L-P girls bowling, area wrestlers ready for state this weekend

The La Salle-Peru girls bowling team is looking for its first state trophy this weekend.

The Cavaliers won their own sectional Saturday at the Illinois Valley Super Bowl to earn their first trip to state since 1975.

The state tournament is Friday and Saturday at Cherry Bowl in Rockford.

The Cavs’ sectional score of 5,731 pins was the fifth-highest sectional score in the state.

At the sectional, Olivia Weber led L-P with a 1,227 followed by Isabella Weber (1,196), Marla Pawlak (1,112), Christine Ricci (1,101) and MaKenzie Hamilton (1,095).

“I think if we go up there as a team and bowl our game and all work together, there’s no reason we can’t come home with a trophy,” L-P coach Jim McCabe said. “I think the competition is going to be strong, but I think our girls are just as good as the other girls who are there.”

Lockport turned in the state’s top sectional performance with 6,332 pins followed by Harlem (6,013), Collinsville (5,775) and York (5,746).

Lockport and Harlem have been among the state’s top programs in recent years.

Lockport has finished in the top 10 at state six seasons in a row and won state titles in 2015 and 2020, while Harlem has five consecutive top-five finishes, including state championships in 2017 and 2018.

The top 12 teams after Friday’s two rounds advance to Saturday along with the top 30 individuals not on the advancing teams.

The top three teams bring home a state trophy.

“That would be fantastic,” McCabe said about placing in the top three. “It’s never been done [at L-P]. These girls have been working at it. Some of them have been working at it for eight years. It would mean a lot to them and to the school. It would be a great day.”

L-P’s Connor Lorden, Princeton’s Ace Christiansen to compete at state wrestling

La Salle-Peru junior Connor Lorden injured his arm in the final round of wrestlebacks at the Class 2A Sycamore Sectional and had to injury default the third-place match.

Despite the injury, Lorden will be able to compete at the IHSA state tournament, which runs Thursday to Saturday at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

It will be Lorden’s first IHSA state tournament after last year’s was canceled because of COVID-19. Lorden placed fifth in the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association State Tournament.

In the Class 2A 195-pound bracket, Lorden (22-3) will square off with Thornton Fractional North’s Alex Jackson (18-0).

Lorden is ranked No. 4 by the IWCOA, while Jackson is ranked No. 8.

The winner of Lorden/Jackson feeds into the winner of another top-10 matchup between No. 5 Anthony Curry, of Bloomington, and No. 7 Jake Psaras, of Vernon Hills.

“I am very excited that Connor gets to compete in the IHSA state tournament,” L-P coach Matt Rebholz said. “It is an amazing environment. This weekend changes everyone who competes in it. In my experience, the state weekend was one of the hardest experiences in my life. I look forward to Connor wrestling one match at a time and seeing what he can achieve.”

In Class 1A, Princeton freshman Ace Christiansen (37-12) will face Coal City sophomore Brant Widlowski (39-7) in the first round. Both are honorable mention in the IWCOA rankings.

“Always the main goal is to try to make it to the final match, but any place would be amazing,” Christiansen said.