But the 16-9 HHS season (8-4 FVC) has also been made possible by a senior trio many may not notice.

The trio of Carter Schapp, Matt Krueger and Jacob Pociecha's efforts have impressed head coach Colin Kalamatas and their teammates.

"Krueger, Schapp and Pociecha are incredible," Kalamatas said. "This year, we adopted the name 'the darkside' for our reserves.

“Hackenmack is a natural leader. He organizes the social media and handles the communication while Tungot is more of a quiet leader,” Red Raiders first year swim coach Bryan Sewall said.

Hackenmack competes in the distance events, the 200-meter freestyle and the 500-meter freestyle, while Tungot competes in the breast stroke.

Two Huntley sophomore girls, Janiah Slaughter, 105, and  Aubrie Rohrbacher, 130, earned championships the IHSA Regional, but took different career routes to get there.

“I've been wrestling since sixth grade, at 95 pounds, when I used to wrestle against boys,” Slaughter said.

For Rohrbacher, she is in just her second year in the sport.

“I also play lacrosse, and have played on a national team based in Michigan as a midfielder and defender,” Rohrbacher said.

The fundraiser, led by social studies teacher Brad Aney and Red Raider Nation students, raised approximately $2,600 to support the Grafton Township Food Pantry.

According to a District 158 press release statement, funds were raised through the sale of more than 500 rubber ducks, purchased by parents, staff and community members. Participants were invited to throw the ducks onto the basketball court at halftime of the boys' game.

The Red Raiders bounced back from seeing their long 37-game league win streak end at the hands of Cary-Grove, 50-17, back on Jan. 19, with three wins. Huntley defeated Hampshire, 53-23 Jan. 24 and Jacobs, 48-16 Jan. 26 then Crystal Lake Central, 47-33, Jan. 29. The FVC race was tied briefly between Hampshire and Huntley at 9-1, but the Red Raiders (18-6) have pulled ahead of Hampshire.

“It puts a little pressure on you to perform, but most kids do better in their own house,” Huntley coach BJ Bertelsman said. “We want to wrestle our best and see where the chips fall.”

The coach mentioned most of the lineup as having good chances to continue at the IHSA Sectional, at Barrington on Feb.

The Red Raiders hoped to continue their success at the IHSA Regional meet at Conant on Jan. 26. Qualifiers advance to the IHSA sectional at Schaumburg Feb. 9.

“I am looking forward to regional,” Huntley coach Gannon Kosowski said. “The top six move on to sectional and I am hopeful that a lot of my team can move on and wrestle another week.”

Huntley hosted Hampshire in front of a capacity crowd on senior night, Jan.

The Red Raiders achieved their goal with a two wins – a 55-48 triumph over Hampshire Jan. 23 which followed a 45-37 victory over Cary-Grove Jan. 19.

Seniors Omare Segarra and Bryce Walker led the charge against Hampshire, with 19 and 17 points, respectively. The winners improved to 14-9, 7-4 and in third place in the FVC. HHS will host Jacobs Jan.

Huntley has a 14-1 record in dual meets. Recently they defeated Marengo, McHenry and Dundee-Crown. The Red Raiders girls finished fourth at the Wauconda Tournament Jan. 20, which turned out to be for five games for each bowler.

"We fought hard and came back," Huntley coach Eric DeBello said of the Wauconda meet. "After a long day I was pleased with the fight of the girls as we shot our biggest games of the day in games four and five."

Huntley totaled 5,763 pins for 12th place at Don Carter Lanes in Rockford. Junior Matthew Fishman led the Red Raiders with 1,250 total pins and a team best 254 high game which started the day. Juniors Joey Humphrey rolled a 1,191; Austin Tenglin, 1,145; freshman Noah Waters, 1,122 and junior Nick Gaspari, 882.

Campanelli set three personal scoring career highs in a four-game stretch. She scored 22 points against McHenry; then tallied 23 against Palatine and followed by a 24-point effort against Dundee-Crown in a 59-19 romp. Final scores were all routes for HHS – 65-11 over McHenry Jan. 10; 58-39 over Palatine Jan. 15 and 59-19 over Dundee-Crown Jan.

The Red Raiders' Matt Fishman earned the initial Player of the Year honors, team emerged as overall league champion.

Fishman did not stop there. The junior led the Red Raiders at the IHSA Belvidere North Regional tournament third place finish with a total score of 1,274 pins. Huntley advanced to the IHSA Sectional in Rockford on Jan. 20.

For the league honor, Fishman edged Aiden Schwichow of Johnsburg, 163-155 for the league's points championship.

The Red Raiders finished with a team score of 6,001 pins for the third of four advancing team totals at Cherry Bowl Lanes in Rockford. The sectional round is Jan. 20 at Rockford's Don Carter Lanes. Teams ahead of Huntley were champion Belvidere High School with a 6,087 score and Marengo, which edged HHS for second at 6,013.

DeBello rolled a 680 series against Burlington Central while the Huntley girls bowling team continues to chalk up Kishwaukee River Conference-Fox Valley Conference wins. DeBello also had a 602 series in a win over Jacobs.

The Red Raiders beat both Burlington Central and Jacobs for a 10-1 record in duals as the regular season winds down.

Meanwhile, sophomore Katie Scaletta achieved a near perfect game score of 298 in a recent tournament.

According to the WGA, the Evans scholarships, awarded to high school seniors, are valued at an estimated $125,000 over four years. Also gaining scholarships as CLCC caddies were Caleb Ramirez from Cary (Cary-Grove High School) and Sean Radden from Crystal Lake (Crystal Lake South High School).

Some local football experts may scramble for teams, other surveyed prior to the playoffs already had rooting interests lined up. Top teams from the AFC and NFC are the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, who have the Wildcard Weekend off. In the AFC, also in the playoffs teams are the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills.

Humphrey finished with the third best Huntley points total in Kishwaukee River Conference-Fox Valley Conference with 104 and his best game has been a 286.

Humphrey answered steam leader questions.

Describe your start in bowling and mentors who helped you learn the sport?

Dozens of varsity and junior varsity high school squads, whose members started in dance at about the same age as the final performers, sought late-season Competitive Dance momentum.

They came from Aurora to Gurnee to the HHS gym for the annual event.  Host Huntley kicked off the prep performers in the morning round and concluded the competition some six hours later.

“I thought the varsity team did a beautiful job with the routine,” Red Raiders first year dance coach Candance Niccum said.

The freshman Red Raider is 157-pound wrestler Radic Dvorak, who owns a 22-9 record. The senior is Markos Mihalopoulos, who is 24-7 at 285  pounds and hopes to conclude with 100 career wins. Both went unbeaten as Huntley notched three more dual wins Jan. 6 in their own mega dual meet.

“It's kind of sad to realize it's my last season but I'm excited for the post-season,” Mihalopoulos said.

The Red Raiders won three of four dual matches, as individual efforts included two series scores that topped 600 pins.\

The Red Raiders resume KRC-FVC matches by hosting Burlington Central Jan. 8 at Bowl-Hi Lanes, at Johnsburg Jan. 9 and host Jacobs Jan. 11. Head coach Eric DeBello summed up the 2023 portion of the schedule.

"Overall I'm pleased and proud of my bowlers through the first half of our season," coach Eric DeBello said.

Two Huntley wrestlers, seniors Markos Mihalopoulos at 285 pounds and Shane McGuine at 150, reached 20 wins for the season.

McGuine has enjoyed a successful first half of the 2023-24 season, reaching a 20-6 record. Mihalopoulos, meanwhile, is 20-7.

McGuine had a close battle with Wheaton North's LeVander Schoot as he pulled out a 10-7 victory from a 7-7 deadlock.