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Lemont High School's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter achieved significant success at the 2025 FBLA State Leadership Conference in Springfield, securing top ten positions in 10 out of 14 events. The conference took place on March 28-29 and showcased talent from around the state.
Senior Matthew Bechtlofft celebrated a notable achievement by earning his first state title with a first-place finish in the Graphic Design competition. In addition, freshmen John Perry and Alex Tchernev secured third place in Introduction to Programming. The team of seniors Aditya Oberai, Vikram Oberai, and Aidan Potaczek ranked fourth in Coding & Programming. Juniors Olivia Sarno and Addyson Wolfe matched this result in Business Ethics, and junior Nina Risatti also took fourth in Business Communications.
Other students recognized for their performance included senior Amad Yaagoub, who placed sixth in Financial Statement Analysis, and the team of seniors Sofia Kuziel, Anisha Oberai, and Charlotte Putt, who came in fifth for Website Design. Sophomores Luke Auskalnis, Ian Koestner, and Brandon Potaczek placed fifth in Hospitality & Event Management. Freshmen Daniel Khan and Will Sagotz finished eighth in Entrepreneurship, while freshman Medha Vicharapu earned a fifth-place spot in Introduction to Public Speaking.
Previously, Lemont's students excelled at the Central Northern Area Conference regional, held at Joliet Junior College in December. There, the school placed among the top four in 18 events, winning first place in six team competitions and six individual events.
Team winners included members like Kuziel, Anisha Oberai, and Putt in Website Design; Sarno and Wolfe in Business Ethics; Auskalnis, Koestner, and Potaczek in Hospitality & Event Management; Khan and Sagotz in Entrepreneurship; and Perry and Tchernev in Introduction to Programming. Sophomores Aras Gedgaudas and Gabriel Zarycki were first in Broadcast Journalism.
Individual successes involved Bechtlofft in Graphic Design, Risatti in Business Communications, Kimantas in Introduction to Marketing Concepts, Vicharapu in Introduction to Public Speaking, senior Karolina Gmiterek in Job Interview, and junior Joey Fiore in Business Plan.
Historically, Lemont's FBLA chapter has secured at least one state event title in 11 out of the last 15 years and captured multiple championships on eight occasions. Notable past achievements include a school-record five state titles in 2011 and 2016. Multiple state-title holders from Lemont's history include Martynas Juskelis ‘18, Anna Mietus ‘19, and Alex Paulius ‘18, with Spenser Bailey ‘16, Danny Banas ‘11, and Krystian Paszek ‘11 each winning two titles. In 2024, Aditya and Vikram Oberai secured a state title in Mobile Application Development.
The FBLA represents the largest business career-focused student organization globally, with over 200,000 high school members worldwide. The FBLA’s Illinois chapter can be accessed online at www.ilfbla.org. Lemont’s FBLA chapter is guided by teacher John Aspel.
