DEKALB — The Hub bowling team returned to the lanes for Interstate 8 Conference competition Monday afternoon, marking the first head-to-head contest for Rochelle in roughly 12 months. The Hubs faced the defending conference champion Sycamore Spartans, who saw five bowlers average over 200 pins per game in a 3,740-2,889 victory over Rochelle.

Sycamore dominated the opening game at Mardi Gras Lanes on Monday, winning 1,240-869 behind four 200-plus scores from Tommy Reboletti (246), Evan Borowicz (237), Jeffrey Gasso (225) and Christian Lanan (225). Junior Devansh Patel rolled Rochelle’s high score of 184.

“It’s great that our boys are back out there getting some competition,” head coach Jim Lyles said. “We know where we’re at and what we need to work on. Sycamore makes a lot of spares, they throw the ball really well and they have a lot of new equipment. Their bowlers have been competing for a while and we have a lot of bowlers who are new to the sport.”

Reboletti led all bowlers during Monday’s match, firing three 246 scores for a high series of 738. The Spartans topped the Hubs 1,236-935 in the second game behind Reboletti’s 246 and Riley Wittenberg’s 224. Seniors Keith Holland and Reese Kirk shot 179 and 168 for Rochelle.

Despite a strong third game from the Hubs, Sycamore closed out the conference sweep with a 1,264-1,085 victory in the finale. Junior Sergio Guevara spearheaded the charge for Rochelle, firing 237 to finish with a team-high series of 525 while Holland totaled 196 to end the meet with a 507 series. Sophomore Evin Odle rolled a series-best 190 in his final game for the Hubs.

“Reese is an athlete and he has the mindset to succeed at anything he does,” Lyles said. “He wants to learn and he’s done a really good job so far. Sergio and I worked on lining him up over the first two games and he changed balls before his third game. He was a lot more comfortable after the ball change and he was finding the pocket quite a bit.”

Borowicz scored 226 in the third game to finish with a 644 series for Sycamore, while Wittenberg recorded 249 for a 616 series and Lanan ended the match with a 601 series. Rochelle will return to the lanes at LaSalle-Peru on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m.

Oregon Classic

The Rochelle Hubs finished seventh out of eight teams in the Oregon Hawk Classic at Dixon’s Plum Hollow Lanes on Saturday, Feb. 6, totaling 4,522 pins over six games. Senior Reese Kirk led the way with a 1,046 series to take 18th place overall, rolling high scores of 223 and 206.

Junior Sergio Guevara added a 943 series with high scores of 187, 176 and 170. Sophomore Evin Odle, junior Devansh Patel and junior Hayden Smith rolled series score of 851, 836 and 823.