Monroe helping Bluejays bounce back
The Elmhurst women's basketball team equaled its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin win total of last season by winning a pair of games in last week's opening two games of conference competition.
On Tuesday, Elmhurst (6-7, 2-0) snapped an 18-year losing streak to Wheaton by topping the Thunder 62-58. Kelsey Monroe (West Chicago) hit a pair of free throws with 24 seconds to go to give the Bluejays a 59-58 lead. Brittany Bobruk (Downers Grove South) led Elmhurst with 15 points and Lyndsie Long totaled 12 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals. Monroe finished with 9 points and 4 steals.
On Saturday the Bluejays overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to topple North Central 69-68. Maggie McTeague hit the winning free throw with five seconds remaining. Monroe, Long and Candice Sutton scored 15 apiece to lead the Bluejays. Monroe scored 10 of her 15 points in the final six minutes of the game.
Men's basketball: The 10th-ranked Elmhurst team (11-2, 1-1) split a pair of CCIW games last week. Ryan Burks poured in a career-high 31 points in Elmhurst's 90-78 win over Millikin on Wednesday. Brent Ruch added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals.
On Saturday, Ruch had 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 74-72 loss to fifth-ranked Augustana. Burks scored 14 points.
Wrestling: Jeff Kastel at 149 pounds and Kyle Katz at 157 were weight-class winners as Elmhurst placed second at the North Central Invitational last weekend.
Kastel, who is ranked fifth in the nation, finished a perfect 4-0 defeating Concordia's Joe Massman 9-5 in the finals for his second tournament title this season.
Katz, who is ranked at No. 8, defeated seventh-ranked Jesse Milks of Wisconsin, Platteville 3-1 in the finals to earn his first tournament championship of the year.
Ben Salabura (133), Charlie Curran (141) and Mark Corsello (285) all finished in second place. Both Salabura and Corsello lost to nationally-ranked foes in the tournament finals.
Elmhurst coach Steve Marianetti is hopeful that All-American Jake Oster (125) and nationally-ranked Greg Horn (Wheaton North, 174) will return in this weekend's 26th annual Al Hanke Invitational at Elmhurst..
North Central: The wrestling team won its own invitational for the fifth time in school history last weekend by scoring 126.5 points as Elmhurst finished second with 113.
The Cardinals' Adam Johnson (32-1), who is ranked No. 1 in the nation, won the 133-pound competition, while Gabe Youel (28-3) was the champion at 184. Both were undefeated at 4-0 and both won their division for the second straight year.
Third-seeded Joe Norton (Glenbard North) lost a 5-4 decision in the title match at 125, while top-seeded and eighth-ranked Ben Youel took second with a 5-4 loss at 165.
DuPage: An outstanding game by All-American guard Tim Niles wasn't quite enough as the men's basketball team lost 65-61 to host Illinois Valley Community College last Saturday.
Niles, who stands 5-feet-9, scored 29 points, hauled down 8 rebounds and added 3 assists. He shot 8 of 12 from the field and made a pair of 3-pointers.
The sophomore guard, who leads Region IV in free throws made with 110, was 11 of 14 from the foul line.
"He's a dynamite little player," said COD coach Don Klaas. "Tim is so much fun to coach. He makes everybody around him a better player."
Otis Scarver (Naperville North) scored 13 for the Chaps (7-9).
DuPage begins North Central Community College Conference action at 7 p.m. tonight, hosting Joliet Junior College.
Benedictine: Senior center Tamika Curtis has been named to the D3Hoops.com national Team of the Week for the period Dec. 31-Jan. 6 and was also selected as the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) Student-Athlete of the Week in women's basketball for that same period.
It was the second D3Hoops.com honor of the season for Curtis, who became the Eagles' all-time scoring leader when she registered 22 points in a loss at Elmhurst on Jan. 2.
Wheaton: Senior wrestler Toby Boltz won the tournament title at 174 to improve his season record to 20-0 as the Thunder finished fifth at last weekend's 16-team North Central Invitational.
Boltz wrestled the first half of the season in the 184-pound weight class.
"Toby has done well all year," said Thunder coach Seth Norton. "He has had to adjust since dropping down to 174 and he has done a nice job."
Senior Brent Skorup finished third at 141 to improve to 19-4 and Jonathan Sesso was third at 157.
Euigne Savenok (Wheaton Warrenville South) finished fourth in the 165 division.