IESA Headlines

Class A and Class AA Scholastic Bowl State Final Tournaments Are Friday

Three of last year's eight Class A qualifiers (Carthage, Columbia ICS, Effingham St. Anthony) and two-time 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 third straight year. ZeeCraft Tech provides the lock-out systems used in the competition. All the matches will be conducted in the Instructional Commons Building (ICB) on the Heartland campus. Registration and the award ceremony will be in the Community Commons Building (CCB).

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 20th year of state series competition in Scholastic Bowl and the 12th year for Class A and Class AA competition.

This year 348 member schools entered the statewide series in Scholastic Bowl.

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 2008 State Final Tournaments:

Class A

The lone returning trophy winner from last year is Carthage, which placed third. The three teams returning from last year brings to 11 the number of schools with two consecutive appearances in the 12-year history of Class A. Columbia ICS won the Class A title in 2005.

Teams in Pool A are Bloomington Cornerstone, Illiopolis Sangamon Valley, Ottawa St. Columba and Paris Crestwood. Teams in Pool B are Carthage, Columbia ICS, Effingham St. Anthony and Peoria Heights GS.

All of the schools advancing to the Class A state final were ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in their sectional. The top- ranked teams advancing were Bloomington Cornerstone, Carthage, Illiopolis Sangamon Valley, Paris Crestwood and Peoria Heights GS.

Three of the schools are making their first appearances in the state final. They are Bloomington Cornerstone, Peoria Heights GS and Illiopolis Sangamon Valley. Effingham St. Anthony is the leader in appearances with five. The Bullpups previously competed in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

On the rosters of the eight finalists there are 3 fifth graders, 14 sixth graders, 40 seventh graders and 59 eighth graders. Ottawa St. Columba's roster of 11 members includes 2 fifth graders, 6 sixth graders, no seventh graders and only 3 eighth graders.

In IESA competition, school enrollments are determined by the students in seventh and eighth grade. Class A is the smallest class. Enrollments of the eight finalists are: Ottawa St. Columba 41, Bloomington Cornerstone 52, Columbia ICS 78, Effingham St. Anthony 89, Peoria Heights GS 126, Paris Crestwood 127, Illiopolis Sangamon Valley 129 and Carthage 131.

Following are the Class A Tournament pairings:

Class AA

Perennial powerhouse Lincolnshire Daniel Wright is making its fifth straight appearance in the State Tournament, setting the record for consecutive Class AA appearances. Lincolnshire Daniel Wright took third in 2004, second in 2005 and first in 2006 and 2007.

Teams in Pool A are Dunlap MS, Lincolnshire Daniel Wright, Rochester and Rockford West. Teams in Pool B are Champaign Jefferson, Macomb, New Lenox Liberty and Newton Jasper County.

The only No. 1 seeds in the sectionals to advance to the state final are Dunlap MS and Champaign Jefferson. Lincolnshire Daniel Wright was second-ranked behind Barrington Station and avenged a regular season loss to Barrington Station in the sectional. Rockford West was not ranked in the sectional, while Newton Jasper County was ranked No. 6 out of 8 teams in the sectional.

Four of the schools are in the state final for the first time. They are New Lenox Liberty, Macomb, Champaign Jefferson and Newton Jasper County.

Of the 120 players listed on the rosters of the finalists, 6 are sixth graders, 44 are seventh graders and 70 are eighth graders. Lincolnshire Daniel Wright has 4 seventh graders and 11 eighth graders on its roster, as does Dunlap MS and Rochester. Rockford West (4) and Champaign Jefferson (2) are the only teams with sixth graders on the roster.

In IESA competition, school enrollments are determined by the students in seventh and eighth grade. Class AA is the largest class. Enrollments of the eight finalists are: Newton Jasper County, Macomb 290, Rochester 349, Lincolnshire Daniel Wright 437, Champaign Jefferson 464, Dunlap MS 487, Rockford West 553 and New Lenox Liberty 616.

Following are the Class AA Tournament pairings: