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38 | February 14, 2019 | The Mokena Messenger sports mokenamessenger.com New-look Knights send three wrestlers to state finals Lincoln-Way East to send two, West gets four RANDY WHALEN Freelance Reporter It’s not uncommon for teammates to all wear a matching patch or some other piece of equipment aside from matching jerseys or uniforms to show their solidarity. Lincoln-Way Central decided to go a different route. All of them, along with coach Tyrone Byrd, sported mustaches at the Class 3A Joliet Central Sectional, which was held on Friday, Feb. 8, and Saturday, Feb. 9, in the historic Steel Gym. The mustachioed Knights ended the weekend by sending three of their own to the state finals: Mason Sargent (195 pounds), Mike McCormack (220) and Chris Pasowisty (heavyweight). For the senior Sargent, this has been a much better season than his previous one. Not only did Sargent capture a regional title at Andrew the weekend before, but he also placed second at 195 pounds in the sectional, advancing Sargent him to the state finals for the first time in his high school career. Although he was pinned in 3:38 by Yorkville junior Ben Stemmet (34-6) in the sectional title match, he got there. “I’m pretty excited about it,” Sargent said of going to state. “This is my first time at state. My sectional last season lasted less than a period when I was pinned twice. My head wasn’t into it. This season I’m way more focused. “I hit a little lull in the midseason and I fell from the rankings. But I feel better, I’m wrestling better and I’m excited about state.” “I’m pleased with all three of our qualifiers but I’m very excited for Mason,” said Byrd, who moved over to Central after previously coaching at Lincoln-Way East for many years before that. “But our message here is consistent: Do what you can and just a little bit more. In the last couple of weeks, Mason has done that and stayed mentally tough.” Lincoln-Way East advanced a pair of wrestlers to the state finals. Senior Nick Mihajlovich led the way and improved to 45-3, with an 8-3 decision over sophomore Thomas Culp (43-3) from Quincy in the third-place match at 182 pounds. Griffin freshman Dominic Adamo (35-16) was pinned in 1:19 in the third-place match at 152 by Moline senior Jayden Terronez (38-8). But Adamo is still going to state. “This is the year to place,” Mihajlovich said of going to back to the state finals. “The first time there I got the jitters and not placing taught me a lot. My goal is still to get on the podium.” Mihajlovich won his firstround match last February at state but was pinned in the quarterfinal and lost in the next consolation round. Sophomore AJ Lizak (25- 20) at 126 and senior Jake Abeja (26-19) at 132, also qualified for the sectional for East, which finished fourth at the Andrew Regional on Feb. 2. “Nick [Mihajlovich] had a tough road against good competition,” said East coach Kevin Rockett, who guided the Griffins to a 17-9 record in his inaugural season as head coach there, including 3-2 in the SouthWest Lincoln-Way Central’s Mason Sargent (left) squares off against his opponent in the 195-pound division at the Illinois High School Association’s individual sectionals Saturday, Feb. 9. Sargent placed second overall and earned an invite to the state finals, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 14, through Saturday, Feb. 16. Photos by Adam Jomant/22nd Century Media Suburban Conference. “Both he and Dominic [Adamo] have an opportunity to get on the podium. They have both beat some quality kids. “I thought our season was good. It was a good transition. Being here [as an assistant] the last two years and being at [Lincoln-Way North] when our seniors were freshmen made it go well. Overall, it was a good season. We beat some good teams and it was a successful season here at East.” Lincoln-Way West joined the four qualifier club at state, too. The highest place finisher for the Warriors was senior Jacob Cronk, who placed second at 182 pounds, after being pinned in 1:05 by Yorkville junior Nick Stemmet (38-3). “It all came down to preparation,” said Cronk, who is now 33-6 on the season. Lincoln-Way East’s Nick Mihajlovich attempts to pin Yorkville’s Nick Stemmet in the 182-pound division. Mihajlovich finished third and will represent the Griffins, along with fourth-place finisher in the 152-pound division Dominic Adamo, at the state final. “Just having a clear head and not worrying about anything. I qualified for state last year but just placing is Please see wrestling, 34
mokenamessenger.com sports the Mokena Messenger | February 14, 2019 | 39 fastbreak Girls Bowling Griffins advance team to state for first time 22nd Century Media file photo 1st-and-3 Preview to state gymnastics 1. Grace Kmak The sophomore is one of a few Lincoln- Way members on the roster with state experience. As a freshman, she contributed in four events in last year’s seventh-place finish with a 9.175 on floor, 9.075 on vault, 9.1 on beam and 8.25 on bars. 2. Korina Jarosz Jarosz was relied on in three events at last year’s state meet. Her 9.5 on the vault was the highest score of all events on the team. She also added a 9.15 on floor and 9.05 on bars. 3. Allie Reis Reis was also a contributor on last year’s successful squad. As a sophomore, she competed in the floor routine at state and scored a 9.125. Randy WHALEN, Freelance Reporter Ever since Lincoln-Way East became its own school in the 2001-02 school season the Griffins have had great success in almost every sport. Except girls bowling. Until now. The Griffins girls bowling team placed fourth and qualified for state out of the Minooka Regional on Saturday, Feb. 9, at Echo Bowling Lanes in Morris. The Top 4 teams advance to the State Finals, which are held this weekend, Friday, Feb. 15 and Saturday, Feb. 16 at The Cherry Bowl in Rockford. It’s the first ever state trip for East as a team. “We were very, very excited,” East coach Carlie Premo said. “We [coaches] tried to keep it under wraps because as it [the end] got closer, the kids were all excited, too. I told them to keep doing what they were doing and shooting in the 950 per game average.” That’s what the Griffins dad as they averaged 965.3 pins per game, with a high of 1,007 in the third game. That helped them to firmly go into fourth place at the break. They finished 235 pins ahead of Rock Island for the final spot. Lincoln-Way Central had “We all cheer each other on and we don’t let each other get down, and I think that’s what kept us going.” Katelyn Marks — Lincoln-Way East girls bowler, on the key to the Griffins’ success a pair of bowlers at the sectional but neither one advanced to state. They were senior Kalei Bass (1,181, high of 244 in Game No. 3), who fell 54 pins short of the final individual qualifying spot, and junior Marianna Hristakos (1,072, high of 204 in Game No. 5). The Top 4 teams were the same ones that came out of the Morris Regional at the same location on Saturday, Feb. 2. In the sectional, they were: Joliet West (6,124 pinfall total), which won its first-ever sectional title; Joliet Central (5,971), which also qualified for state for the first time ever; Minooka (5,906); and East (5,792) rounded out the teams that advanced to state. Rock Island (5,557), Sterling (5,370), LaSalle-Peru (5,315), Hoopeston (5,243), Galesburg (5,187), Pana (4,967), Decatur Eisenhower (4,829) and Taylorville (4,436) rounded out the 12- team field. Joliet West sophomore Brooklinn Chavez (1,388, high of 266 in Game No. 6) was the individual champion. For the Griffins, it was a balanced effort. Senior Sydney Tyler (1,227, high of 215 in Game No. 6) led the way with a 10th-place overall finish. Senior Angie Juskie (1,197, high of 234 in Game No. 5) and sophomore Katelyn Marks (1,197, high of 227 in Game No. 3) tied for 16th overall. Senior Morgan Tripi (1,105, high of 222 in Game No. 6) and junior Katelyn Adamitis (1,066, high of 190 in Game No. 4) finished out the East lineup. “It feels great, especially it being my senior year and it is East’s first time as a bowling team to go to state,” Tyler said. “We knew we were going to make it after [the regional] when we shot over 5,000. We saw were capable of doing it, everyone shot well as a team and we were able to keep everyone motivated. Because of that, we thought we had a good chance at state and we made it.” Juskie was also overjoyed to make it to state as a senior. “To be honest I always believed we had the potential to make it this far but I think we all realized it as a team around conference when we saw how well we can do if we just stay in the moment and pick each other up when needed,” Juskie said. “Our biggest obstacle we had to overcome is the mental game. We all just had to have a positive mental attitude and once that happened everything else just fell into place. We are beyond excited to have this opportunity to go down to state as a team because we always knew it was achievable.” Marks said she hopes she can say that she left her mark and was on the start of something special for the Griffins. “It feels great,” Marks said. “I am so proud of our team and how far we have gotten this season. This is the first time ever for a girls bowling team to make it to state at Lincoln-Way East, and I feel so proud to be a part of it. The team has done great this year and we have won so many tournaments and games, and it’s just really been a great season. “We all cheer each other on and we don’t let each other get down, and I think that’s what kept us going. If one of us didn’t do so well on a frame or a game we would pick each other up and keep on going. That’s why I think we are a great team and why we have made it this far to finally go to state.” As a senior, Tripi saw the trip that got the Griffins to where they are now. “It feels amazing,” Tripi said. “It’s so great knowing that we are the first ones to bring the East girls bowling team to state. We wanted to be able to finish our season there and we went out and did it. The team thought this could happen when we came together as a team and saw what we can do. I could not have asked for a more supportive and uplifting team. Our coach made sure we were positive from the beginning and that we did not give up on accomplishing our goal.” Listen Up “We have so much talent and I think we proved that [here].” Allie Reis – Lincoln-Way gymnast, following the team’s sectional win on Feb. 5 TUNE IN Gymnastics TBA, Friday, Feb. 15. • Lincoln-Way co-op gymnastics will make its third consecutive State Final appearance. Index 34 – This Week In... 33 – Athlete of the Week FASTBREAK is compiled by Editor T.J. Kremer III, tj@ mokenamessenger.com.
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