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Normal Metcalf, Lincolnshire Daniel Wright Return To Defend Scholastic Bowl Titles

Defending Class A champion Normal Metcalf and defending Class AA champion Lincolnshire Daniel Wright lead the respective fields into the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) State Final Scholastic Bowl Tournaments Friday at Heartland Community College in Normal.

Pool play begins at 3:30 p.m. in both Class A and Class AA. Pool matches will be played in each class at 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30. The third place and championship matches will be played at 7:30 p.m.

Heartland Community College is hosting the State Tournaments for the second straight year. ZeeCraft Tech provides the lock-out systems used in the competition. All the matches will be conducted in the Instructional Commons Building on the Heartland campus.

The price of admission Friday is $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for seniors (62 and over) and students (K-8), and is good for all matches Friday. Children younger than kindergarten are admitted free. Fans attending the matches Friday will receive a wristband that is to be worn all day and will be used for entry into the facility throughout the day.

IESA Scholastic Bowl began in 1989. There was one-class competition from 1989-96, and in 1997 the state series was divided into Class A and Class AA by school size. This is the nineteenth year of state series competition in Scholastic Bowl and the eleventh year for Class A and Class AA competition.

Complete pairings for each state final, plus the FanZone, can be found at www.iesa.org. Click on the Scholastic Bowl line in the orange box at the top of the IESA Web Site Home Page.

Here is a look at each of the two 2007 State Final Tournaments:

Class A

Normal Metcalf has been Class A champion twice before, in 2001 and 2006. Metcalf is in Pool B which includes 21-0 Springfield Christ The King. Perennial power Effingham St. Anthony, last year's fourth place team, is in Pool A. Streator St. Anthony scored more than 300 points in each of its sectional matches, and won one of those matches after question No. 15. Effingham St. Anthony took second in 1999, third in 2003 and fourth in 2006. Columbia ICS was the Class A state champion in 2005.

Teams in Pool A are Carthage, Effingham St. Anthony, Piper City Tri-Point and Streator St. Anthony. Teams in Pool B are Columbia ICS, Normal Metcalf, Peoria Norwood and Springfield Christ The King.

Following are the Class A Tournament pairings:

Class AA

Lincolnshire Daniel Wright is making its fourth straight appearance in the State Tournament, tying the record for consecutive appearances with Barrington Station. Lincolnshire Daniel Wright took third in 2004, second in 2005 and first in 2006. This year the Trojans. average point margin has been 160 points.

Teams in Pool A are Charleston, Eureka, River Forest Roosevelt and St. Joseph. Teams in Pool B are Lincolnshire Daniel Wright, Petersburg PORTA JHS, Quincy and Wenona Fieldcrest.

Joining Lincolnshire Daniel Wright in Pool B are Petersburg PORTA JHS, Quincy and Wenona Fieldcrest. Petersburg PORTA JHS is making its first appearance ever in the State Tournament. Wenona Fieldcrest brings a 44-6 record into the State Tournament.

Following are the Class AA Tournament pairings: