Newman’s Blair Grennan, Rock Falls’ Akira Shick to state wrestling: Saturday’s Sauk Valley roundup

Girls wrestling

Geneseo Sectional: Newman sophomore Blair Grennan punched her ticket to state for the second straight year as she finished as runner-up at 105 pounds. She dropped a 10-5 decision to DeKalb’s Alex Gregorio-Perez in the final after two wins by pin in less than a minute.

Grennan said the match with her was more competitive this time around.

“It was better than the last one. I got pinned at regionals (by Gregorio-Perez) but today I went all three periods,” she said. “One of my goals was to get the first takedown and I got there. I just have to get better. I have two weeks to do it.”

With getting back to state her main goal this season, she said it feels good to be going again.

“I want to do better than last year,” she said. “I just have to keep working hard. I have two weeks. I have to keep focusing on myself and getting better.”

Rock Falls freshman Akira Schick was also runner-up to advance to state after falling by pin in the 155-pound championship match.

“It feels pretty good,” she said. “It’s my first year of high school wrestling, so it was pretty tough.”

Schick is motivated for better results as she heads to state.

“[I expect to] come back better,” she said, “come back harder and with a better mindset.”

Erie-Prophetstown’s Michelle Naftzger also advanced to state after taking fourth at 130.

Sterling’s Lillian Tunk fell short in the 190-pound bracket as she was pinned by Jefferson’s Kylie Eilken in the wrestleback semifinals.

— Kevin Chlum contributed to this report

Girls basketball

Newman 63, Forreston 27: The Comets cruised in their postseason opener to advance to play Eastland at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the Class 1A Forreston Regional semifinals.

Eastland 52, Milledgeville 8: Olivia Klinefelter scored 12 points with 10 rebounds as the Cougars advanced to play Newman on Tuesday. Sienna Peterson and Morgan McCullough each added 10 points for Eastland (17-15).

Oregon 46, Rock Falls 36: Aniyah Sarver’s 22-point outburst led the Hawks over the Rockets in postseason action. Oregon advances to face Hall at 7 p.m. in Monday’s Class 2A E-P Regional semifinals.

Erie-Prophetstown 34, Morrison 30: The Panthers edged the Fillies to advance to Monday’s Class 2A E-P Regional semifinals against second-seeded Riverdale at 6 p.m.

Pearl City 43, Polo 41: The Marcos fell short to open the postseason, but Camrynn Jones became the team’s all-time leading scorer in the setback. Jones finished with 24 points as Pearl City held on for the postseason win.

Warren 31, Fulton 30: The Steamers fell just short in their postseason opener. Warren advances to face top-seeded Galena at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Girls bowling

Sterling’s Sarah Doughty wins sectional: The sophomore rolled a 1,342 to win the Oregon Sectional title individually and advance back to state. She won it by 34 pins as her high game was a 279. Sterling took 10th as a team with a 5,257 total. Olivia Barton was second on the team with a 1,088, Hailey Conderman had a 996, followed by Kara Garcia (954) and Phinley Wright (877).

Boys basketball

Rock Falls 90, Rochelle 85: Austin Castaneda scored 22 points, Kuitim Heald had 27 and Ryken Howard had 19 in the high-scoring win.

Goreville 55, Eastland 41: Eastland trailed 15-5 after the first quarter and never caught up in the setback at the Riverton Shootout. Parker Krogman led the Associated Press Class 1A second-ranked Cougars with 17 points.