Stevenson can’t defend IHSA chess crown; BHS junior top individual
By Steve Zalusky Daily Herald Staff
It’s hard to repeat in high school chess.
Just ask Stevenson High School Coach Scott Oliver. His team, which won the overall Illinois High School Association (IHSA) championship last year, finished fourth this year.
Urbana University High School captured this year’s title this weekend in Peoria, with Chicago’s Whitney Young taking second, followed by Niles North High School in Skokie.
“Everybody was gunning for No. 1. And this Uni High team came along and they were really strong and certainly deserved to win the championship,” he said.
Still, Oliver was pleased that his team once again cracked the top 10.
“I think this now is our sixth year in a row of being in the top six in the state. Very impressive for a team to keep going that long,” he said.
Barrington High School placed fifth, but one of its members, junior Zach Kasiurak, finished first overall in individual competition.
Barrington coach Jeff Doles said Kasiurak is not only a good player, but also motivates other players. He’s like having another coach on the team, Doles said.
“He teaches the other players, he volunteers in the community. He’s an incredible kid,” Doles said.
Kasiurak finished in the top 10 both his freshman and sophomore year, winding up as high as fifth one year.
“I play in adult tournaments and national tournaments all over the country. I’ve been playing for quite a while, so it was really nice to finally win,” Kasiurak said.
Barrington was catapulted into fifth with a win against Cary-Grove in a case of the tables turning.
“It’s funny. Our guys played their guys in the last round. They won this year. We beat them when we played them last year,” Cary-Grove coach Peter Spizzirri said.
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So who won?