State boys bowling preview for Sauk Valley

The basics: Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m. at St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights

Local interest: Dixon’s *Aaron Fitzanko, so., *Cody Geil, sr., *Sam Gingras, jr., Nick Hartman, sr., *David Laird, sr., *Wyatt Miller, sr., *Daniel Sotelo, so., Ben Zimmerman, sr.; Oregon’s Caleb Brooks, sr., Aiden Currier, jr., Caleb Ehrler, jr., RJ Keene, jr., Nolan Page, sr., Ethan Smice, sr., Matthew Stahl, sr., *Gavvin Surmo, sr.

*Returning state qualifier

Defending champion: Salem

Advancing: The top 12 teams with the highest six-game totals advance to Saturday to play the final six games, along with the 30 individuals not on an advancing team.

FYI: Dixon finished 11th in the state last year with a 11,576 total. Geil was Dixon’s highest finisher at state last season with a 2,455 to place 40th; Miller took 61st with a 2,317.

The Dukes are coming off a runner-up finish at last week’s Oregon Sectional after tallying a 6,197 as a team with Wyatt Miller (1,361) winning the individual title. Fitzanko (1,256), Geil (1,196), Laird (1,153) and Sotelo (1,231) also contributed to the impressive finish.

The Hawks (6,105) took third at the sectional, led by Surmo’s 14th-place finish (1,297). Keene (1,228), Ehrler (340), Smice (1,206), Stahl (786) and Brooks (1,248) also scored for Oregon as it advanced to state as a team for just the second time in the program’s 21-year history. It has not finished in the top 12.