The regular season for area high school wrestling is wrapping up, with the NIC-10 conference meet at East High School beginning at 10 am on Saturday.

Hononegah is the defending champ. And among the top individuals is the Indians Giovanni Cassioppi (138 pounds), Harlem’s Chad Richards (160), Freeport’s Major Dedmond (170) and Matthew Chavers (182), and East’s Aydin Guttridge (285). All three are ranked in the state, with Guttridge topping the  class with a No. 1 state ranking and No. 5 in the nation.

BOYS BOWLING

Annual powerhouses Hononegah and Harlem are joined by Auburn this weekend in O’Fallon for the IHSA State Boys Bowling Championships. Action begins today and concludes on Saturday.

Hononegah is the defending state champ, which also won the state crown in 2015 and finished second the two season in between. Harlem wore the state crown in 2017.

Bowling for Hononegah will be Justin Anderson (Sr.), Dylan Hamil (Sr.), Connor Mooney (Fr.), Justin Mooney (So.), Jacob Sommer (Sr.), James Stewart (So.), Cameron Tyler (So.) and Ty Wasserman (So.).

Bowling for Harlem are  Alex Cleaveland (So.), Cody Lawrence (Sr.),  Noah Mandujano (Sr.), PJ Mellies (So.), Ethan Pash (Jr.), Josh Roth (Jr.), Devon Schwanke (Jr.) and James White (Sr.).

Auburn will feature  Payton Alexander (Fr.), Wyatt August (Jr.), Tashawn Harmon (So.), Kai Horton (So.), Hunter Montgomery (So.), Matt Seigel (Sr.), Preston Sims (Sr.) and Carson Soles (Jr.).

Among this b0wling as individuals are Belvedere North’s Justin Bragg (Sr.), Jefferson’s Landen Cowell (Sr.) and Oregon’s Austin Strite (Sr.).

DANCE

Class 1A sectional champ Genoa-Kingston heads the area schools in Bloomington today and Saturday for the IHSA Competitive Dance State Championship.

Also competing at state are Rochelle in 1A and Sycamore in 2A. No NIC-10 teams qualified for state.

CHEERLEADING

North of the NIC-10 and North Boone of the Big Northern – both coming off conference titles last week – lead area schools in the Grayslake North Sectional on Saturday.

North is the defending two-time state champ in the co-ed division, while Lutheran – which was edged out by North Boone in the BNC – is the defending small team division state champ.

There will be four divisions at sectionals: Large Team, Medium Team, Small Team and Co-ed. NIC-10 teams, along with DeKalb, Byron, Durand, Genoa-Kingston, Oregon, Rockford Christian and Stillman Valley will represent the area. The first performance is at 9 a.m. with action concluding at roughly 6:30 p.m.

BASKETBALL

After a week of bad weather that disrupted many scheduled basketball games, most area teams are back in action tonight and Saturday.

In the NIC-10, the biggest game is East at Boylan, a rematch of a Dec. 5 contest that saw the Titans hold a lead into the fourth quarter before the E-Rabs came alive for a 9-point win. East sits alone atop the NIC-10 at 12-0, while Boylan and Harlem are tied for second at 8-3. Harlem is traveling to Auburn for another key game.

For the full NIC-10 schedule, click here.

The NIC-10 girls race is down to two teams: Boyan and Hononegah. The Titans are at East tonight, while the Indians travel to last-place Jefferson.

For the NIC-10 girls schedule, click here.

The Big Northern boys race is much more competitive, as Rock Falls sits on top at 3-0, but Rockford Christian, Dixon and Byron are 3-1 and Winnebago is 3-2. The game of the night in the BNC tonight is Rockford Christian at Winnebago.

For the BNC boys schedule, click here.

— Randy Ruef, Sportsfan 1330

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