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Sports
Wolves roll back to Cherry Bowl Lanes : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisWolves roll back to Cherry Bowl Lanes
| Oswego East girls' bowling team wins sectional
| by Christine Bolin Dascher
| 2/7/2013
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The Oswego East girls' bowling team knows a thing or two about winning and achieving its goals.
All season long, the Wolves have continued to break records, win big tournaments and exceed all expectations.
Last Saturday, Oswego East, once again, won big. This time, it was at the Plainfield North Sectional, which allowed the Wolves to punch their ticket to the state tournament this weekend at Cherry Bowl Lanes in Rockford.
The Wolves placed first of the 18 teams competing at Echo Lanes in Morris. Oswego East bowled a 6,582 series, edging out Waubonsie Valley's 6,530.
"We didn't lose our focus," Oswego East head coach Jeremy Hillman said. "They really turned things around in the afternoon. We had a 50-pin lead going into Game 6, and they were so jacked up after that last game.
"I don't think Waubonsie Valley quit - they bowled very well, but by the end, I think the wind was out of their sails."
The top two teams in each of the 12 sectionals advanced to the state tournament. Twenty-four total teams in the state will be at state, with the top 12 teams advancing to the finals on Saturday.
This is the second consecutive year Oswego East will be heading to state as a team. Last year, the Wolves just missed out on earning a trophy and finished fourth overall.
This is also the second straight year Waubonsie Valley got out of the same sectional as Oswego East. The Warriors edged out the Wolves for third place at state last year.
Andrew won the state title in 2012, but did not get out of the Rich East Sectional this year, which means a new team will take the state title.
This is the fifth time in the seven years in the history of the program Oswego East will be at state. The Wolves only missed going as a team twice.
As much as history and tradition is on the Wolves' side, Hillman knows his team is not dwelling on the past success of the program. He wants Oswego East to accomplish something it has never done before - win the state title.
"A trophy would be nice, but first place would be outstanding," Hillman said of the Wolves, whose highest-ever place was second in the 2006-07 season.
Vanderbilt-bound Oswego East senior Giselle Poss, once again, individually won the sectional after she rolled a 1,444. Senior Tricia Thornton was fourth overall with a 1,361 while sophomore Kailey Kopacz was fifth with a 1,353.
Freshman Abby Ragsdale rolled a 1,218 and sophomore Averee Bottcher and junior Taylor DeLano split duties for day. Bottcher ended up with a 612 in three games while DeLano rolled a 594 for the other three.
Lemont placed third overall with a 5,902, followed by Plainfield East (5,888) and Oswego (5,862).
"If you look at the competitiveness of this sectional, it's just hands-down more competitive than any of the other sectionals out there," Oswego head coach Dan Okoren said. "I didn't think we'd see two scores over 6,500, so we are definitely not disappointed with our girls - but of course we wanted to get to state. You have to give Oswego East and Waubonsie Valley credit for bowling such great scores."
Oswego's top two finishers, juniors Cheyenne Valdez (1,236) and Trashaunna Manning (1,235), finished within a pin from one another and were both listed in the group of the potential at-large advancing individuals. Only two individuals without their team, Plainfield East's Kinswana Hubbard (1,369) and Lemont's Kyra Udziela (1,310), moved on.
Although official confirmation had not been made on Valdez and Manning's fate at press time, it is more than unlikely they will be competing as individuals for Oswego at state.
Oswego's other finishers were junior Jessica Mendez (1,181), senior Rachael Tackitt (1,110), freshman Brittany Breedlove (900 in five games) and senior Ashley Miller (a 200 in Game 6).
The sixth through 18th-place team finishers were Plainfield North, Metea Valley, Plainfield South, Downers Grove South, Bolingbrook, Plainfield Central, West Aurora, East Aurora, Romeoville, Neuqua Valley, Downers Grove North, IMSA and Lisle.
As a team, Oswego capped the 2012-13 season 6-3 overall in dual meets, 4-3 in the Southwest Prairie Conference dual meets, third place overall at the conference meet and will graduate Miller and Tackitt.
"We accomplished the goal of staying competitive in the toughest conference and sectional in the state," Okoren said. "We feel good about the direction the team is heading into the off-season."
As for rival Oswego East, Hillman, who hopes to cap the season on a winning note, listed Waubonsie Valley, Collinsville (winner of the Collinsville Sectional with a 6,253), Rockford Jefferson (winner of the Rockford Auburn Sectional with a 6,101), Lockport and Minooka (6,068 and 5,831, respectively, at the Rich East Sectional) and of course, his Wolves, as teams that have a great shot at finishing in the top three.
Hillman also listed Moline, winner of the United Sectional with a 6,119 and Leyden, winner of the St. Ignatius Sectional with a 5,167, as the two sleeper and surprise teams.
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