St. Charles East bowlers excited about first trip to state

St. Charles East proved it belongs.

That was among Saints boys bowling coach Steve Dessauer's quotes - " ... we belong" - on Jan. 10 at the Lake Zurich Invitational. That day St. Charles East went pin for pin with three of the state's top-five ranked teams by IllinoisBowling.net, Harlem, Hononegah and Stevenson.

Two weeks later, Jan. 24, the Saints proved it again at the Stevenson sectional at Lakeside Lanes in Mundelein, the odd wood-laned alley where the Saints bowled against those same tough teams.

"It was my belief we were in the toughest sectional," Dessauer said.

St. Charles East, which in December set the Illinois High School Association record for top team series score at 3,493, persevered through the ups and downs of the long sectional to qualify for this weekend's state finals at St. Clair Lanes in O'Fallon.

With each of the state's four sectionals advancing six teams, the Saints finished fourth at Stevenson. Harlem and Hononegah are ranked first and second by IllinoisBowling.net, Stevenson fifth, St. Charles East ninth. The sectional's top four each rolled better than 6,000 headed by Harlem's 6,552 pins.

This is St. Charles East's first downstate qualification. Friday's preliminaries in O'Fallon will cut the field to 12 teams advancing into Saturday.

(Incidentally, Geneva also bowled at the Stevenson sectional. In the 2-year-old format of regionals advancing teams to sectionals - the first 11 years of the state series offered only sectionals - it was the first time the Vikings reached the second stage, placing eighth. Senior Evan Schmidt's score of 1,255 was sound enough for consideration of an at-large bid to reach the finals as an individual, but didn't quite make the cut.)

Unlike four of the six qualifiers out of Stevenson, Dessauer stuck to five bowlers. The brother combination of senior Aaron Mudlong and sophomore Dean Mudlong knocked down 1,287 and 1,272 pins, respectively, followed by senior Dom Strauss (1,218), senior Rob Olsen (1,162) and junior Cole Cartee (1,088).

The Mudlongs came up with marks time and again when it seemed as if the Saints' chances were heading south, which coincided with the lanes' oil pattern breaking down. Assistant coaches T.A. Wierschke and Bobby Trimarco helped read proper lines, suggested ball changes and helped motivate the athletes, Dessauer said.

"We had some trials and tribulations and we held it together at a point where we almost didn't," said Dessauer, who as a youth bowled on wood lanes at a 12-alley center below the Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove.

In addition to the Saints' sectional lineup, which also included sophomores Andrew Culbertson, Kyle Middendorf and Timmy Smith, St. Charles East's downstate contingent will include Owen Schmid, Nathan Ohse, Wes Cordray and Clark Cheatham. The younger bowlers, Dessauer said, are joining the group for the state experience - "building blocks for the future."

That could come as soon as this weekend.

"Our team is totally capable of winning it at state," Dessauer said, "but our goal is to finish top-five."

The spoils of victory

Winning a regional title six of the last seven years can build up an appetite.

Geneva girls soccer coach Megan Owens and her program are putting together a spaghetti dinner fundraiser on Feb. 6 to raise money for the program.

"It's our first year so it's an adventure," said Owens, who based this event off the Vikings football team's old shrimp dinner funders.

"We kind of decided to use the same idea but make it our own," she said.

Priced at $10 an adult for advance orders and $5 for children under 12 (add an additional dollar the day of the event), it gets a spaghetti and meatball dinner with salad and garlic bread from 5-7:30 p.m. Feb. 6. As with the old football fundraiser, diners can either stay at school to eat (that also nets a beverage) or drive to pick up the fare, delivered curbside by girls from the soccer program.

Geneva's girls basketball team is celebrating senior night that Friday night against Elgin, so that's a good excuse to get out of the house and eat there.

For questions and meal tickets, contact Owens at (630) 463-3933 or by the wonders of email at mowens@geneva304.org.

So far it's been a fun adventure for the soccer players, who by Wednesday had sold nearly 200 tickets.

"With high school today there's a lot of fundraising that goes on, so we wanted to do something different. It's more of a challenge, I guess," said Owens, a Lyons Township graduate whose prep soccer career ended in a 4-0 loss to St. Charles in the 1997 state championship game.

"I think it's good for them to have to fundraise."

Playing in Peoria

St. Francis' Pep Band, conducted by 1998 Batavia graduate Bob Mamminga, is among four bands the Illinois High School Association has chosen to perform during the boys basketball state finals.

The IHSA selects four bands to play during single "sessions" for the state finals in boys and girls basketball and boys and girls volleyball. The Spartans band will perform in the Peoria Civic Center's Carver Arena during the boys' basketball Class 1A and 2A semifinals on Friday, March 13. They're the only band from either Kane or DuPage counties to be chosen for the 2014-15 sessions.

The St. Francis Pep Band adds female vocalists and now an electric violinist to the ensemble. Just don't expect to hear anything by the Corrs or Jean-Luc Ponty.

In a stroke of brilliance following an on-court skirmish in last Saturday's Marmion-St. Francis boys basketball game in Wheaton, Mamminga cued up a version of Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" that had fans of both teams and all ages clapping and singing along.

This time we mean it

On Jan. 9 we said it may be the last for this item, but there's still time to comply, so what the heck ...

Waubonsee Community College's cutoff for Athletic Hall of Fame nominations is Feb. 1.

Teams and individuals removed five years from competing at Waubonsee may be nominated, in a variety of categories and based on diverse criteria. Hall of Fame selections will be announced the Week of April 6 and honored at the school's end-of-year athletic banquet May 7.

Nomination forms are available at waubonsee.edu/athletics. Your best bet for info is by calling (630) 466-2524.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

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