The blind drawing that determines the state final pairings in bracketed team sports was held at the IHSA Office on Friday, December 17. This drawing covered the winter sports of girls basketball, boys basketball, and dual team wrestling, as well as Scholastic Bowl. IHSA staff members made the drawings. Traditionally, the pairings are made by ordering the sites that feed into the state finals in alphabetical order and numbering them. Then numbered peas are drawn from a bottle. The number on the first pea drawn represents the site whose winner will occupy the first position on the bracket, and so on. "The rolling of the peas" dates back to at least 1940. For more information on the history of the Rolling of the Peas, click here.
Class 1A Scholastic Bowl
Quarterfinal bracket position #1: St. Joseph (S.J.-Ogden) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #2: TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #3: TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #4: Robinson Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #5: Piasa (Southwestern) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #6: TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #7: Seneca Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #8: TBA Sectional
Class 2A Scholastic Bowl
Quarterfinal bracket position #1: Macomb Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #2: Mahomet (M.-Seymour) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #3: Orland Park (Sandburg) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #4: TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #5: Belvidere (H.S.) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #6: Carbondale (H.S.) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #7: Palatine (Fremd) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #8: Naperville (North) Sectional Wrestling
Boys Class 1A Dual Team Wrestling
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Match 1 of Rock Falls Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Match 1 of Tolono (Unity) Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Match 1 of Tremont Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Match 1 of TBA Sectional
Pea #5 represents winner of Match 2 of Rock Falls Sectional
Pea #6 represents winner of Match 2 of Tolono (Unity) Sectional
Pea #7 represents winner of Match 2 of Tremont Sectional
Pea #8 represents winner of Match 2 of TBA Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Quarterfinal bracket position #1: pea #4, TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #2: pea #7, Tremont Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #3: pea #5, Rock Falls Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #4: pea #1, Rock Falls Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #5: pea #3, Tremont Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #6: pea #8, TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #7: pea #6, Tolono (Unity) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #8: pea #2, Tolono (Unity) Sectional
Boys Class 2A Dual Team Wrestling
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Match 1 of TBA Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Match 1 of Woodstock (North) Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Match 1 of Washington Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Match 1 of Chicago (Brother Rice) Sectional
Pea #5 represents winner of Match 2 of TBA Sectional
Pea #6 represents winner of Match 2 of Woodstock (North) Sectional
Pea #7 represents winner of Match 2 of Washington Sectional
Pea #8 represents winner of Match 2 of Chicago (Brother Rice) Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Quarterfinal bracket position #1: pea #4, Chicago (Brother Rice) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #2: pea #7, Washington Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #3: pea #5, TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #4: pea #2, Woodstock (North) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #5: pea #1, TBA Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #6: pea #8, Chicago (Brother Rice) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #7: pea #3, Washington Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #8: pea #6, Woodstock (North) Sectional
Boys Class 3A Dual Team Wrestling
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Match 1 of Lincolnshire (Stevenson) Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Match 1 of TBA 2 Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Match 1 of TBA 1 Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Match 1 of South Elgin Sectional
Pea #5 represents winner of Match 2 of Lincolnshire (Stevenson) Sectional
Pea #6 represents winner of Match 2 of TBA 2 Sectional
Pea #7 represents winner of Match 2 of TBA 1 Sectional
Pea #8 represents winner of Match 2 of South Elgin Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Quarterfinal bracket position #1: pea #2, TBA 2 Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #2: pea #3, TBA 1 Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #3: pea #8, South Elgin Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #4: pea #4, South Elgin Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #5: pea #7, TBA 1 Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #6: pea #1, Lincolnshire (Stevenson) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #7: pea #6, TBA 2 Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #8: pea #5, Lincolnshire (Stevenson) Sectional
Boys Individual Wrestling
Starting weight of the championship bouts at State Finals: 145 lbs.
Girls Individual Wrestling
Starting weight of the championship bouts at State Finals: 145 lbs.
Boys Dual Team Wrestling Sectional Pairings
In boys dual team wrestling, the regional winners will be paired at the sectional level as follows: The names of the four regional sites will be alphabetized according to standard IHSA naming protocol and labeled A through D. The first sectional match (Match 1) will pair the winner of Regional A and the winner of Regional C. The second sectional match (Match 2) will pair the winner of Regional B and the winner of Regional D. The winners of Match 1 and Match 2 will both advance to the state final tournament. The pairings for the state final tournament are outlined above.
Class 1A Girls Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Mt. Sterling (Brown County) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Wayne City Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Serena Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: TBA Super-Sectional
Class 2A Girls Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Vandalia Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Macomb Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Elgin (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Morton College Super-Sectional
Class 3A Girls Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Highland Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Carpentersville (Dundee-Crown) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Romeoville (Lewis University) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: TBA Super-Sectional
Class 4A Girls Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Arlington Heights (Hersey) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: TBA Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Bloomington (Illinois Wesleyan U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: South Elgin Super-Sectional
Class 1A Boys Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Normal (ISU) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Jacksonville (Jacksonville Bowl) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: DeKalb (NIU) Super-Sectional
Class 2A Boys Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Sterling (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Springfield (Bank of Springfield Center) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Joliet (Central) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional
Class 3A Boys Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Springfield (Bank of Springfield Center) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: TBA Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Chicago (UIC) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Ottawa (Twp.) Super-Sectional
Class 4A Boys Basketball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Chicago (UIC) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: TBA Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Normal (ISU) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: DeKalb (NIU) Super-Sectional
Sectional Pairings
In boys and girls basketball, some sectionals are seeded in their entirety ("sectional complexes") and some are seeded in two separate groups ("subsectionals"). The seeds are then distributed among four regionals for the first level of competition. In the sectional semifinals, the regional champions are paired as follows:
Sectional complex: The regional containing the #1 seed is paired with the regional containing the #4 seed, while the regional containing the #2 seed is paired with the regional containing the #3 seed.
Two subsectionals: The regional containing the #1 seed of subsectional A is paired with the regional containing the #2 seed of subsectional B, while the regional containing the #1 seed of subsectional B is paired with the regional containing the #2 seed of subsectional A. An exception to these pairings is made for the southernmost sectional in Class 4A. In these sectionals, the regional winners from the Metro-East area will play at a local site. The regional winners from central Illinois will play their semifinal at another site. The sectional championship game will be played at the sectional site.