WB6, Mid-Illini, Peoria- Some History & Some Numbers

This post is looking at the schools of the Western Big Six Conference, the Mid-Illini Conference, and the schools in the city of Peoria. The stats that have been put together were taken from the IHSA website, so if any stats are inaccurate, it is because either the stats on the website are inaccurate or I miscopied them.

The schools involved are:
WB6- Sterling, Geneseo, UTHS, Moline, Alleman, Rock Island, Galesburg, Quincy

Mid-Illini- Dunlap, Canton, Limestone, East Peoria, Morton, Metamora, Washington, Pekin

Peoria- Peoria ND, Manual, Peoria, Richwoods

My hope is to educate the reader about the rich athletic traditions of these schools, and to celebrate those achievements. First off, you need to take out a pen and pad of paper- it’s time to test your sports knowledge. 

WB6, Mid-Illini, Peoria Quiz
1- From this group, which school has the largest enrollment?
A- Washington, B- Quincy,  C- Moline, D- Pekin

2- From this group, which public school has the smallest enrollment?
A- Canton,  B- Geneseo,  C- Metamora,  D- Manual

3- Which school won the very first girls basketball State Championship?
A- Sterling,  B- Washington,  C- Richwoods,  D- Moline

Wharton FH, Moline

4- Which school won the very first boys basketball State Championship?
A- Galesburg,  B- Rock Island,  C- Pekin,  D- Peoria

5- Which school has had the most top four finishes in boys golf?
A- Galesburg,  B- Quincy,  C- Pekin,  D- Dunlap

Rock Island FH

6- Manual boys basketball won four straight State Championships, what other school/sport has done that?
A- Geneseo-Football,  B- Washington-Wrestling,  C-Morton-Girls Basketball,  D-Galesburg-Baseball

Manual’s Dick VanSyoc

7- Which school has their main spectator gym named for a female?
A- UTHS,  B- Canton,  C- Pekin,  D- Limestone

8- The Western Big Six named their award for the outstanding athlete after a coach from which school?
A- Alleman,  B- Moline,  C- Rock island,  D- Galesburg

Richwood’s State Champs

9- From this group, when was the earliest State  Championship won?
A- 1942,  B- 1913,  C- 1908, D- 1893

10- What school has won the most State Championships in baseball?
A- Galesburg,  B- Rock Island,  C- Manual,  D- Washington

Pekin 1967 State Champs

11- Who coached boys basketball at three different WB6 schools?
A- Jerry Leggett,  B- Duncan Reid,  C- Thom Sigel,  D- Cliff Talley

12- Who coached the longest of any coach?
A- Don Morris-Alleman,  B-Evan Massey-Galesburg,  C- Gene Jones-Metamora, D- Bob LaCroix-Peoria/Richwoods.

Sterling State Champs

13- Before Chuck Buescher went to Peoria and Dick VanSyoc went to Manual- both of them first coached at where?
A- Washington,  B- Limestone,  C- Richwoods,  D- Moline

14- Which of these coaching legends had the longest tenure at this school?
A- Thiel at Galesburg,  B- Hanks at Quincy,  C- Leggett-Quincy, D- Hawkins at Pekin

Quincy’s Sherril Hanks

15- What coach won a State Championship in two different sports?
A- Sean Taylor- Moline,  B- Thom Sigel- Rock Island,  C- John Gross- Limestone,  D- Jay Hatch-Alleman

16- Which girls basketball team plays their home games in the school’s main gym?
A- Rock Island,  B- Canton,  C- UTHS,  D- Quincy

Quincy’s Jerry Leggett

17- What school has the most top four finishes in Boys Tennis?
A- Moline,  B- Dunlap,  C- Rock Island,  D- Pekin

18- Who coached the longest?
A- Pat Ryan at Metamora,  B- Wayne Hammerton- Richwoods, C- Bob Reade at Geneseo, D-Don Morris-Alleman

19- Which of these legends is the only one to win a State Championship?
A- Dawdie Hawkins,  B- John Thiel,  C- Duncan Reid,  D- Sherril Hanks

20- What school has the most top four finishes at State in all sports?
A- Peoria ND,  B- Moline,  C- Rock Island,  D- Peoria

Cantons Alice Ingersoll

Answers
1- C.  Moline 2093, Quincy 1876, Pekin 1820, Rock Island 1816, UTHS 1740

2- D.  Manual 593, Canton 650, Geneseo 840, Limestone 891, Metamora 923

3- A.  1977 Sterling Golden Girls

4- D.  1908 Peoria High

5- B.   Quincy 13, Dunlap 8, Pekin 8, Galesburg 7

Gene Jones, Metamora Cross Country

6-B.    Washington 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

7-B.   Canton’s Alice Ingersoll Gym

8-A.   Alleman’s Don Morris

9-D    1893 Peoria won Boys Track

10- C. Manual 1950, 1965, 1968

11- A.  Jerry Leggett- Rock Island then Quincy then Moline

Rock Island’s Thom Sigel

12-C.  Gene Jones over 50 years as Metamora Cross Country Coach

13-A.  Both coached at Washington

14-A.  Thiel- Galesburg 18, Hanks-Quincy 15, Leggett-Quincy 14, Hawkins-Pekin 14

15-D.  Jay Hatch- Alleman, Softball and Basketball

16-B.  Canton plays in Alice Ingersoll

17-A and D.  Moline 5, Pekin 5

Peoria 1908 State Champs

18-D. Morris-Alleman 33, Pat Ryan-Metamora 30, Wayne Hammerton-Richwoods 

26, Bob Reade-Geneseo 17. 

19-A. Hawkins-Pekin 1964, 1967

20-B. Moline 46, Peoria ND 41, Quincy 37, Alleman 31, Rock Island 29, Peoria 28, Galesburg 27

I hope you enjoyed the quiz. For the remainder of this blog, I have put together a variety of lists. Again, they are based on what is on the IHSA website for each school.