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Top 10 State Championship Efforts
10 - Rockford Jefferson's 2003 Boys Bowling Championship
Only three area programs can claim to win the very first IHSA state championship in a
sport: 1977 Sterling girls basketball, 1975 Rockford West girls field hockey, and the 2003
Rockford Jefferson boys bowling team.
The IHSA held its first Boys Bowling State Tournament in the winter of 2003. The J-Hawks
were in the middle of a tough conference race to see who had the best team. In the end,
Jefferson made history by winning the first boys bowling state championship, led by
Andrew Olson's 2,723 four-series performance. The J-Hawks, coached by Tony Laye,
won the title by 77 pins over NIC-9 rival Freeport.
9 - Sandwich's 2001 Class A Wrestling Championship
The Sandwich Wrestling program has been one of the state's most dominant programs
since the implement of the state team series. Prior to winning the 2001 Class A State
Championship, Sandwich won three during the 1990s. With that going for them, and being
located in a growing area, coach Lon Gerrish's Indians face both big and small in 2001,
going unbeaten.
Eleven of the 28 wins of the season saw Indian wrestlers score over 60 points. They only
gave up 41 points prior to competing at the state series. Orion, Clinton and Stanford
Olympia fell to the Indians in the tournament. Josh Chrestman (29-0) won the 215-pound
championship and Mike Olson (40-2) placed third at 119 pounds.
8 - Alleman's 2004 Class A Boys XC Championship
It's hard being the small school in a conference as large as the Western Big 6's 1500-
2500 enrollment range. For sports like cross county, school size may not matter much –
it's about how well, and fast, one runs. Alleman was especially fast in 2004, their Class A
State Championship season.
Led by all-staters Nathaniel Hird, Alex Kelly, Alex Knobloch and Shane Shemek, The
Pioneers went 8-0 in dual meets and 3-0 in conference duals. Coach Mike Ethington's
team had very low scores in both the regional and sectional. Alleman had a long green
line of their own, as their 59 at the State Meet is one of only a couple of times a Class A
team had fewer than 60 points.
7 - Alleman's 2005 Class A Girls Basketball State Championship
When it comes to team sports, it's really hard being the small school in the Big 6.
However, small ended up being mighty as the Pioneers did what no Illinois Quad Cities
basketball team – girls or boys, Moline or Rocky – accomplished, and that was winning a
state championship.
Despite a 4-6 record in conference play, Alleman's strength of schedule proved to be
worthwhile when it came to the playoffs. Led by all-staters Amanda Clifton and Emily
Chesser, Alleman dumped Orion by 46 in the first round, and gave up just 23 in their
Sectional final win over Abingdon. Nashville, Newman and Chicago Hope would all fall to
coach Jay Hatch's Alleman Pioneers, who capped the season with a 31-7 record.
6 - Rockford Jefferson's 2008 Girls Bowling Championship
Northern Illinois's best bowling comes from Rockford, without a doubt. The NIC-10 is
currently the most powerful girls bowling conference in Illinois. Harlem won the decade's
first three state championships. However, Jefferson's state championship is one better
than the Harlem run.
Jefferson, coached by Jason Heiden, set a State Meet record for most pins knocked down
with 12,096, the first time a team had more than 12,000. It broke Winnebago's record of
11,849. Sophomore Megan Buja was the individual runner-up with a four-series total of
2,645 – just three pins short of first place. Lockport would eventually dethrone Jefferson's
record the following year.
5 - IVC's 2006 Class A Baseball Championship
It was a remarkable year for IVC athletics, and 2006 was capped off by the baseball team
winning 40 games and the Class A State Championship. The boys basketball team took
second place at state, and four members of the baseball team were only a couple of
months removed from knowing how it's like to compete at the state tournament.
Just how remarkable was the Grey Ghosts's season? Seventeen of the wins were by run-
rule, including four of them during the state playoffs. Ten or more runs were scored 23
times during the season. Richmond-Burton, Addison Driscoll and Trenton Wesclin all fell
to coach Jerry Rashid's Grey Ghosts en route to their state championship, the first in
school history. Starting pitcher Zach McCallister, who had over 100 strikeouts and a 0.74
ERA on the season, was drafted by the New York Yankees that summer.
4 - Seneca's 2006 Class A Boys Basketball Championship
After winning the Class A third-place trophy in 2005, many people knew next year would
be Seneca's year. The brother duo of Garrett and Griffan Callahan and Robert Rexroade
were returning, plus the addition of coach Doug Evans' son, Seth, would only make the
team better.
The Irish outscored opponents an average of two-to-one throughout the season, giving
small schools around them, and the entire Interstate 8 Conference fits. Their run to the
State Tournament for a second year in a row was exclaimed with a 35-point win over
defending runner-up Winnebago in the Super-Sectional. No opponent escaped with a
single-digit loss until the final two games. Seneca defeated North Lawndale, Pinckneyville
and IVC to win the state title with a perfect record of 35-0. The unbeaten season was the
state's first in small school basketball since 1986.
3 - Moline's 2006 Class AA Softball Championship
Softball is a sport that is difficult to play every game and not lose, even more so than
baseball. The Moline Maroons didn't lose a game in 2006, cruising to the Class AA State
Championship in unstoppable fashion.
Moline, one year removed from placing second at state, went three weeks without giving
up a run – the last three weeks of the season. Led by pitchers Jen Larsen and Kim
Lambert, Moline last gave up a run to Rock Falls on May 18, and would shut out three
more opponents in the regular season, all five pre-state tournament opponents, and all
three Tournament opponents: Belleville East 14-0, New Trier 6-0 and Downers Grove
South 11-0 in a five-inning championship game. No championship game had ever been
decided by a run-rule. Coach Mark Gerlach's Maroons had a record of 40-0-1, with the
lone tie being a 2-2 game against Geneseo.
2 - Dakota's 2006 Class A Wrestling Championship
Two-thousand-and-six was an absolutely great year for northern Illinois high school
sports, but probably even more greater for Dakota High School, which had its own unique
story in boys athletics.
Nine months after taking third at the Class A State Wrestling Meet, several members of
that team won the Class 2A football championship. Heading into the forthcoming wrestling
season, several members of the team wanted to double their pleasure. The Indians,
coached by Pete Alber, were virtually unchallenged all season, except for an early dual
with the Polo/Milledgeville/Eastland co-op. Not even the powerful Big Northern Conference
had an opponent that matched up to the smaller Dakota. They allowed no more than 18
points in the State Tournament, plastering Vandalia, St. Joseph-Ogden and Wilmington in
the championship dual.
The list of top wrestlers can't be contained to a small number, so here's the championship
dual roster: Seth Milks at 103, Kyle Bolen at 112, Vinny Alber at 119, Cody DeHaven at
125, Robert Lizer at 130, Zach Wenger and Chris Kraft platooning at 135, Tyler Olsen at
140, Jesse Milks at 145, Darren Olsen at 152, Caleb Kraft at 160, Paul Graybill at 171,
Matt Wegner at 189, Luke Winterhalter at 215, and Scott Nicholas at 275. The Milks
brothers, Matt Wegner and Nicholas were state champions that year.
1 - Hinckley-Big Rock's 2009 Class 1A Girls Basketball Championship
The 2008-09 season marked the beginning of a new era for the Hinckley-Big Rock girls
basketball program. Coach Larry Peppers was forced out after 31 years at the helm,
making way for assistant Greg Burks. What developed over the course of the season was
truly historic.
Little Ten Conference rival Newark laid the foundation for doing well in the four-class era
of basketball, having placed second the year prior. Newark and HBR dominated the Little
10 scene, with the Lady Norsemen winning the first game, but the Lady Royals winning
the next two, in more rather important games: in the Little Ten Conference Tournament
championship game, and in the Sectional final game. Along the way, HBR crushed
opponents and beat much bigger names like Hampshire, Prophetstown and Marquette.
Included in that was a 72-point win.
The Lady Royals beat Dakota in the Super-Sectional, beat Colfax Ridgeview in the
semifinal, and Winchester in the Class 1A State Championship game. It was the first State
Championship in school history. It was the first State Championship in Little 10 history,
doing something that wasn't done in nearly 90 years of the Conference's existence. The
captains of the team were Bianca Edmeier, Melissa Herrmann and Jenna Thorp.
10 - Rockford Jefferson's 2003 Boys Bowling Championship
Only three area programs can claim to win the very first IHSA state championship in a
sport: 1977 Sterling girls basketball, 1975 Rockford West girls field hockey, and the 2003
Rockford Jefferson boys bowling team.
The IHSA held its first Boys Bowling State Tournament in the winter of 2003. The J-Hawks
were in the middle of a tough conference race to see who had the best team. In the end,
Jefferson made history by winning the first boys bowling state championship, led by
Andrew Olson's 2,723 four-series performance. The J-Hawks, coached by Tony Laye,
won the title by 77 pins over NIC-9 rival Freeport.
9 - Sandwich's 2001 Class A Wrestling Championship
The Sandwich Wrestling program has been one of the state's most dominant programs
since the implement of the state team series. Prior to winning the 2001 Class A State
Championship, Sandwich won three during the 1990s. With that going for them, and being
located in a growing area, coach Lon Gerrish's Indians face both big and small in 2001,
going unbeaten.
Eleven of the 28 wins of the season saw Indian wrestlers score over 60 points. They only
gave up 41 points prior to competing at the state series. Orion, Clinton and Stanford
Olympia fell to the Indians in the tournament. Josh Chrestman (29-0) won the 215-pound
championship and Mike Olson (40-2) placed third at 119 pounds.
8 - Alleman's 2004 Class A Boys XC Championship
It's hard being the small school in a conference as large as the Western Big 6's 1500-
2500 enrollment range. For sports like cross county, school size may not matter much –
it's about how well, and fast, one runs. Alleman was especially fast in 2004, their Class A
State Championship season.
Led by all-staters Nathaniel Hird, Alex Kelly, Alex Knobloch and Shane Shemek, The
Pioneers went 8-0 in dual meets and 3-0 in conference duals. Coach Mike Ethington's
team had very low scores in both the regional and sectional. Alleman had a long green
line of their own, as their 59 at the State Meet is one of only a couple of times a Class A
team had fewer than 60 points.
7 - Alleman's 2005 Class A Girls Basketball State Championship
When it comes to team sports, it's really hard being the small school in the Big 6.
However, small ended up being mighty as the Pioneers did what no Illinois Quad Cities
basketball team – girls or boys, Moline or Rocky – accomplished, and that was winning a
state championship.
Despite a 4-6 record in conference play, Alleman's strength of schedule proved to be
worthwhile when it came to the playoffs. Led by all-staters Amanda Clifton and Emily
Chesser, Alleman dumped Orion by 46 in the first round, and gave up just 23 in their
Sectional final win over Abingdon. Nashville, Newman and Chicago Hope would all fall to
coach Jay Hatch's Alleman Pioneers, who capped the season with a 31-7 record.
6 - Rockford Jefferson's 2008 Girls Bowling Championship
Northern Illinois's best bowling comes from Rockford, without a doubt. The NIC-10 is
currently the most powerful girls bowling conference in Illinois. Harlem won the decade's
first three state championships. However, Jefferson's state championship is one better
than the Harlem run.
Jefferson, coached by Jason Heiden, set a State Meet record for most pins knocked down
with 12,096, the first time a team had more than 12,000. It broke Winnebago's record of
11,849. Sophomore Megan Buja was the individual runner-up with a four-series total of
2,645 – just three pins short of first place. Lockport would eventually dethrone Jefferson's
record the following year.
5 - IVC's 2006 Class A Baseball Championship
It was a remarkable year for IVC athletics, and 2006 was capped off by the baseball team
winning 40 games and the Class A State Championship. The boys basketball team took
second place at state, and four members of the baseball team were only a couple of
months removed from knowing how it's like to compete at the state tournament.
Just how remarkable was the Grey Ghosts's season? Seventeen of the wins were by run-
rule, including four of them during the state playoffs. Ten or more runs were scored 23
times during the season. Richmond-Burton, Addison Driscoll and Trenton Wesclin all fell
to coach Jerry Rashid's Grey Ghosts en route to their state championship, the first in
school history. Starting pitcher Zach McCallister, who had over 100 strikeouts and a 0.74
ERA on the season, was drafted by the New York Yankees that summer.
4 - Seneca's 2006 Class A Boys Basketball Championship
After winning the Class A third-place trophy in 2005, many people knew next year would
be Seneca's year. The brother duo of Garrett and Griffan Callahan and Robert Rexroade
were returning, plus the addition of coach Doug Evans' son, Seth, would only make the
team better.
The Irish outscored opponents an average of two-to-one throughout the season, giving
small schools around them, and the entire Interstate 8 Conference fits. Their run to the
State Tournament for a second year in a row was exclaimed with a 35-point win over
defending runner-up Winnebago in the Super-Sectional. No opponent escaped with a
single-digit loss until the final two games. Seneca defeated North Lawndale, Pinckneyville
and IVC to win the state title with a perfect record of 35-0. The unbeaten season was the
state's first in small school basketball since 1986.
3 - Moline's 2006 Class AA Softball Championship
Softball is a sport that is difficult to play every game and not lose, even more so than
baseball. The Moline Maroons didn't lose a game in 2006, cruising to the Class AA State
Championship in unstoppable fashion.
Moline, one year removed from placing second at state, went three weeks without giving
up a run – the last three weeks of the season. Led by pitchers Jen Larsen and Kim
Lambert, Moline last gave up a run to Rock Falls on May 18, and would shut out three
more opponents in the regular season, all five pre-state tournament opponents, and all
three Tournament opponents: Belleville East 14-0, New Trier 6-0 and Downers Grove
South 11-0 in a five-inning championship game. No championship game had ever been
decided by a run-rule. Coach Mark Gerlach's Maroons had a record of 40-0-1, with the
lone tie being a 2-2 game against Geneseo.
2 - Dakota's 2006 Class A Wrestling Championship
Two-thousand-and-six was an absolutely great year for northern Illinois high school
sports, but probably even more greater for Dakota High School, which had its own unique
story in boys athletics.
Nine months after taking third at the Class A State Wrestling Meet, several members of
that team won the Class 2A football championship. Heading into the forthcoming wrestling
season, several members of the team wanted to double their pleasure. The Indians,
coached by Pete Alber, were virtually unchallenged all season, except for an early dual
with the Polo/Milledgeville/Eastland co-op. Not even the powerful Big Northern Conference
had an opponent that matched up to the smaller Dakota. They allowed no more than 18
points in the State Tournament, plastering Vandalia, St. Joseph-Ogden and Wilmington in
the championship dual.
The list of top wrestlers can't be contained to a small number, so here's the championship
dual roster: Seth Milks at 103, Kyle Bolen at 112, Vinny Alber at 119, Cody DeHaven at
125, Robert Lizer at 130, Zach Wenger and Chris Kraft platooning at 135, Tyler Olsen at
140, Jesse Milks at 145, Darren Olsen at 152, Caleb Kraft at 160, Paul Graybill at 171,
Matt Wegner at 189, Luke Winterhalter at 215, and Scott Nicholas at 275. The Milks
brothers, Matt Wegner and Nicholas were state champions that year.
1 - Hinckley-Big Rock's 2009 Class 1A Girls Basketball Championship
The 2008-09 season marked the beginning of a new era for the Hinckley-Big Rock girls
basketball program. Coach Larry Peppers was forced out after 31 years at the helm,
making way for assistant Greg Burks. What developed over the course of the season was
truly historic.
Little Ten Conference rival Newark laid the foundation for doing well in the four-class era
of basketball, having placed second the year prior. Newark and HBR dominated the Little
10 scene, with the Lady Norsemen winning the first game, but the Lady Royals winning
the next two, in more rather important games: in the Little Ten Conference Tournament
championship game, and in the Sectional final game. Along the way, HBR crushed
opponents and beat much bigger names like Hampshire, Prophetstown and Marquette.
Included in that was a 72-point win.
The Lady Royals beat Dakota in the Super-Sectional, beat Colfax Ridgeview in the
semifinal, and Winchester in the Class 1A State Championship game. It was the first State
Championship in school history. It was the first State Championship in Little 10 history,
doing something that wasn't done in nearly 90 years of the Conference's existence. The
captains of the team were Bianca Edmeier, Melissa Herrmann and Jenna Thorp.
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