
9 minute read
Colbert Column
Wrestling
The Oregon wrestlers hosted Dakota on the May 18and Caleb Wolford, Grant Stender, and Edwin Estrada took forfeits to give the Hawks an 18-0 lead, but Oregon would only win two matches on the mat and they lost the meet 46-24.
Andrew Herbst and Gabe Eckerd both won 5-3 decisions as the powerful Indians pinned seven times and took a major decision to sweep the rest of the Hawk lineup.
May 22
Wrestling
The Hawks traveled to Rochelle to face the Hubs and the Fulton Steamers. Oregon took a 21-0 lead over Fulton with a forfeit to Anthony Bauer, a 9-0 major decision by Seth Stevens, and first period pins by Herbst and Eckerd. Fulton won four by falls and added a forfeit to take a nine point lead, but the Hawks rebounded with a forfeit to Wolford and pins by Stender and Lane Halvorson to give Oregon a 39-30 win.
Against the Hubs, the Hawks again took and early lead with forfeits to Dalton McCammon and Herbst, and pins by Bauer and Eckerd. Rochelle won a decision and two forfeits before Adam Glendenning added six on a takedown to the back.
Oregon lost two forfeits and a pin to trail by nine, but finished strong with pins by Stender, Halvorson, and Bauer, and an injury default to Stevens to win the meet 48-33.
Baseball
Forreston 13, Milledgeville 1, 5 inn.: The Cardinals scored multiple runs in every inning but the fourth and put up 11 hits in a win over the Missiles. Ryan Schoonhoven homered for Forreston Treyton Selman drove in a run for Milledgeville.
May 25
Softball
Oregon 8, Stockton 0: Oregondefeated Stockton-Warren 8-0. The Trampel Twins, Mia and Lena, dominated on the mound combining for a 2 hit shutout and 10 Ks. OHS was led at the plate by speedster Bella Koertner who had 2 hits and a walk.
Forreston 23, AFC 0, 4 inn.: Kara Erdmann tossed a two-hit shutout, and helped her own cause with two home runs, a double and nine RBIs to lead the Cardinals past the Raiders in Forreston. Taylor Greenfield
See ROUNDUP, Page 14
Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Polo first baseman Madelyn Jones catches a fly ball for an out during May 22 action against Oregon.
SPORTS COLUMN
Post sea sons for spr ing sports set to beg in nex t week
Believe it or not, the post season for spring sports begins next week, in what will close out the weirdest high-school sports year ever.
Both the Forreston baseball and softball teams enter regionals on a high note, with well-deserved high sub-sectional seeds. They also should end the regular season as NUIC champs.
As of press time, the baseball team’s only blemish was a 3-2 loss to Eastland, a team they will likely see in the regional final. However, Forreston has shut out Eastland 6-0.
A big plus for the Cardinals is pitching, something smaller schools struggle with. In nine of their first 11 games, opponents only mustered one run or less.
As a No. 1 sub-sectional seed, Forreston has a very good chance to advance to the super-sectional. They made it that far in 2018 and have also won three straight regionals.
The softball team’s only loss this season has been to defending 3A champ Sterling, but has several NUIC juggernaughts standing in the way in the post-season.
Past history has shown how good teams like Orangeville and Dakota are. Add in Pearl City and upstart Durand, and it is a tough gauntlet to navigate.
Traditionally, area 1A schools are better than those in 2A. When Forreston broke away from the Polo coop and dropped down to 1A, things didn’t get much easier.
Credit to new Oregon Nate Rogers in leading the softballers to an 8-1 record in the Big Northern. Stillman Valley, North Boone and Oregon have beaten each other with Stillman likely the best of the bunch.
The Hawks earned a No. 2 seed behind Stillman in the sub-sectional and have a good shot at winning the regional. The other sub-sectional is a dogfight with Richmond Burton, Johnsburg, NB and Marengo. One of those powers would face the Hawks at the sectional.
The girls track and field sectionals will be next Thursday at Winnebago. Oregon has state-ranked throwers in Brenna Noon in the shot put and Jenae Bothe in both shot and discus.
Noon would have been the top returning 1A state-placer in the shot for 2020, but we all know how that ill-fated season turned out.
Right now she sits at No. 1 with a mark of nearly 41 feet. The next closest competitor is just a few inches behind.
The boys have sectionals the following week and leading the way is Forreston hurdler Bennett Soltow. The returning state placer from two years ago, when Forreston placed seventh as a team with 21 points, is ranked No. 3 in both the 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediates.
The Cardinal 400 relay team is also ranked third with a time of 44.40. Running were Matthew Beltran, Jordan Neuschwander, Brock and Bennett Soltow.
With Rockford Christian bumped up to 2A, the sectional for the boys is wide open.
Oregon is led by senior pole vaulters Nathaniel Schone and Riley Benton, who were ranked No. 10.
Both the boys and girls track sectionals will be at Winnebago.
Oregon girls soccer team (2-7-1) hosts Monm o u t h - R o s e v i l l e o n T u e s d a y i n s u b - s e c t i o n a l action, with the Hawks eventually hosting the 1A sectional finals the following week.
Dixon has crushed everyone in the BNC by a 59-1 scoring margin and ends the year as league champ.
U n l i k e s o f t b a l l , t h e r e i s a h u g e d i f f e r e n c e between 1A and 2A soccer, as the Duchesses only earned a No. 3 seed in 2A, compared to Oregon getting a No. 3 seed in 1A.
COMMENTARY
Andy Colbert
Postseasons will have different look
The topsy-turvy world of high school sports in the 2020-21 school year will conclude next month with state championships in the traditional spring sports, but the postseason tournaments will not have the traditional feel.
For softball and baseball, gone – at least for 2021 –are the typical regional and sectional hosts, with all games in a certain regional being played at one venue one week, and all of a sectional’s games being played at one venue the following week.
In the regional, the higher seed will host all games. In the sectional, the team higher up the bracket will host the semifinal, with the team lower on the bracket hosting the final.
Baseball regionals will be played June 2-7, with sectionals June 9-12, supersectionals on June 14, and the state semifinals and finals June 17-19. Softball regionals will be June 2-5, with sectionals June 8-12, supersectionals on June 14, and the state finals June 16-17.
In girls soccer, the team at the top of the bracket will host the sectional semifinal, and the team at the bottom of the bracket will host the final. The higher seed will host quarterfinal games.
The regionals are May 31-June 5, with sectionals June 8-12, supersectionals June 14-15, and the state semifinals and finals June 18-19.
Here are how the brackets break down for area baseball, softball and soccer teams:
BASEBALL / CLASS 2A
• No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Mendota, 4:30 June 2 • Oregon-Mendota winner at No. 1 Princeton, June 4 • No. 5 Riverdale at No. 4 Rock Falls, June 4 • Championship, June 7
Winner to face Woodstock Marian/Pecatonica/Winnebago/North Boone/Rockford Christian, June 9 • No. 10 West Carroll at No. 7 Bureau Valley, 4:30 June 2 • Bureau Valley-West Carroll winner at No. 2 Stillman Valley, June 4 • No. 6 Erie-Prophetstown at No. 3 Byron, June 4 • Championship, June 7
Winner to face Richmond-Burton/Genoa-Kingston/ Rockford Lutheran/Johnsburg/Marengo, June 9
See PLAYOFFS, Page 17
• ROUNDUP
Continued from Page 13
finished a triple shy of the cycle and added four RBIs for Forreston, which scored nine runs in the first inning, eight in the second and six in the third.
Baseball
Forreston 12, AFC 2, 6 inn.: The Cardinals scored in every inning but the fifth in an NIUIC win at home over the Raiders. Jacob Fiorello and Ryan Schoonhoven each had two RBIs for Forreston, with Fiorello scoring three runs and Ethan Greenfield adding two hits and four runs scored. Jordan Harris had a triple and two singles for AFC, and Jared Warner added a single and a double; both scored one run. Michael Cochrane took the loss on the mound.
Boys Track & Field
Rock Falls 68, Forreston-Polo 65, Byron
46: The Rockets won a triangular in Byron, led by double-winners Bud Hillard and Booker Cross. Hillard won the 200 (23.84 seconds) and long jump (5.92 meters), while Cross took the 400 (54.48) and triple jump (12.40). Ben Blacburn won the shot put (13.86), and Jeremiah Burtlow took the discus (32.32). Forreston-Polo got wins from Carson Jones in the 800 (2:16.17) and 1,600 (5:11.82), Jordan Neuschwander in the 100 (11.16), Ben Plachno in the 3,200 (13:03.37), Bennett Soltow in the 300 hurdles (40.06) and Matthew Beltran in the high jump (1.78). Neuschwander, Beltran, Bennett Soltow and Brock Soltow teamed up to win the 4x100 relay (44.54).
Girls Track & Field
Forreston-Polo 71, Byron 60, Rock Falls
38: The Cardinals swept the relays and the throws en route to a triangular win in Byron. Sydni Badertscher won the shot put (10.45 meters) and the discus (28.30),


Photos by Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media LEFT: Oregon’s Owen Flanagan pitches against Genoa Kingston. RIGHT: Oregon’s Bella Koertner tags out Polo’s Nicole Wagner at third.
and Bekah Ziegler won the triple jump (8.89). The quartet of Alex Dusing, Courtney Grobe, Ellie Wells and Emileigh Williams won both the 4x100 (54.54 seconds) and 4x200 (1:58.43), while Hannah Harvey, Autumn Pritchard and Madison Sketo teamed with Mackenzie Engbert to win the 4x400 (4L:53.11) and Teah Almasy to take the 4x800 (11:53.66). Amara Thomas had Rock Falls’ lone win in the high jump (1.52 meters). Emily Spooner was second in both the 100 (13.35) and 400 (1:06.94), and Maddy Wescott was runner-up in the shot out (*9.47) and discus (25.21). The Rockets also took second in the 4x100 (55.77), 4x200 (2:01.27) and 4x400 (5:03.84).
Wrestling
Oregon 43, Byron 28: The Hawks won seven bouts and received a forfeit to top the rival Tigers.
Grant Stender (120 pounds), Andrew Herbst (152), Gabe Eckerd (160), Adam Glendenning (220) and Jonathon Alaniz (285) all won by pin for Oregon. Seth Stevens (145) added a major decision, and Sebastian Cardenas (170) won by decision.
Polo sweeps at home: The Marcos notched another win on tiebreaker criteria, defeating West Carroll 43-42 on the sixth criteria while also defeating Durand 72-12.
Polo notched two pins against West Carroll – Dominic Gabbard at 152 pounds and Joel Ludwig at 220 – and received five forfeits. The Marcos’ lone contested win against Durand was De’Angelo Fernandez’s pin at 145 pounds; Polo also received 11 forfeits.
West Carroll notched seven pins against Polo. Briar Nevills (126), Wyatt Doty (132), Ethen Doty (138), Stephen Young (145), Kelden McCombie (160), Maddox Hayden (170) and Bishop Groezinger (182) all stuck their opponents.
Girls soccer
Oregon 3, Winnebago 1: Hadley Lutz scored a pair of goals to lead the Hawks past the Indians. Karina Ocampo also scored a goal, and Mya Engelkes dished an assist. Dylan Burke made 11 saves in goal.