Boys’ chess finished 79th out of 125 teams at state on Feb 8 and 9.

The team entered as the 121st seed in the tournament and placed 42 positions higher than what they started at.

The boys ended up with three wins in the tournament, beating Rockford-Guildford, Bradley Bourbonnais and Kaneland High School. They were beaten by four teams including Rockford-Auburn, Niles North, Lincoln-Way West and Buffalo Grove High School.

In the last match against the 43rd seed Buffalo Grove, the final score was 35-33. Winning this match would have placed them in the top 60 of the state.

“I am extremely proud of how much the team has improved over the last year,” boys’ chess sponsor, Mike Schneider said.

The lead scorer for the freshman was Gabe Suvaca went 4 – 2 – 1.. sophomore Don Baier placed 3 – 4 – 0, junior Lyle Gaudiano went 6 – 1 – 0 having the most wins at state for the team, and the highest scoring senior was Danny Rich with 1 – 5 – 1.

The results were not what the team was hoping for, but it is improvement. Last year, the team was unable to crack the top 128 teams in the state in order to qualify for the tournament.

Taking top awards at state this year were Whitney Young, Barrington and Stevenson High Schools. There were no individual awards given this year, but based on record, Gaudiano would have earned a medal last year.

“I am anxious to see this team continue to improve and head back to state next year,” Schneider said.