Recently, the NUIC voted against a proposed girls sports co-op for Freeport Aquin and Orangeville. Considering they are the smallest schools in the conference and co-op in other sports, something seemed amiss.
This from an email I received from Brad Kolar of Orangeville after I had reached out to him: “Currently, our school has been able to successfully pass and maintain cooperative agreements for all junior high and high school sports except for high school volleyball, and high school girls basketball. As an athletic director and school administrator, I feel that we as school districts should strive to provide inclusive, positive and long-lasting experiences for the athletes no matter the level of play. Our view on the cooperative agreement between Orangeville and Aquin is in the best interest for the ability for two schools to come together, host sporting events and allow students from varying grades to participate in team athletics.”
That makes sense and there is a long history of coops in the NUIC. So what’s the beef with Aquin and Orangeville?
Mr. Kolar implored me to ask the schools who voted against it for their reasoning.
I strongly considered it, but dropped the idea. Anymore, it is difficult to get an official comment on from school officials on subjects such as this.
Quite frankly, I wasn’t in the mood to run into brick walls. But, my curiosity leaves you the reader with these questions:
Was the co-op rejected because Orangeville is ranked No. 2 in the state for basketball and Aquin has one of the area’s top college prospects ever in freshman Paitlyn London?
Does Aquin get extra scrutiny because they are a private school and enjoy so-called recruiting advantages?
From what I am hearing, Aquin has more serious issues than that, and that is keeping its doors open due to declining enrollments.
Catholic schools all over Illinois are taking a major hit. One of the bastions of Catholic education, Joliet, just announced the closure and consolidation of many churches and schools.
Don’t worry. Football power Joliet Catholic, with its state record 15 state titles, is still in good stead.
Post season wrestling kicks off with regionals at Stillman Valley. Le-Win will be the team favorite, as Dakota has declined a bit.
One thing that still seems out of place is Rockford Boylan in this 1A regional, while the Polo co-op is in 2A. Seems like it should be other way around, but it is another case of a Catholic school dropping in enrollment.
Looking over individual and team rankings for wrestling, the rest of the state has made headway on our area, which has been the most competitive among 1A sectional for past couple decades.
But, there is a new kid on the block who has taken over from Le-Win and Dakota as the top dog in this sectional. Woodstock Marian has five wrestlers ranked No. 3 or better in 1A.
The most intriguing of that talent is nationally-ranked freshman Jimmy Mastny, whose family resides near Oregon.
Originally, the IHSA barred Mastny from competing and suspended Marian coach Jordan Blanton for allegations of illegal recruiting, because Mastny had moved 60 miles away to the Blanton residence in Woodstock and Stacey Blanton, Jordan’s wife, had become legal guardian for Jimmy.
In December, a McHenry County judge ruled in favor of Mastny and Blanton and the IHSA sanctions were lifted. An attorney for Blanton and Mastny called the IHSA findings fundamentally flawed. He said there is no finding of recruitment or inducement, or evidence of “undue influence.”
According to an article in Shaw Media, for about six years, Jimmy’s mother has been friends with Stacey Blanton. The Blantons live in Woodstock, so the two families spoke, and the Mastnys arranged to give the Blantons guardianship of their son so he could attend Marian, the families said.
A correction from last week: It was not the first trip downstate for the Dixon bowling team. It was the third. By the way, the Dukes made the cut to Saturday’s finals (12 teams), along with Dakota, Hononegah and Harlem, furthering enhancing the prowess of the regional Oregon was in.
We did have an area champion in Charlie Hunt of Hononegah with a 230 average over 12 games. The young man mentioned last week, Trevor Anifer of Lemont, was fourth. Salem, from far downstate, was team champ with nearby Harrisburg second.
Bowling is big in the south, with five schools in final 12.
Finally, thanks for all the positive comments on the column from a couple weeks ago on spirituality. Without a doubt, it garnered was the most input of any this year.
Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.
