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2011 IESA Scholastic Bowl State Final Tournaments Are Friday

Six of the sixteen Class A and Class AA qualifiers are making their first appearance in the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) State Final Scholastic Bowl Tournaments scheduled to be conducted Friday (May 6) 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 sixth straight year. ZeeCraft Tech provides the lock-out systems used in the competition. The questions are provided by Questions Galore. All the matches, registration and the award ceremony will be conducted in the Workforce Development Center (WDC) 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 competition rooms throughout the day.

IESA Scholastic Bowl began in 1988 although a state final was not held the first year. 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 23rd year of state series competition in Scholastic Bowl and the 15th year for Class A and Class AA competition.

This year 369 member schools entered the statewide series in Scholastic Bowl.

Complete pairings for each state final, the results after competition Friday, 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 2011 State Final Tournaments:

Class A Tournament

Palatine Quest (14-5) and Peoria Academy (20-3) are in Pool A and will face each other in the first match of the round-robin at 3:30 p.m. Joining them in Pool A are Bloomington Cornerstone (6-3) and Effingham St. Anthony (25-10).

Peoria Academy is making their second straight appearance at the state final. They took home third place honors last year. In Bloomington Cornerstone's last appearance in 2008, the Cyclones took the state title in Class A. Effingham St. Anthony is making its seventh trip to the state final and is seeking its first state championship.

The other teams returning from last year's Class A tournament is Bushnell-Prairie City (15-1) and Aviston (33-5) in Pool B. Also in Pool B are Sparland Midland (24-7) and Peoria Academy (20-3).

Aviston is making its third straight trip to the state tournament and Bushnell-Prairie City will be making their second consecutive appearance. Both teams are looking for their first trophy at state.

Making their first appearances at the state final in Class A are Champaign St. Matthew, Palatine Quest, and Sparland Midland.

Following are the Class A Tournament pairings:

Pool A
3:30 p.m. � Palatine Quest vs. Peoria Academy; Bloomington Cornerstone vs. Effingham St. Anthony
4:30 p.m. � Palatine Quest vs. Bloomington Cornerstone; Peoria Academy vs. Effingham St. Anthony
5:30 p.m. � Palatine Quest vs. Effingham St. Anthony; Peoria Academy vs. Bloomington Cornerstone

Pool B
3:30 p.m. � Sparland Midland vs. Champaign St. Matthew; Bushnell-Prairie City vs. Aviston
4:30 p.m. � Sparland Midland vs. Bushnell-Prairie City; Champaign St. Matthew vs. Aviston
5:30 p.m. � Sparland Midland vs. Aviston; Champaign St. Matthew vs. Bushnell-Prairie City

7:30 p.m. � Pool A runner-up vs. Pool B runner-up (third place)
7:30 p.m. � Pool A winner vs. Pool B winner (championship)

Class AA

The Pool A teams are Barrington Station (56-2), Dunlap MS (13-0), Minooka (19-3) and Charleston (21-3).

Barrington Station is making their fifth appearance at the state tournament. It will also be their first visit since 2000 where they finished second place. They had a tough sectional and defeated perennial powerhouse Lincolnshire Daniel Wright to secure their spot at state. Barrington Station will face Dunlap MS in the first match of the round robin tournament. Dunlap MS is making their fifth appearance in the Class AA state tournament. The Panthers won the title in 2000.

Minooka will meet Charleston in the first round. This will be the second appearance for Minooka and the seventh appearance for Charleston. In Minooka's last appearance at the state tournament, they finished with a 1-2 record. Charleston has finished in fourth place three out of the last four years.

In Pool B, Lemont Old Quarry will play Bloomington JHS in the first round. This will be the first Class AA state appearance for both Lemont Old Quarry and Bloomington JHS. Undefeated Springfield Franklin will be competing against Edwardsville Liberty in the other first round match. Springfield Franklin is making their first appearance since 2006 where they took home the third place trophy. Franklin won the tournament in 1999. This will be the first appearance for Edwardsville Liberty in the Class AA tournament.

Following are the Class AA Tournament pairings:

Pool A
3:30 p.m. � Barrington Station vs. Dunlap MS; Minooka vs. Charleston
4:30 p.m. � Barrington Station vs. Minooka; Dunlap MS vs. Charleston
5:30 p.m. � Barrington Station vs. Charleston; Dunlap MS vs. Minooka

Pool B
3:30 p.m. � Lemont Old Quarry vs. Bloomington JHS; Springfield Franklin vs. Edwardsville Liberty
4:30 p.m. � Lemont Old Quarry vs. Springfield Franklin; Bloomington JHS vs. Edwardsville Liberty
5:30 p.m. � Lemont Old Quarry vs. Edwardsville Liberty; Bloomington JHS vs. Springfield Franklin

7:30 p.m. � Pool A runner-up vs. Pool B runner-up (third place)
7:30 p.m. � Pool A winner vs. Pool B winner (championship)