Geneva's Matt Rodewald Will Bring on IHSA's March Madness

Geneva High School grad and sports PA announcer Matt Rodewald will be the host and sideline reporter down in Normal and in Peoria for all four weekends of the 2011 Illinois High School Association Girls and Boys Basketball State Final Tournaments.

"It's been a goal of mine to increase prep sports coverage in electronic media, and I'm hoping that this will become the go-to channel for high school sports in Chicago," Rodewald said. "I'm thrilled that WMAQ and the IHSA have created a partnership, and I'm honored to be a small part of it."

The TV coverage marks a broadcast partnership between the IHSA and and NBC Chicago. The complete schedule of semifinal, third-place and state championship games will be seen on Chicago Non Stop (Digital Channel 5.2, Comcast 341, WOW 50 and RSN 131) beginning at the end of February, a WMAX press release said.

“Since we launched our Chicago Non Stop digital channel last November we continue to look for programming that is uniquely Chicago and serves our local communities,” said Larry Wert, president, Central & Western Region, NBC Local Media. “The IHSA state championships are a great event to televise for high school basketball fans throughout our viewing area.”

The IHSA Girls and Boys Basketball State Finals are known as America’s Original March Madness. The IHSA will crown state champions in four girls classes and four boys classes throughout February and March. The IHSA Girls Basketball State Finals unfold at Redbird Arena in Normal on Feb. 25-26 (1A/2A) and March 4-5 (3A/4A).

The scene then shifts to Peoria’s Civic Center, where the boys championship unfold at Carver Arena on March 11-12 (1A/2A) and March 18-19 (3A/4A), the press release said.

“We are excited about this new partnership that will bring IHSA March Madness to NBC for our Chicagoland viewers,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “WMAQ is a staple in the Chicago broadcasting landscape and we feel confident Chicago Non Stop will allow for a broader audience to enjoy the IHSA Girls and Boys Basketball state tournaments in Chicagoland.”

The IHSA and When We Were Young Productions (WWWYP) signed a seven-year contract in September 2010 making the Madison, Wisconsin based group the IHSA’s television and internet streaming broadcast partner. The IHSA and WWWYP currently cover all IHSA sport state finals and select activities on www.ihsa.tv.

Most of IHSA.tv free events are live broadcasts, while some are turned into highlight shows that are posted on the site in the days that follow. All content is available on the website for on-demand viewing at any time. The 2010 IHSA Football State Championship were carried live on ESPN3.com, marking the first time that ESPN has broadcast a high school state association state final event in any sport on any of the network’s platforms.

Much of the information for this article is courtesy of an IHSA / WMAQ press release.