The growing world of esports has officially hit the Illinois High School Association.
The IHSA will hold the inaugural esports state finals this Saturday, April 30, at Bloomington High School. In all, 126 students from 43 schools advanced to the finals from eight sectionals contested Saturday. Sectional hosts included: Hoffman Estates, LaGrange Lyons, Milford, Oak Lawn Richards, Oswego East, Peoria Richwoods, Rockford Guilford and Salem.
The IHSA will crown four state champions in three video games: NBA basketball simulation NBA 2K, iconic Nintendo fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Epic Games’ Rocket League, a futuristic soccer simulation played with vehicles.
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Nine players from Peoria-area schools are scheduled to compete in the state finals from Peoria Heights, Morton, Limestone and Delavan. They advanced from the 17-school Peoria Richwoods sectional — the state’s largest — held Saturday at Peoria Esports Complex, located inside Landmark Cinemas.
Below is a look at the full list students who advanced from the eight statewide sectionals, listed by the game and event for which they qualified.
Shane Hebert, jr., Palatine; Shivam Patel, fr., Schaumburg; Usmaan Ibrahim, fr., LaGrange Lyons; Jonovan «Jono» Edmonson, sr., Normal West; Marcus Griffin, jr., Bloomington; Cory Newman, fr., South Holland Unity Christian Academy; Ashton Stephens, fr., South Holland Unity Christian Academy; Travis Zumstein, jr., Plainfield North; Kenyata Travis, sr., Joliet West; Jordan Wilson, so., Peoria Heights; Cooper Hansen, so., Delavan; Thomas Makransky, jr., Peru St. Bede; David Boczko, sr., Somonauk; Chase Hammond, sr., Chatham Glenwood; Jervace Mayes, jr., Salem.
Shaan Patel, sr., Roselle Lake Park; Ninos Ochana, sr., Hoffman Estates; Jordan Williams, jr., Wilmette Loyola Academy; Gabriel Murillo, sr., Chicago Whitney Young; Ernst Nkangu, jr., Normal West; Sean Stoer, jr., Kankakee McNamara; Kristian Zajac, so., Palos Hills Stagg; Leo Mendoza, so., Burbank Reavis; Karrick McGinty, sr., Aurora Illinois Math and Science Academy; Shamir Castillo, sr., Romeoville; Julian Luaders, so., Liberty; Aaron Langenbach, jr., Morton; Angelo Abano, so., Lincolnshire Stevenson; Calvin Pickop, sr., Highland Park; Keeghan Steele, so., Metropolis Massac County; Tyler Holman, jr., Chatham Glenwood.
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Soya Lee, jr. and Damian Long, so. (Schaumburg); Dzenan Begic, sr. and Abrar Quadri, sr. (Hoffman Estates); Hodari Motley, jr., and Jonathan Schiff, jr. (Oak Park-River Forest); Elliot Yoder, fr., and Jeremy Paszek, so. (Chicago Lane); Kwesi Blankson, sr., and Luke Sherman, sr. (Normal West); Shawn Whiteside, jr., and Miller Jessen, jr. (Bloomington); Zaid Alqammaz, jr., and Thang Truong, sr. (Tinley Park Andrew); Joel Droesch, so., and Szymon Kieta, so. (Palos Hills Stagg); Jose Calzada-Rendon, jr., and Matt Fouts, jr. (Aurora Metea Valley); Enrique Gomez, fr., and Michael Korn, jr. (Plainfield East); Cullen Heath, sr., and Jose Lopez (Peoria Heights); Lance Holt, so., Michael Howard, so. (Athens); James Karalus, sr., and Theodore Milton, sr. (McHenry); Santiago Morales, jr., and Majid Abdelkareem, jr (Lincolnshire Stevenson); Tyler Fish, sr., and Kage Squier, sr. (Wood River East Alton); Ricardo Salgado, so., and Jacob Ware, jr. (Salem)
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Palatine (William Kyriazakos, jr.; Sarvesh Satish, jr.; Justin Tanase, sr.); Elgin (Lance Beltran, so.; Bryan Montoya, so.; Kurt Weninger, sr.; LaGrange Lyons (Alexandros Koutsis, so.; Matthew Rodgers, so.; Donovan Colville, fr.; Charlie Cummings, jr.; Matthew Metcalfe, so.); Chicago Lane (Christian Blancas, jr.; Justis Walker, jr.; Matthew Kociolek, jr.; Tara Lewis, sr.); Normal West (Nathan Conrad, sr.; Cody Dunn, sr.; Jacob Jones, fr.; Dante Phipps, jr.; Keagan Wurth); Kankakee (Triston Collins, sr.; Kristian Gaytan, jr.; Colton O’Connor, sr.; Jose Ortiz, sr.; Ryan Runner, sr.); Oak Lawn (Marcos Nunez, sr.; Kalvin Vega, jr.; Taleb Mreiziq, sr.); Frankfort Lincoln-Way East (Connor Gemmell, fr.; Jacob Hartman, so.; Colin Keener, fr.); Oswego East (Jack Walter, so.; Bennett Schultz, so.; Cameron Phillips, fr.; Cael Cummings, sr.; Ythan Houston, sr.); Yorkville (Allen Garcia, so.; Carter Giese, so.; Andrew Lapinskas, so.); Bartonville Limestone (Mason Riley, fr.; Reese Smith, sr.; Justin Trammell, fr.; Landon Winter, fr.); Athens (Casey Carter, fr.; Chance Fowler, so.; Axel Hibbs, so.; Ryan O’Neal, jr.; Chris Powell, sr.); Lake Villa Lakes (Phillip Heuser, sr.; Justin Kao, so.; Eli Bradley, so.); McHenry (Caeleb Stecks, sr.; Logan Thielson, jr.; Blake Zeinert, so.); Salem (Ethan Crouse, so.; Brian Evilsizer, so.; Hayden Hopkins, so.; Silas Moats, fr.; Cain Morgan, fr.); Springfield Lanphier (Braden Anderson, sr.; Ayden Difranco, jr.; Tyke Espejo, sr.; Christian Schneider, fr.).
