Before going after another streak on Jan. 28, senior Brooke Schwarte and the Riverside-Brookfield High School competitive cheerleading team continued its other one Jan. 13.
The Bulldogs won the Metro Suburban Conference Meet for the fifth year in a row at Elmwood Park.
They had a raw score of 85.68 and official score of 82.68 after deductions with the host Tigers’ 81.13 in second.
For an experienced lineup with 11 seniors, Schwarte is the lone one to compete for four MSC champions.
“It’s a big goal. Every year going into the new season you want to continue the streak and keep winning,” Schwarte said. “It’s just very meaningful to all of us. We work so hard for it every year.”
“It was a lot of pressure I felt like on the team and myself because we wanted five years in a row. They did a very nice job,” first-year RBHS coach Tricia Schroeder said.
On Jan. 28, the Bulldogs seek their fourth straight state berth in the Medium Division at the IHSA Conant Sectional.
Lyons Township High School competes in the Coed Division at the Bradley-Bourbonnais Sectional.
Top-five sectional finishers earn state berths, and 2022 marked the Lions’ first state berth.
The Bulldogs, who then were third at the Niles West Invite on Jan. 15 (84.90 raw, 83.65 final score) already are five points ahead from where they started the season.
“[The MSC title] just adds to the confidence going into sectionals, which is big,” Schwarte said.
LTHS boys wrestling
Senior Calum Rogers and his Lyons Township High School boys wrestling teammates knew they could hand rival Hinsdale Central its first West Suburban Conference Silver dual loss on Jan. 19.
But even the Lions were surprised by the margin of their 43-21 triumph on the Red Devils’ Senior Night.
“It was awesome. That’s the only way to put it. We had a great time. It was even better to do it on their Senior Night,” Rogers said.
“Nobody came in thinking we were going to beat them by 20 points. I think once we started winning, we had that rhythm going.”
LTHS (11-6, 4-2) won 10 matches and the first four with a forfeit to Griff Powell (31-5 at 106) and wins by Roger Martinez (15-12 at 113 pounds), Jack Kutchek (17-14 at 120) and George Govea (7-11 at 126) with two pins.
“I think the momentum started off of Roger and Jack. They made us keep the pace,” Rogers said.
Also winning were Rogers (23-12 at 145), Gunnar Garelli (31-8 at 160), Eric Marquez (16-14 at 170), Julian Cervantes (10-7 at 182), Cooper King (32-4 at 195) and Sam Costello (25-13 at 285).
“I was so impressed with our team. The guys came out with a lot of fire, a lot of energy,” LTHS coach Griff Powell said. “We won pretty much all of the close matches and got a lot of bonus points.”
On Jan. 21, the Lions were second (179 points) to Crystal Lake Central (193) at the Oak Park and River Forest Invitational.
Powell and Garelli were champions with title wins by pin and a 4-1 decision, respectively. Charlie Campbell (9-16 at 152), Rogers and King were second, Costello third at 220, Logan Hiatt (9-11 at 285) fourth and Kutchek, Martinez and Cervantes fifth.
LTHS boys swimming and diving
The Lions (206 points) finished second to Naperville Central (236) at the Downers Grove North Invitational on Jan. 21.
Matthew Ferguson (500-yard freestyle, 5:04.50) and diver Matt Adler were event champions.
Quinn Collins (54.30) and Alex Edwards (58.64) finished second and fourth in the 100 backstroke.
The 400 free relay (Collins, Garrett Walls, Sean Gripp, Marko Trajanovski in 3:23.54) was second and Collins (200 individual medley in 2:03.34) and the 200 free relay (Peter Smith, Jack Dillon, Walls, Trajanovski in 1:33.11) were fourth.
The Lions play host to their annual invitational on Jan. 28.
