Libertyville's Gunther brothers making impact at Illinois
Former Libertyville mat standouts Joey and Michael Gunther are contributors to the nationally ranked University of Illinois wrestling team.
Joey Gunther made headlines at the recent prestigious Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates by taking third at 174 pounds. Gunther, ranked No. 22 in the country by FloWrestling, defeated No. 21 Ben Harvey and won 4-2 to secure third. Gunther, a redshirt senior, went 5-1 in the tournament and moved to 10-2 on the season. He was 4-1 after his first five duals with 2 decision wins, a major and an overtime win to his credit in those first four wins.
His brother, Michael, is a freshman at 141 pounds for the No. 18-ranked Fighting Illini. Michael Gunther went 1-2 in his first three duals of the season.
Feltner earns region honor with clutch performance: Antioch graduate Taylor Feltner recently was named the NJCAA Region IV regional player of the week for her performance during a December stretch of games. Feltner is a sophomore guard on the College of Lake County women's basketball team.
She led the Lancers past Kankakee Community College in a game where she scored 9 points and grabbed 2 steals in the final 35 seconds of the contest to help the Lancers overcome a seven-point deficit.
In those final seconds, Feltner hit two 3-pointers, one of which after she stole the inbound pass. She found the 3-point line again and turned it into a 4-point play after she was fouled on the attempt. The win moved CLC to 9-6 at the time.
Keefe at DePauw: Libertyville graduate Claire Keefe poured in 24 points to help the DePauw University women's basketball team defeat visiting Hiram 94-45 in a North Coast Athletic Conference game in Greencastle, Ind., on Saturday.
DePauw, which is ranked sixth in the latest coaches' poll and eighth by D3hoops.com, moved to 13-1 overall with its ninth straight win and improved to 5-0 in NCAC play.
Through the Tigers' first 12 games, Keefe, a junior forward, was second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.8 rpg).
Ellis at Lynn: Warren graduate Branden Ellis is a sophomore on the Lynn University men's basketball team out of Boca Raton, Florida. Through the team's first 10 games, Ellis is averaging 10.7 points per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field, and .429 from the 3-point line and .867 from the free-throw line. He also is at 4.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game for the Fighting Knights. He had 8 points and 4 rebounds in a recent 87-84 loss in overtime to Cedarville.
Palm at Buffalo: Carmel alum Riley Palm is in his freshman season on the University of Buffalo wrestling team. Through the holiday break, Palm had a 4-4 overall mark for the Bulls. Palm is wrestling at 141 pounds.
Peterson at Rice: Libertyville hoops product Drew Peterson is a key contributor to the Rice University men's basketball team down in Houston, Texas.
Through 13 games (all starts), Peterson was fourth on the team in scoring at 10.0 points a contest (averaging 31.2 minutes of action). He is shooting .411 from the field and .380 from the 3-point line (19 of 50), while also hitting 79.3 percent of his throws (23 of 29 from the foul line). Peterson, a 6-8 guard forward, also is tops on the Owls in rebounds at 7.0 per game. He also has 45 assists (tops) against only 30 turnovers. Rice was 8-5 through its first 13 games.
Cramer at Old Dominion: Former Grayslake Central state-champion wrestler Alex Cramer is wasting no time mixing it up at the NCAA Division I college wrestling level. Cramer is a freshman on the nationally ranked Old Dominion University wrestling team out of Norfolk, Virginia.
Through the holidays, Cramer is 11-5 overall at 174 pounds. Those 11 wins include 5 via decision, 4 by major decision, 1 by technical fall and 1 via a pin in 1:29.
Thomas at Chowan: Grayslake North graduate Jamal Thomas is a junior guard on the Chowan University men's basketball team out of North Carolina. Through the holidays, Thomas had played in 10 contests where he averaged 3.7 points. Thomas had 30 assists in those 10 games against only 14 turnovers.
• Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Lake County-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com. Winter sports submissions encouraged.