Wagner, Kentner Lead Sandburg to State Badminton Title

Sandburg’s Katie Wagner and Lincoln-Way Central’s Jessica Glennon are conference and neighborhood rivals. They have grown accustomed to squaring off against one another on the badminton court.

So, when they met in the third-place match in the IHSA state tournament, it was no surprise, really.

Nor was it a surprise that Wagner edged Glennon 21-17, 21-13 to cap an exciting weekend for her individually and the Eagles as team. She reached the semifinals before falling to Loran Pasko of Thornton Factional South (12-21, 21-19, 21-18).

Wagner’s strong play powered Sandburg to the state championship with a team total of 14.5 points. T.F. South wound up second with 11.5 and New Trier was third with 11.

Glennon also advanced to the semifinals before falling to Mari Georgiadis of New Trier (21-12, 21-13). Georgiadis went on to capture the single crown with a 21-15, 21-5 victory over Pasko.

Maggie Van Grondelle and Tomoyo Tsurimi of Palatine won the doubles title with a 21-19, 23-21 victory over Mary Kate Monahan and Kara Redmer of Willowbrook.

Sandburg also picked up a fifth-place finish from Kara Kentner in singles. She defeated Ellen Lin of Naperville North 21-17, 21-16. Lincoln-Way Central, on the strength of Glennon’s play, finished in a five-way tie for eighth in the final team standings with seven points. Andrew also scored seven points.

The T-Bolts’ Marissa Ripoli was ousted in the consolation quarterfinals in singles by Kentner.