Tonyan accepts D-I offer

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McHenry volleyball player Danielle Tonyan didn’t give it much thought when she received a recruiting letter from NCAA Division I
Bowling Green last spring.

“It was this random letter,” said Tonyan, a 6-foot right-side hitter who will be a senior. “I kind of put it off to the side.”

She soon learned more about the Ohio school. Falcons coach Denise Van De Walle’s staff saw her play with Sky High’s 17 Black team in a tournament in Indiana, and Tonyan visited Bowling Green in April. Tonyan attended a volleyball camp the first week of July and accepted Bowling Green’s scholarship offer before she came home.

“I was leaning that way from the start,” Tonyan said. “I met the team and felt I was ready for that competitive level. The campus was beautiful, and their coach (Van De Walle) was like another mom for me.”

Tonyan earned Northwest Herald All-Area honorable mention last season and first received a scholarship offer from Tennessee-Martin. Although Tennessee-Martin coach Darrin McClure was eager to land Tonyan at his school, she appreciated his honesty.

“They said, ‘Keep an open mind. We want you to be happy,’ ” Tonyan said.

Figueroa to D-III power: Harvard graduate Sergio Figueroa, an IHSA Class 1A state champion at 112 pounds last season, will continue his wrestling career this year at Wartburg College, a D-III school in Waverly, Iowa.

Figueroa is going from one powerhouse program to another. Wartburg has won five of the past seven NCAA D-III national championships, including the past two.

Figueroa finished 45-3 last season and was selected as the Northwest Herald Wrestler of the Year. He defeated Aledo’s Austin Skiles to become Harvard’s 10th individual state champion in its 50 years of wrestling.

Hornets moving on: Harvard football and wrestling coach Tim Haak also announced that former Hornets Phil Towne and Brian Lovell will continue their athletic careers at Wisconsin-Platteville.

Towne, a Northwest Herald All-Area second team selection as a defensive lineman, will play football for the Pioneers.

Lovell, a Class 1A state runner-up at 119 pounds, will wrestle at Platteville.

Others moving on: McHenry shortstop-pitcher Mike Canevello will play baseball at Loras College, a D-III school in Dubuque, Iowa. Former Crystal Lake Central pitchers Connor Buxton and Chris Cheney will play at Kishwaukee College in Malta.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached at 815-526-4513. He also can be reached by fax at 815-459-5640 or by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.