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Sports
The cherry on top : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisThe cherry on top
| Oswego East's Poss named state champion, Wolves capture second-place trophy
| by Christine Bolin Dascher
| 2/14/2013
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Giselle Poss put an exclamation mark on her high school bowling career last Saturday at Rockford's Cherry Bowl.
The Oswego East senior became a state champion, topping the field with a 2,727 total pinfall, and helped the Wolves to a second-place trophy behind Waubonsie Valley.
The Warriors finished with 12,512 pins and an average of 208.5 in front of Oswego East's 12,286 and 204.8 average. Rockford Jefferson placed third with 12,190 pins and a 203.2 average. The top three teams received trophies.
The second-place showing matches Oswego East's best-ever state finish from the 2006-07 season.
"As much as we wanted the state championship title, second place is totally fine," Oswego East head coach Jeremy Hillman said. "It's hard to get a trophy, so we'll take it and be proud of it."
Lockport was fourth (12,126), followed by Salem (11,785), Harlem (11,698), Leyden (11,543), Collinsville (11,344), O'Fallon (11,179), Sterling (11,142), Prospect (11,106) and Lake Park (10,890).
Poss' achievements also landed her the top spot on the All-State team for the second straight year. Last season, Oswego East placed fourth overall as a team and Poss was 11th on the All-State team. The top 12 individual finishers earn All-State honors.
"The biggest goal was for the team to place first, but I worked hard to get here," said Vanderbilt-bound Poss. "I've had a great career at Oswego East because of my teammates and coaches. I owe it all to them."
"She's been the best bowler in the state all year long," Hillman added on Poss. "She works hard and is so dedicated. She deserves it."
In addition to Poss, Oswego East was led by senior Tricia Thornton, who finished with 2,515 pins in 14th place overall. She missed qualifying for the All-State team by 32 pins. Junior Kailey Kopacz ended up in 19th place with 2,499 pins.
Freshman Abby Ragsdale finished with 2,036 pins and junior Taylor DeLano (1,948 pins) sophomore Averee Bottcher (561) split time in the final spot for the Wolves.
Twenty-four total teams qualified for state on Friday and the top 12 teams competed on Saturday. After Friday's play, Oswego East was in fourth place with 6,038 pins behind first-place Lockport and Rockford Jefferson (each team had 6,163 pins) and Waubonsie Valley (6,077).
Salem was the closest team behind the Wolves with 5,913 pins.
"We were 125 pins out of first place, and four teams were fighting for the top three spots," Hillman said. "Saturday was much better. We made some adjustments, but hats off to Waubonsie Valley. They bowled outstanding. We knew they were going to do well."
Oswego East previously defeated Waubonsie Valley in the first dual meet of the regular season and at the Plainfield North Sectional a week earlier. The Warriors, however, were the same team that prevented the Wolves from earning a trophy at state last year after they beat them by 52 pins for third place.
"We've beaten (Waubonsie Valley) before, and they probably wanted revenge on us," Poss said. "But we made a big push at the end, did what we could and didn't fall apart."
One highlight for Oswego East was its cheering section that included parents and Oswego East bowling alum Allison Hoffman, Brenda Neid and Grace Jacobs were supporting the Wolves. Courtney Petoskey, a 2012 Oswego graduate, and Oswego junior Cheyanne Valdez were also there cheer on the Wolves.
"The support was vital," Hillman said. "There were 300 Rockford (Jefferson) fans there, so it was a big thing to have some of the girls come back for us. Even some of the Plainfield East girls were cheering for us. (The Bengals were able to advance an individual on Saturday). Ultimately, we want to see the Southwest Prairie Conference do well."
Minooka, another SPC team, was also participating in the state tournament. The Indians ended up in 14th place after Friday's play and did not advance to Saturday's finals.
The Wolves will graduate two seniors - Poss and Thornton. Everyone else will return next year, including DeLano, Kopacz, Bottcher, Ragsdale and sophomores Jordan Tiritilli and Lynnmari Vargas.
"This was one of the deepest teams and tightest-knit groups ever," Hillman said. "Ultimately, this season will go a long way in the next couple of years. I'm very proud of the girls, and I'm sad to see the season over."
There's one last hurrah, however, for the team. The Wolves will be honored at a special assembly at Oswego East on Friday afternoon.
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