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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the Lincoln-Way Community | ||||||
| 4 | High School District 210 girls wrestling co-op team on winning | ||||||
| 5 | the 2024-2025 Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials | ||||||
| 6 | Association's (IWCOA) Girls Dual Team State Championship; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, The Lincoln-Way girls wrestling co-op team, the | ||||||
| 8 | district's first, operates through Lincoln-Way Central High | ||||||
| 9 | School in New Lenox and is also open to female students | ||||||
| 10 | attending Lincoln-Way West High School in New Lenox and | ||||||
| 11 | Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, The inaugural Lincoln-Way girls wrestling co-op | ||||||
| 13 | team won its first-ever IWCOA Girls Dual Team State | ||||||
| 14 | Championship on December 28, 2024, defeating six teams in the | ||||||
| 15 | quarterfinals, including Hoffman Estates High School in the | ||||||
| 16 | semi-final and Schaumburg High School in the championship, and | ||||||
| 17 | this event marked the first time the State has held a | ||||||
| 18 | dual-format girls team state championship wrestling | ||||||
| 19 | tournament; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, The members of the Lincoln-Way girls wrestling | ||||||
| 21 | co-op team achieved individual successes during the 2024-2025 | ||||||
| 22 | season, including Illinois High School Association (IHSA) | ||||||
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| 1 | regional champion and third place State finisher Zoe Dempsey, | ||||||
| 2 | IHSA regional champions and State qualifiers Sadie Sparks and | ||||||
| 3 | Riley Cooney, State qualifier Ella Giertuga, and IHSA regional | ||||||
| 4 | champions Emily Peyton and Bailey Mitchell; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, The Lincoln-Way girls wrestling co-op team is led | ||||||
| 6 | by Coach Josh Napier, who has worked as a special services | ||||||
| 7 | teacher and coach for Lincoln-Way Central High School for the | ||||||
| 8 | last six years; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, Coach Napier has 13 years of coaching experience, | ||||||
| 10 | including at Oak Forest High School and Hickory Creek Middle | ||||||
| 11 | School, where he established the middle school's wrestling | ||||||
| 12 | program and served as its first head coach; he has served as | ||||||
| 13 | the head freshman wrestling coach at Lincoln-Way Central High | ||||||
| 14 | School for the past six years, and he has been actively | ||||||
| 15 | recruiting female students to join the girls wrestling | ||||||
| 16 | program; and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, Coach Napier has taken the lead in working with | ||||||
| 18 | the Lincoln-Way girls wrestling co-op team as an extension of | ||||||
| 19 | the boys team over the years, guiding the girls team to three | ||||||
| 20 | IHSA State Tournaments and, just at Lincoln-Way Central High | ||||||
| 21 | School alone, increasing the number of girl wrestlers from two | ||||||
| 22 | to 15 over the past four years; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Girls wrestling is currently the fastest-growing | ||||||
| 2 | high school sport in the country, with an estimated 50,000 | ||||||
| 3 | athletes competing across the nation; and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, The Lincoln-Way girls wrestling co-op team | ||||||
| 5 | concluded its season with a perfect 19-0 record; therefore, be | ||||||
| 6 | it | ||||||
| 7 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 8 | HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 9 | we congratulate Coach Josh Napier and all members of the | ||||||
| 10 | Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 girls wrestling | ||||||
| 11 | co-op team on a successful 2024-2025 season and for winning | ||||||
| 12 | the 2025 Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association | ||||||
| 13 | (IWCOA) Girls Dual Team State Championship. | ||||||