10 Wildkit Wrestlers Medal at Conference Meet

By Paul Harris-Hertel

Evanston's Gerard Harris (top) gains control of his first-round match at the CSL conference meet last Friday. Sports photos by Paul Harris-Hertel

The ETHS wrestling team came through in a big way at the CSL conference meet held this past Friday and Saturday at New Trier.

While Maine South won the conference's South Division crown, 10 of the 14 Evanston wrestlers finished in the top four in their weight class.

The showing had Kits head coach Rudy Salinas excited for the regional, which will be held in two weeks at Notre Dame High School in Niles and will feature many of the same teams as the conference competition.

"Last year it came down to the last match," Salinas recalled, pointing out that New Trier's victory in the heavyweight division gave the Trevians the regional crown over the Wildkits.

"[This year] New Trier and Niles North had very good showings, and other teams have some great individuals," Salinas continued. "[But] we had 10 of our 14 wrestlers medal. It should be a great regional."

Senior captain Angel Sierra won the conference championship at 103 pounds, winning a 5-4 decision over Joe Brewster of Maine South in the finals. With three wins at the meet, Sierra improved his record to 36-4 this season. He also took home the Elias George Award, named after the former Evanston wrestling coach, as the meet's best wrestler from the CSL South.

The Wildkits got second-place finishes from junior Alex Pitner at 140 pounds and from senior Zach Burns in the 171-pound weight class.

Senior Gerard Harris won a 2-0 decision in the consolation championship at 130 pounds to get third place, while fellow senior Elie Bleier earned a third-place medal at 160 pounds, winning the consolation championship in a 12-3 decision.

Sophomore Eddie Andrews (112), senior Kyle Coulter (119), sophomore Ethan James (135), junior Marx Succes (189), and junior Jon Wilson (285) each earned a fourth-place medal.

The conference meet represented a chance for all participating wrestlers to seize pieces of knowledge about opponents they are likely to face again at the regional. The stakes are also higher at the regional, where only the winner at each weight class is rewarded with a trip to the sectional and a chance to go downstate.

With that in mind, Salinas believes the way the schedule is set up can be an asset for those wrestlers willing to use the conference meet as a learning opportunity.

"It's an advantage to the studious wrestler," said Salinas. "It's an advantage to the wrestler that can make adjustments."
The wrestlers have one more competition before heading to the regional. The Kits will take part in the Double Dual XO Tournament at Highland Park on Friday.

Girls Gymnastics Braces for Conference Meet

By Paul Harris-Hertel

Emma Katz's 8.9 score on the uneven parallel bars was the highest last week against Niles West.

The girls gymnastics conference meet is coming up on Friday, but ETHS head coach Chester Jones still isn't exactly sure where his team stands.

Jones is hoping his team will be able to hold on to third place at the CSL South meet, behind Glenbrook South and host New Trier.

But last Thursday's narrow win at home over Niles West, 124.75 to 120.75, did little to reassure the Evanston coach, and he admitted the grind of the season is starting to take its toll on his team.

"They're tired," Jones said. "In the last two weeks we've had four meets. They're just a little overdone.

Against the Wolves, the Kits were led by senior Emma Katz, whose all-around score of 33.65 just edged out the 33.15 score of her twin sister Naomi.

Emma's 8.9 on the uneven parallel bars was the highest score of any gymnast at the meet. Fellow senior Leora Guadalupe scored a 23.65.

The win pushed the Kits' overall dual meet record to 6-2, 3-1 in the conference.

It was fitting that the win occurred on the team's Senior Night, as all five Evanston gymnasts who competed at the varsity level are in their final year.

"The seniors are going to be really missed," said Jones. "I don't know if we've got girls that can step up as leaders.

"You never know what you're going to get," Jones explained while discussing the team's future. "Some girls go to [gymnastics] camp over the summer and some just go to the beach.

"It's wearing on me," Jones said.

On Saturday, Evanston placed 18th out of 22 teams at the Niles West Invitational, which Jones looked at as a "workout" for his team.

"We're not looking to win," he explained. "We're going to pull out our practice skills and we're going to see if we're ready for conference or if we're just wasting our time."

But Jones decided to go the cautious route at Niles West. In a competition where each team had two gymnasts in each event, Jones opted not to place any of his top gymnasts in more than one event, thereby reducing the risk of injury.

"I didn't stack my team," Jones said. "I wanted to give other girls some experience with new skills, and we kept all the girls healthy."

So has the team been "wasting time," or is Evanston ready for the conference meet?

"Monday's practice is going to tell," the coach answered. "Emma's ready to put a new dismount on the bars, and Naomi is working with a new vault [technique]. She didn't stand it up on Saturday, but with a little practice, I'm hoping she will."

Boys, Girls Hoops Fall Short Against New Trier

By Paul Harris-Hertel

Losses to New Trier always hurt.

But ETHS fans went through twice as much pain on Jan.12, when both the girls and boys basketball teams lost to New Trier at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena.

However, Evanston girls coach Steve Wool was decidedly more upbeat afterwards than boys coach Robert Locke.

"It was a huge moral victory," Wool said of the Kits' 48-42 loss to the Trevians, one of the top girls teams in the state. "They're going to be the number one seed in our sectional and we battled them all the way to the end. We now know fully not only can we compete with them, but we're able to beat them."

On the boys' side, the 54-49 loss put Evanston one game behind the Trevians in the conference standings.

Furthermore, the loss almost certainly means New Trier will be seeded higher than Evanston in the sectional. The sectional seeds will be determined on Feb. 7, eight days before the rematch with New Trier.

"It's going to kill us [at the sectional seeding]," said Locke. "When we talk about strength of schedule it's not going to matter, because New Trier can say they beat us."

The Trevians led 24-11 at halftime of the girls' game. But the Kits came out of the break and quickly cut the deficit to four, thanks in part to five straight points from junior star Kim Davis, who led all scorers with 17 for the game.

Evanston's strong start to the second half was largely due to a halftime adjustment the Wildkits made in attacking 6'5" New Trier center Amy Jaeschke.

"We were going at Jaeschke early, but not in the right way," Wool explained. "We got caught trying to post up, and in the second half we brought her out on the perimeter away from the basket" by moving Davis, whom Jaeschke was guarding, outside. This opened up lanes to the basket that Evanston was able to exploit in the second half.

The girls closed to within one late in the third on a three-pointer by junior Darcell Retreage. But New Trier's Jenny Samuelson responded with a three, and the Kits never got any closer.

In the boys' game, it was the Wildkits who got out to an early lead. Junior Zach Morton scored eight of his 10 points in the first quarter, which ended with Evanston leading 14-7.

But Patrick Romey scored 10 of his game-high 21 points during a 17-4 New Trier second-quarter run that gave the Trevians a four-point halftime lead.

"Jumping out early as we did, we got comfortable, and I told the guys we can't do that," said Locke. " I told some of the guys 'You're resting on the laurels of what you've accomplished.'"

The Kits closed to within one in the second half but were never able to retake the lead. Senior Eric Hilbring led Evanston with 13 points.

The loss dropped the girls' record to 9-11, while the boys fell to 12-7.