IESA Headlines

2009 IESA Scholastic Bowl State Final Tournaments Are Friday

Six of the eight Class A qualifiers are making their first appearance, while six of the eight Class AA qualifiers have been there before in the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) State Final Scholastic Bowl Tournaments scheduled to be conducted 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 fourth 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 facility 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 21st year of state series competition in Scholastic Bowl and the 13th year for Class A and Class AA competition.

This year 361 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 2009 State Final Tournaments:

Class A

A different school will earn the Class A title for the eighth straight year. The only qualifiers with past state final appearances are Effingham St. Anthony (competing for the sixth time in 13 years of the two-class system) and Paris Crestwood (appearing for the fourth time).

In its previous five appearances Effingham St. Anthony finished second in 1999, third in 2003 and fourth in 2005. Paris Crestwood, the only school returning from last year, took second in 2005.

Making their first appearances at the state final are Aviston, Bloomington Holy Trinity, Carrollton GS, Metamora St. Mary's, Newark Lisbon, and Peoria Limestone Walters.

Teams in Pool A are Aviston, Bloomington Holy Trinity, Carrollton GS and Effingham St. Anthony. Teams in Pool B are Metamora St. Mary's, Newark Lisbon, Paris Crestwood and Peoria Limestone Walters.

Only three of the schools advancing to the Class A state final were No. 1 seeds in the sectional. They are Bloomington Holy Trinity, Effingham St. Anthony and Paris Crestwood. Seeded No. 2 in the sectional were Aviston and Carrollton GS. Metamora St. Mary's was the No. 3 seed, Newark Lisbon No. 7 and Peoria Limestone Walters was unseeded.

On the rosters of the eight finalists there are 20 sixth graders, 24 seventh graders and 61 eighth graders. Newark Lisbon's roster includes 5 sixth graders, 5 seventh graders and 5 eighth graders. Meanwhile, Bloomington Holy Trinity's roster is 12 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: Metamora St. Mary's 29, Newark Lisbon 30, Peoria Limestone Walters 57, Aviston 77, Carrollton GS 91, Effingham St. Anthony 100, Paris Crestwood 121 and Bloomington Holy Trinity 129.

Following are the Class A Tournament pairings:

Class AA

Perennial powerhouse Lincolnshire Daniel Wright is making its sixth straight trip to the State Tournament, extending its record for consecutive all-time and Class AA appearances, but Macomb returns as defending champion.

Lincolnshire Daniel Wright took third in 2004, second in 2005 and 2008 and first in 2006 and 2007. The Trojans have won 17 of 20 Class AA state final matches, and have never finished below third place at the state tournament. Macomb is making its second appearance at the state tournament and went 4-0 last year beating Lincolnshire Daniel Wright 238-161 in the 2008 championship match.

Teams in Pool A are Charleston, Danville North Ridge, Rochester and Willowbrook Westview Hills. Teams in Pool B are Jacksonville Turner, Lincolnshire Daniel Wright, Macomb and Sycamore. Macomb and Lincolnshire Daniel Wright meet in pool play at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The only No. 1 seeds in the sectionals to advance to the state final are Charleston, Rochester and Willowbrook Westview Hills. For the second straight year Lincolnshire Daniel Wright was the No. 2 seed. At No. 4 seed were Danville North Ridge and Jacksonville turner. Macomb was seeded No. 5 and Sycamore was unseeded.

The schools making their first appearance in the state final are Sycamore and Willowbrook Westview Hills.

Danville North Ridge is making its third appearance and was first in 1998. Charleston is making its fifth trip and finished fourth in 2007. Jacksonville Turner is appearing for the third time and won the title in 2003. Rochester is appearing for the fourth time and finished fourth in 1998.

Of the 111 competitors listed on the rosters of the finalists, 6 are sixth graders, 40 are seventh graders and 65 are eighth graders.

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: Macomb 295, Willowbrook Westview Hills 326, Rochester 329, Charleston 411, Lincolnshire Daniel Wright 432, Danville North Ridge 520, Jacksonville Turner 561 and Sycamore 567.

Following are the Class AA Tournament pairings: