Oak Forest HS Chess Team is Going to State Tournament

With a final checkmate at the Sandburg High School Sectional Meet, the deal was sealed. The Oak Forest High School Chess Team is going to the IHSA State Chess Tournament this weekend at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, IL. The OFHS Chess warriors competed against 22 other teams in a round robin tournament of four competitions. If a team won two competitions during that tournament, that qualified the team for the state meet. Making it to state is especially sweet for this team, who brought a 2-10 record into the tournament for the regular season. Chess Team Sponsor Steve Hogan said, “As all teams entered for sectionals, our team really was a Cinderella qualifier considering that we pulled off two upsets against TF North and Rich East at sectionals to qualify for state finals in Peoria. One of the reasons we qualified for state was the excellent clutch win by time expiration from Chris Jackowiak (team captain) against Rich East.” Chess team members headed to state are: Tommie Jackson, Joey Gangolf, Cameron Spencer, Dylan Jones, Austin Nowicki, Chris Jackowiak, Scott Horan, Mickey O’Farrell, Gunner Sullivan, Damien Lauder, and Nathan Hughes.