Harper wrestlers plenty busy

Posted November 25, 2009 10:00 pm

By Jonathan Cregier

The Harper wrestling team has been busy the past three weekends.

The Hawks, ranked fifth in the nation among non-scholarship schools, have visited three states and competed against four different schools, including Division I Missouri.

"Our first semester is all primarily four-year schools that we wrestle against," said Hawks coach Dan Loprieno. "It's a growing process for these kids."

This weekend the Hawks travel to Parkside, Wis., to participate in the Parkside Open. The Hawks' freshmen will wrestle against upperclasmen because there is no freshman division at the meet.

The Hawks have two individual wrestlers who are ranked in their weight class. Matt Boggess (Prospect) is the No. 8-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds, and PJ Starnes is third ranked at 157 pounds.

Honor roll

Harper sophomore guard Peggie Parhas (Lake Zurich) was named an NJCAA Division III preseason All-American in women's basketball, the only N4C player to receive the honor.

Parhas has helped the Hawks post a 4-3 record in the early going.

• Harper libero Megan Maize and outside hitter Alex Mason were named to the N4C all-conference women's volleyball team. Both were all-region selections. Maize broke Harper's single-season digs record with 811, eclipsing the mark set by Gina Gorak in 2005. Maize had 1,298 digs to break the school career record.

• Alex Mason broke Harper's single-season kills record with 636 and led the nation in that category. The Hawks'record of 570 kills had been held by Anie Fitzpatrick.

"We just had two tremendous atheletes this year," said Harper volleyball coach Bob Vilsoet.

Men's basketball

The Harper men's basketball team (3-3) learned its first opponent for the upcoming "Battle on the Hill" tournament will be Clinton Community College. The tournament, which runs from Dec. 4-6, is hosted by Illinois Valley Community College

Helping lead the way for coach Tony Amarino's Hawks this season has been guard Tracy Winston.

"He is our best athlete," said Hawks coach Tony Amarino. "When it gets into a running game, he is at his best."

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