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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Robert J. Jones
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Many thanks to outgoing University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones and Illini athletic director Josh Whitman for stopping by and taking the time to visit ‘Monday Night SportsTalk,’ at the Esquire. Listen to the podcast of the WDWS 1400-AM radio show right here.
➜ 2. More than 300 high school athletes from 44 area schools stopped by our office on Sunday for The News-Gazette’s annual Faces of the Spring event. Photos taken by our hard-working photo editor Robin Scholz will start running in the paper in mid-March and continue through May.
➜ 3. February baseball in Champaign. Illinois (4-2) added a game to its schedule on Monday and will host Division III Aurora (0-2) at 5 p.m. Tuesday for its home opener at Illinois Field.
Illinois forward Will Riley (7) guards in a NCAA basketball game at the State Farm Center in Champaign on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.
Numbers game: 9.36
turnovers forced per game by the Illinois men’s basketball team this season. That had the Illini, going into Monday’s games, ranked 344th out of 355 Division I teams in that category and worst among Big Ten teams. UCLA, with its average of 15.61 turnovers forced, is the best in the Big Ten at getting opponents to cough up the ball and 13th in the country.
Unity wrestling coach Logan Patton celebrates with Taylor Finley after Finley won an IHSA Class 1A state wrestling championship on Saturday night at State Farm Center in Champaign. The Rockets are back on the mat tonight when they host Petersburg PORTA in an IHSA dual team sectional match.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Mahomet-Seymour at Lincoln boys’ wrestling. The Class 2A team dual sectional match takes place Tuesday night, with M-S trying to reach the state tournament that begins on Friday at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.
➜ 2. Petersburg PORTA at Unity boys’ wrestling. The host Rockets will tangle with the Bluejays on Tuesday night, trying to secure a spot in the 1A dual team state quarterfinals against either Oregon or Sterling Newman on Friday in Bloomington.
➜ 3. Oakwood/Salt Fork at Vandalia boys’ wrestling. If Oakwood/Salt Fork tops the host Vandals on Tuesday, a date with Hope Academy or Northridge Prep awaits Friday at the 1A dual team state meet.
From left, Isaac, Dan and Blaise Schreck.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with La Salette cross-country coach Dan Schreck:
➜ 1. My favorite sports team is … any North Carolina State team.
➜ 2. Two coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Percy Cerutty and Dr. Jack Daniels.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … being late. I guess that’s why I’m always running.