Daily Chronicle Top 10 sports stories of 2024

Plenty of DeKalb County high school athletes brought home state titles in 2024.

But some of the biggest stories out of DeKalb happened on a national stage.

From NIU’s historic win at Notre Dame to local golf pro David Paeglow competing at the US Senior Open, there were plenty of national stories out of DeKalb County.

From national to local, here are the 10 biggest sports stories from the county in 2024.

10. Sycamore football wins a conference title and goes undefeated in the regular season for a second straight season

It’s very easy to take the success of the Sycamore football team for granted. The Spartans have qualified for seven straight postseasons and 15 of the last 17. They’ve been eliminated in the first round once in that stretch.

This season, they claimed their second conference title in three years, winning the Interstate 8 and going 9-0 in the regular season.

They reached the Class 5A quarterfinals, losing to St. Francis. It’s the fourth time in the last five postseasons they’ve reached the quarters or further.

“I told the kids, I’ve been to the semifinals five times as a coach, and this is only the fifth time I’ve been able to enjoy a conference championship,” coach Joe Ryan said after beating Morris. “Those are hard. Those are really hard and you need to really enjoy. We beat a good team tonight and we made it look easier than it really was. They’re a really good team, and to get through this league and this schedule we had and be 8-0 at this point, if you had told me that at the beginning of the season I would have called you a liar.”

9. Sycamore baseball reaches third straight supersectional, softball makes second straight

For a second straight season it was a dominant spring on various diamonds in Sycamore.

Coming off a third-place finish at state, the Sycamore baseball team reloaded after losing a lot of seniors and finished a win shy of a return trip to state. And the softball team reached a second straight super-sectional.

The softball Spartans went 33-4, losing to Antioch in the 3A Kaneland Supersectional for the second straight year.

“I told them I’d play in this game 10 times even if you told me I was going to lose all 10,” Sycamore softball coach Jill Carpenter said. “They earned their way here, and they worked really, really hard to get here. It [stinks], and it hurts and it doesn’t matter who’s coming back next year because next year is not guaranteed. That’s a long way away. So you try to live in the present. I’m proud of the way they stuck together all year and battled through some tough times and won some close games and dominated some games.”

The baseball Spartans finished 25-8 after a 5-3 loss to Morris in a Class 3A Supersectional. In the round prior, the Spartans needed 12 innings to dispatch Burlington Central 1-0 in a home sectional final.

“It was an incredible baseball game,” Spartans coach Jason Cavanaugh said. “People who don’t understand baseball don’t realize how intense a 0-0 game is. It looks boring to people who don’t know baseball. But people who know baseball understand the game can change on every single pitch.”

8. Sycamore grad Lexi Carlsen commits to NIU to play for head coach Lisa Carlsen

Lexi Carlsen’s recruiting path was different from most. She knew where she was going. Also, coaches from NCAA Division I programs knew that she was going to end up at NIU.

After all, her mother is Huskies head coach Lisa Carlsen.

After finishing the high school season as the Daily Chronicle Girls Basketball Player of the Year, she became a starter for the Huskies just five games into the season. She’s averaging 6.3 points per game.

“I don’t take it lightly how special this situation is,” Lisa Carlsen said before the season began. “And I think she’s handling it like a champ. I think sometimes I need to keep myself in check because I’m so proud of her. I think she’s going to have a great career here. So being able to keep that separate, the super-proud mom and the coach that has 15 on the roster trying to manage what that looks like to win ball games, that’s been a challenge for me. But I think it will get easier.”

7. NIU gets offer to join Mountain West for football

The reports broke in October. The school confirmed things in December.

There’s an offer on the table for the Northern Illinois football team to join the Mountain West and leave the Mid-American Conference, its home since 1997.

[ Carifio: Westward expansion seems like NIU’s manifest destiny ]

Aside from the Dec. 18 statement that indicated the Huskies are weighing their options, the school has been radio silent on the situation. A move to the Mountain West would almost certainly require a move out of the MAC for non-football sports as well. Rumored landing sports include the Horizon League, the Missouri Valley or the Ohio Valley.

6. DeKalb-Sycamore swimmer Jacob Gramer wins the state title in the 100-yard butterfly

His third trip to the state tournament turned out to be the charm, as DeKalb-Sycamore co-op swimmer Jacob Gramer earned his first state medal this year - a gold in the 100-yard butterfly.

“It feels insane, I guess,” Gramer, a senior at Sycamore, said at the time. “I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet but I have like no words. I’m just really happy.”

He was also fifth in the 100-yard freestyle to come home with a pair of medals and be named the Daily Chronicle Boys Swimmer of the Year. He’s competing for the Youngstown State University swim team.

5. Two legendary DeKalb wrestling coaches die an hour apart

Arch Richoz, 79, and Wayne Miller, 82, died March 7, each leaving behind a lasting legacy to wrestling locally and statewide.

Richoz began the middle school program in DeKalb in 1968 and had a big hand in developing the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation. He also helped DeKalb and the NIU Convocation Center land the IESA state wrestling championships, which they’ve hosted since 1998. He’s a member of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame.

Miller took over the DeKalb High School program from its founder, Don Flavin. Under Miller, the Barbs won 15 straight regional titles. Miller was instrumental in developing the IHSA Dual Team Wrestling State Tournament, at which the Barbs finished second in 2022. He’s a member of the IWCOA Hall of Fame and National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

“For them to pass on the same day was poetic, I guess,” said Dan Jones, who coached at Huntley Middle School from 1990 until 2003. “They worked closely together. They were good friends.”

4. Sycamore 4x400 relay team takes home gold from state

The highlight of the Spartans' seventh-place finish at state was the 4x400-meter relay team holding of Carbondale and Aurora Central Catholic for a state title.

With teammates Dylan Hodges, Matthew Rangel and Devin Karda all running quality legs, Eli Crome finished the deal with a strong 400-meter run to lead the Spartans to a first-place time of 3 minutes, 19.21 seconds

“We all ran great and all the work and training really showed today,” Crome said after the race. “It was a great race.”

3. Kaneland’s Angelina Gochis claims area’s first girls wrestling state title

After three years, Kaneland had its first state championship in girls wrestling. And barring something strange it probably won’t be its last.

Freshman Angelina Gochis went 47-5 last season and won a state championship at 105 pounds.

She’s started on a tear in 2024 as well as she looks to defend her title. After her title, Kaneland coach Josh West said in March he thinks that’s just the beginning.

“I don’t want to lie and say we haven’t thought about let’s win another one, let’s win a third one, let’s win a fourth one,” West said. “But really the mentality is to get better each and every day. She’s really good at freestyle and is going to do some Greco-Roman later this year. Obviously, the goal is to win a state title, but there’s other things, too. Eventually there should be some talk of wrestling for the United States and winning a world title. There’s some big aspirations that she has and she has the work ethic and ability and support around her to accomplish really anything she wants.”

2. David Paeglow competes in the US Senior Open

It was never about how he finished. For David Paeglow, it was just relishing every moment of competing in a PGA Champions tour major tournament.

The Kishwaukee Country Club pro shot rounds of 75 and 78 for a 13-over-par 153 total in his two rounds as he missed the cut at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.

More importantly, Paeglow’s two sons got to caddy for him on the final two holes.

“To be able to experience inside the ropes in a major championship with my kids caddying was pretty cool,” Paeglow said. “Really cool.”

He said there were some nerves at first, obviously, playing on one of golf’s biggest stages.

“It’s kind of surreal to be playing golf with these guys that you’ve watched for 30, 40 years on TV,” Paeglow said. “To be there was really fun, but I was a little out of my element. I tried mentally to be like, ‘OK, I’m back home at Kish, hitting golf shots. What’s the big deal? Blah, blah, blah.’ But I couldn’t really get my body to free up. The second day, you’re more comfortable.”

1. NIU shocks the college football world with a win at Notre Dame

When it comes to key plays in NIU’s 16-14 win at No. 5 Notre Dame in September, there are almost too many plays to list.

Amariyun Knighten’s interception of Riley Leonard. Kanon Woodill’s 35-yard field goal. Cabe Haberman’s blocked field goal - his second blocked field goal of the game - as time expired. A long catch-and-run from Ethan Hampton to Antario Brown. Any one of several under-the-radar plays.

It all added up to the biggest win in school history. It was the first time any MAC school beat a top 5 team. And it was the only loss of the regular season for the Irish, which ended up in the playoffs.

[ Photos: NIU vs. Notre Dame football ]

“It’s probably the most special win,” Brown said. “We beat the No. 5 team in the country. ... This one is really special.”

NIU finished the season 8-5, beating Fresno State 28-20 in double overtime in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.