Wrestlers and Lady Aces Regional Champs

Against all odds, two varsity athletic teams, the wrestlers and the varsity girls’ basketball team, became Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Regional Champions in the same week. This is the first time in the school’s history that any team won the regional championship game and likely the first time that any Jewish day school took that title twice in the same season.

On February 4 the wrestling team took 1^st place in the IHSA regional tournament – out of nine teams. With wrestlers in only 12 of the 14 weight classes, Ida Crown wrestlers had four in 1st place, four in 2nd place and four in 3rd place. Every member of the team contributed to the victory.  

The team is the first Jewish high school wrestling team to win at the regional level and was the first time that any ICJA sports team had won at this level. Watch the wrestlers featured on Channel 2.

Following the wrestlers’ unprecedented win, the Varsity Lady Aces defeated Northshore Country Day School 43-38. The girls had been seeded #1 going into the tournament. Prior to the game, Head Coach Mark Wax said, "You are the #1 seed in your Regional because you are the team to beat. Now you just have to go out and show everyone it was well-earned."  The Lady Aces did just that while facing a North Shore Country Day team that beat them earlier in the season by four points on December 3.

Between periods the coach’s message was clear--there was no time or reason to get soft. The Aces diligently worked the ball inside to forward Arianna Maier and center Aliza Grant. When these two ladies weren’t shooting lay-ups, guard Courtney Rosenfield was making fierce cuts to afford herself the same opportunity at the basket. As the Aces went into half, they maintained a seven point lead.
         Throughout the second half, the Raiders made several runs to try to limit the Aces lead and even pulled within two points with less than a minute on the clock. At this point the Aces pulled the ball out to stall and take some time off the clock, forcing the Raiders to foul. The Aces struggled from the free throw line but were saved by Maier and Grant, who secured the win by rebounding missed shots and scoring lay-ups off their offensive boards. The Aces were lead in scoring by Grant with 15, Rosenfield with 13 and Maier with 12.

The wrestling regional was a very close three-way race between ICJA, defending champs Walther Lutheran, and Gordon Tech. ICJA edged Gordon Tech by 4.5 points & Walter Lutheran by 5 points. It was the most closely-contested 1A region in the state. Both Walther and Gordon are strong squads with state-ranked wrestlers. This marks the best team result for any Jewish wrestling team ever in any comparable competition. It also marks one of the few times a Jewish high school sports team has won a state qualification tournament in any sport in the country. 

Head Coach Doug Klein says, "We wrestled very well as a team all evening. We won every match we were supposed to win and picked up a few upsets along the way--most notably Eitan Redlich for the championship at 170 pounds. Also, we picked up a lot of bonus points for pins, along the way. This likely proved decisive.”

Both teams’ achievement is especially impressive, considering the rigorous double curriculum the athletes complete, limiting the amount of time they spend training. Additionally, six ICJA winter sports teams all share one gym, further limiting their number of weekly practices.

            The wrestling win comes five years after the IHSA wrestling regionals agreed to schedule the regional competition on Saturday night so that the Academy wrestlers, who are Modern Orthodox and observe the Jewish Sabbath until Saturday at sundown, could compete in the tournament. Doug Klein, ICJA’s wrestling coach for the past 20 years, had to advocate for the regional wrestling tournament to be changed to a different day or time. It was not until he enlisted the help of Illinois State Senator Ira Silverstein that the IHSA agreed to change the tournament.

Participating in the tournament in Lisle, Ill. each year means that the team spends Shabbat in a hotel near the tournament with their coach and volunteer parents, who arrange kosher food and an actual Torah for Shabbat. One of the challenges for the wrestlers, says Klein, is weighing in for the tournament immediately after sundown. “They have to watch what they eat on Shabbat, which is not easy, but that’s part of the territory of being a frum Jewish wrestler.”

Following that first tournament, officials from IHSA posted the boys’ wrestling regional results with a note that “Ida Crown’s participation added to the quality of the meet.”

Since joining the regional tournament, Ida Crown has taken either 2nd or 3rd place every year, with numerous wrestlers placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their individual weight classes.

“We are thankful to the Illinois High School Association for arranging the time of the tournament so that we can participate, as well as the graciousness with which Walter Lutheran High School and all of the other regional participants over the years have met our involvement," says Coach Klein.

The next step for the wrestlers is the State Sectional dual meet – Tuesday February 21, the day after they return to Chicago from a multi-day Yeshiva University tournament of Jewish day schools in New York. Any individual place winners in the State Sectionals will not be able to participate in the individual sectional tournament, since that meet takes place on the Sabbath.