summer
camp. He was hooked.
“Compared to all of the
other schools, NYU was
just so much more grand
and breathtaking,” he said.
“I really liked the fact that
I was in the city. There was
a lot of life and vibrancy
on the campus, which was
something I was looking
for.”
Now, it’s just a waiting
game for Dailey to finish
high school and begin his
collegiate-wrestling career.
“I’m totally excited to
get in the room,” Dailey
said. “They’re an upcoming
program. They just had
their first NCAA Division-
III champion. That’s a really
big deal. He was at
my weight class (132), but
he’s graduating.”
Dailey knows that he
will have a lot to learn
from the veteran wrestlers
on the team next season,
and is hopeful that he will
be a productive member of
the team.
“I met some of the guys,
and they have really good
wrestling resumes,” Dailey
said. “These people have
gone to Super 32, which is
a really tough tournament
to get into to, just qualifying
is pretty tough.”
Dailey added that a few
of the wrestlers in the
program have come from
DI schools. That level of
wrestler is appealing to
Dailey, especially to learn
from.
“I’m really excited to
be adding on to this really
strong team,” he said.
Girls Gymnastics
Freshman lead way for
Scouts at Straus Invite
NEIL MILBERT
Freelance Reporter
The Lake Forest girls
gymnastics team rang in
the New Year with a rousing
performance.
The Scouts amassed
133.30 points, their highest
team score of the 2017-
18 season, in the Robin
Straus Invite held in their
gymnasium on Saturday,
Jan. 6.
Leading the way for
coach Megan Miles’ very
young team were Kristin
Fisch and Gianna Pasquesi,
who the junior varsity
coach, Schana Wilczynski,
refers to as “our freshman
rock stars.”
Fisch earned medals in
every event and finished
fourth in the all-around
standings with a score of
36.975. She was second
in floor exercise (9.400),
sixth in the balance beam
(9.300), tied for eighth in
the vault (9.400) and 10th
in the uneven bars (8.875).
Gianna Pasquesi had
the next highest allaround
score (33.100) for
the Scouts followed by
her older sister, who is a
senior, Jessica Pasquesi
(31.975). Gianna Pasquesi
was 25th overall and Jessica
Pasquesi was 27th. Gianna
Pasquesi’s best effort
was an 8.850 in the vault
and Jessica Pasquesi’s best
was an 8.50 in the same
event.
Also making a good
showing for the Scouts
in the 13-team meet were
Nelli Fleming, who was a
junior varsity cheerleader
last fall, and sophomores
Sophie Prozument and
Maggie Bires.
“We had a good meet,”
Miles said. “We still have
a few skills that aren’t in,
but Gianna Pasquesi had
one big vault that went in,
and that was great.
“Floor went very well;
floor and beam typically
are our stronger events.
Bars was a little weaker
tonight.”
Miles was a long-time
assistant coach at Lake
Forest before becoming
head coach four years ago.
She is delighted with the
way her underclassmen
are developing and “having
sisters on the team has
been pretty exciting.”
Not only was this Lake
Forest’s finest performance
of the season as a
team, it also was the best
meet of Fisch’s budding
high school career.
“I was hoping to do
well,” the 14-year-old
freshman replied when
asked about her expectations
going into her first
season. “I’ve been doing
gymnastics for 12 years
and I’ve been training
Level 9 for a year with my
club, Flips Gymnastics, in
Lake Bluff. I consider the
vault to be my best event.”
Fellow freshman Gianna
Pasquesi was hampered by
an injury to her right knee.
“Before the meet I hurt
my knee during a bar dismount,”
she said. “I still
was able to compete but it
wasn’t my best meet.”
Gianna Pasquesi said
she began doing gymnastics
as a 4 year old and
embarked on club competition
as an 8 year old.
“This fall I quit club
Kristin Fisch shows off
her ribbons and medals
Saturday, Jan. 6 after
competing in the Straus
Invite held at Lake Forest.
PHoto Submitted
to do volleyball (at Lake
Forest) and I plan on doing
track in the spring,”
she said. “I want to do
the 100-meter [dash] this
spring. Jessica has been
doing track but she does
the triple jump.”
Lake Forest finished
eighth in the Straus Invite
team standings. Prairie
Ridge was the titlist with
a score of 147.950. Jamie
LaBue of Wheaton-
Warrenville South was
the individual champion
with an all-around score of
37.650.
Proceeds from the
Straus Invite were donated
to the Breast Cancer Research
Foundation. To promote
breast cancer awareness
many members of the
Lake Forest athletic department
and student spectators
were wearing pink
T-shirts with the words ​
“FIGHT LIKE A GIRL​“​
inscribed on them.