Sports

VWCH Tip-Off Classic dates announced

Van Wert County Hospital’s fourth annual Tip-Off Classic will be held Friday and Saturday, December 4-5, at Van Wert High School. 

Opening up the basketball season on Friday, December 4, will be Wayne Trace and Lincolnview at 6 p.m., with Van Wert and Crestview to follow at approximately 7:30 that evening.  Saturday night, December 5, will feature the consolation game, beginning at 6 p.m., and the championship game to follow. Both nights are open session and one ticket will gain admittance to both games each evening.  Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $4 for students pre-sale. 

All tickets at the door will be $6. Fans arriving for the first game are requested to park on the south side of Van Wert High School, while those arriving for the second game are to park on the north side.  The profits from these games are divided equally between the four schools.

For more information and when pre-sale tickets will be available, contact one of the schools’ athletic departments.

Doors for fans open both nights at 5:30 p.m.
11/20

McDonald's Tip-Off Tourney dates set

The third annual McDonald’s Tip-Off Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday, November 27-28 at Van Wert High School. 

Opening up the basketball season on Friday, November 27, will be Crestview and Wayne Trace at 6 p.m., with Van Wert and Ottoville to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.  On Saturday night, November 28, the consolation game will begin at 6 p.m., with the championship game to follow. Games will be open sessions, meaning that one ticket will gain admittance to both games each evening.

 Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $4 for students at the door. There is no pre-sale.

 The south high school gym entrance will be the only gate open for both games each night. The profits from the games are divided equally between the four schools.

For more information, contact each home school’s athletic department.

Doors for fans open both nights at 5:30 p.m.
11/20

VW-Ottoville boys' cage game scheduled

Van Wert will play at Ottoville on Wednesday in a high school boys' basketball OHSAA Foundation game. The junior varsity game will start at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity game to follow.

Proceeds for the game will benefit Greg Horstman and his family. Horstman, a former Ottoville player, is batting cancer.
11/20

Crestview boys' basketball staff named

Changes in the Crestview boys’ basketball staff that encompass various coaches resigning from one position as they moved to another position within the staff has created some confusion as those resignations are approved by the board of education during its monthly meetings.

The Crestview boys’ basketball coaching staff consists of Head Coach Jeremy Best, Assistant Varsity Coach Mark Gregory, Junior Varsity Coach Dave Bowen, Freshman Coach Mike Myers, Eighth Grade Coach Trey Stover, and Seventh Grade Coach Dan Miller.

The Crestview Athletic Department apologizes for any confusion that may have occurred.
11/20

From Thursday

YM flag football season results listed

The YMCA of Van Wert County’s flag football session has ended until next season.  With two age divisions, there was a high level of participation. 

The 4-5-6 year old Division was a six-week program, with approximately 70 kids participating, along with 15 coaches and four referees.

The 7 and older age Division was a seven-week program with approximately 60 participants, as well as 14 coaches and four referees. 

The Fighting Irish team, coached by Eric McCracken, was the league champ.  Members of the team are Drew Bagley, Jace Vining, Jaxon Amweg, Jalen McCracken, Jacoby Kelly, Reece Luginbill and Ryan Rager.  The Gators, coached by Spencer Wise and Ty Conrad, were the tournament champs. Members of that team are Ries Wise, Parker Conrad, Drew Kline, Hunter Simmons, Ryan Chen, Billy Howard and Cam Burkhart.

More information can be found about this and other programs offered at the Van Wert YMCA by calling 419.238.0443 or visiting the YMCA’s website at www.vwymca.com.
The Gators are shown celebrating their flag football tournament victory. (YMCA photo)
11/18

Penguins, Tigers win YM soccer titles

The YMCA of Van Wert County’s fall soccer session recently came to an end. The U-6 Soccer division was a six-week session with 40 participants and 10 coaches. The U-8 division played seven weeks, with 40 kids participating and seven coaches. The U-8 Tournament champs were The Penguins, coached by Steve Hatfield.  Members of the team are Daniel Miller, Trey Laudick, Cullen Dunn, Austin Taylor, Cody Gamble, Austin Bissonette, Ryan Chen, Kaden Thomas and Daegan Hatfield.

The U-10-12 division played seven weeks of games, with 50 kids participating and five coaches. The tournament champs were the Tigers, coached by Mitch Price. Members of the team are Kylar Sherry, Karyssa Taylor, Zachary Miller, Skyler Whitaker, Caleb Phillips, Jacob Johnson, AJ Phillips, Justin Phillips, Danil Lichtensteiger, Zachary Lape and Natalie Fetzer.

More information can be found about this and any other programs offered at the Van Wert YMCA by calling 419.238.0443 or visiting the YMCA website at www.vwymca.com.
11/18

YMCA volleyball leagues end season

The YMCA of Van Wert County’s fall volleyball session recently ended. 

The 4-5-6-year-olds Division had six weeks of clinics, with a total of eight participants and three coaches.  The 7-8-9 year old Division had a seven-week session, with 40 participants and eight coaches total.  The Spikes, coached by Terika Miller, were both the tournament and league champs. Members of the team are Codi Miller, Morgan Miller, Kaileigh Gentry, MiKayla Hernandez, Shannyn Pfau, Erin Miller, Katie McVaigh, Sydney Maller, Jerica Huebner and Morgan Butler. 

The 10-11-12 Division had 50 participants and nine coaches total. The Blockers, coached by Brooke Myers and Whitney Parrish, won the league and tournament championships. Team members are Leslie Skelton, Claire Zaleski, Brady Guest, Nevada Smith, Danielle Ray, Megan Spray, Cassie Cloud, Ashton Bowersock, Alyssa Thornell, Morgan Lahman and Tianna Rager.

More information can be found about this and any other programs offered at the Van Wert YMCA by calling 419.238.0443 or visiting the YMCA website at www.vwymca.com
The Spikes won the 7-8-9-year-olds Division in the YMCA's fall volleyball leagues.

The Blockers won the 10-11-12-year-olds Division in the YMCA's fall volleyball leagues.
11/18

St. John's-Ada playoff game on tape delay

DELPHOS – WTLW TV, Channel 44, will broadcast, via tape-delay, the St. John’s versus Ada Region 22 final game at 11 p.m. Saturday.

In addition, come out and enjoy some of Tom “Red” Neumeier’s chili and listen to long-time local radio personality Mark Wulfhorst and fellow broadcaster Rick Burgei interview St. John’s football coach Todd Schulte on that game from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at The Doug-Out Sports Gallery in Delphos.
11/18

From Tuesday

VW Marlins defeat Defiance, Bucyrus

The Van Wert YMCA Marlins hosted a tri-meet on Saturday against the Defiance and Bucyrus YMCAs.   The Marlins turned in a very strong performance overall, defeating both of the visiting teams, 6-4 over Defiance and 6-0 over Bucyrus. Coach Lee Schumm was extremely pleased with the team’s overall performance. Here’s a recap of their results:

In the 8 and Under Girls and Boys Division, Katie McVaigh placed first in four events, the 100 individual medley, 25 freestyle, 50 freestyle and 25 backstroke. Risa Pollock posted a second in the 200 freestyle and 25 freestyle, first in the 25 butterfly and a third in the 25 backstroke. Jared Lucas finished fourth in the 25 freestyle, second in the 25 butterfly, third in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 25 backstroke.  Andrew Henkaline placed second in both the 50 freestyle and the 25 backstroke. 

In the 11-12 Boys Division, Colton Deschner finished first in the 200 freestyle and 50 breaststroke, third in the 50 freestyle and second in the 50 backstroke.  Brendan Marecic placed first in three events, the 100 freestyle, 100 IM and 50 butterfly.

In the 13-14 Girls Division, Hannah Stemen placed second in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly, first in the 100 backstroke and fourth in the 100 freestyle.  Lydia Burley finished second in the 100 backstroke and breaststroke, third in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 50 freestyle race.  Paige Lucas Finished first in four events, 200 IM, 100 butterfly, 400 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

In the 13-14 Boys Division, Eric Easley placed first in all four of his events: the 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke.  Evan Stant finished second in the 50 freestyle and first in the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. 

In the 15 and Over Boys Division, Trey Stemen placed third in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke.   David Mills finished first in the 200 IM, 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.  Matt Cucciarre posted a third in the 200 freestyle and second in the 400 freestyle.  Brian Easley placed first in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke.

In relay action, the Marlins Placed first in all the relays events they competed in: Boys 13-14 200 medley (Marecic, E. Easley, E. Stant and S. Easley); Boys 15-18 200 medley (T. Stemen, B. Easley, D. Mills and M. Cucciarre);  Girls 9-10 200 freestyle (Anna Henkaline, K. McVaigh, R. Pollock and Addie Henkaline); 11-12 Boys 200 freestyle (S. Easley, C. Deschner, A. Stant and B. Marecic) and the Boys 200 Free (D. Mills, M. Cucciarre, T. Stemen and B. Easley).
11/16

Blue Jays down Leipsic in playoffs

The Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays continued to roll though the playoffs with a 34-7 spanking of the Leipsic Vikings Saturday night at Lima Stadium.

The Blue Jays started sluggishly on offense, losing two fumbles early on, but when the Blue and Gold finally got their “O” untracked, it was lights out on any Leipsic upset chances. Delphos led 7-0 after one stop and 28-0 at the break en route to the lopsided win.

The Jays rushed for 288 yards, as Jordan Leininger registered 96 yards from his tailback position and quarterback Wes Ulm rambled for 69 yards. Leininger scored one TD, while Ulm ran for two more. The other two St. John’s touchdowns came via the air (an 11-yard TD strike to Steven Metcalfe and a 38-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Bergfeld), as Ulm was a perfect 10 for 10 and 128 yards passing.

Overall, St. John’s accounted for a total of 416 offensive yards, while holding Leipsic to only 134.

The Blue Jays’ defense was just as torrid as its counterparts on the other side of the ball. The defense made up for the first Blue Jay fumble as defensive back Justin Backus intercepted a pass from Leipsic quarterback Liam Nadler. The second turnover caused by the Blue Jays’ defense made up for the second St. John’s fumble, as Nate Webb recovered a fumble by Nadler, who dropped the ball when hit while trying to throw.

Overall, the Blue Jays’ defense held Nadler to 8 of 16 passes for 91 yards and sacked him four times, including two by Derek Klaus. The Jays’ “D” also held Leipsic to just 43 yards rushing. The Blue Jays defense would get 1-up on Leipsic in the turnover department, as A.J. Klausing picked off a second Nader pass at their own 40-yard line in the second stanza. That turnover led St. John’s to its second TD of the night.

Delphos St. John’s (12-0) will meet Ada (12-0) for the regional championship Saturday at Findlay with a kick-off at 7 p.m. Leipsic ends its season 10-2.
11/16

Regional Football Playoff Sites

Division IV - All Games at 7 p.m. Saturday

Region 13

No. 1 Chagrin Falls (12-0) vs. No. 6 Peninsula Woodridge (10-2), Twinsburg Tiger Stadium

Region 14

No. 5 Ottawa-Glandorf (10-2) vs. No. 3 Orrville (9-3), Tiffin Stadium

Region 15

No. 5 Coshocton (10-2) vs. No. 2 Ironton (10-2), Nelsonville-York Boston Stadium

 Region 16

No. 1 Clarksville Clinton-Massie (12-0), No. 2 Kettering Archbishop Alter (12-0), Centerville Stadium

Division V - All Games at 7:30 p.m. Friday

Region 17

No. 1 Cuyahoga Heights (12-0) vs. No. 3 Youngstown Ursuline (8-3), Aurora Veterans Stadium

Region 18

No. 1 Hamler Patrick Henry (12-0) vs. No. 2 Defiance Tinora (11-1), Defiance Fred Brown Stadium

Region 19

No. 1 Fredericktown (12-0) vs. No. 6 West Lafayette Ridgewood (12-0), Johnstown Chambers Memorial Stadium

 Region 20

No. 8 St. Henry (9-3) vs. No. 2 Coldwater (11-1), Wapakoneta Harmon Field

Division VI - All Games at 7 p.m. Saturday

Region 21

No. 4 Bucyrus Wynford (12-0) vs. No. 2 Norwalk St. Paul (12-0), Ashland Community Stadium

Region 22

No. 1 Delphos St. John’s (12-0) vs. No. 2 Ada (12-0), Findlay Donnell Stadium

Region 23

No. 1 Malvern (11-1) vs. No. 6 Grove City Christian (11-1), Zanesville Sulsberger Memorial Stadium

Region 24

No. 5 Maria Stein Marion Local (7-5) vs. No. 7 Fort Loramie (10-2), Wapakoneta Harmon Field.

2009 All-WBL Football Teams

Selections for this year’s All-Western Buckeye League teams was announced recently. Several Van Wert players earned All-WBL recognition this year. Selectees include the following:

First Team Offense

Center – Ross Ellerbrock – Junior - Ottawa Glandorf

Guards – Dakota Westrick – Senior – Defiance; Nick Truesdale – Senior – Shawnee

Tackles – Anthony Hauter – Junior – Van Wert; Brent Sager – Senior – Ottawa Glandorf; Jacob  Rubio – Senior – Defiance

Tight End – Austin Fleming – Junior – Van Wert

Wide Receivers – Alex Nofziger – Senior – Defiance; Max Morrison – Junior – Kenton

Running Backs – Aaron Swanson – Senior – Defiance; Brandon Kuhlman – Sophomore – Ottawa Glandorf; Connor Massillo – Junior – Van Wert

Quarterback – Maty Mauk – Sophomore – Kenton

First Team Defense

Interior Linemen – Brent Sager – Senior – Ottawa Glandorf; Isaiah Irons – Senior – Shawnee; Jake Suman – Senior – Defiance; Weston Burnworth – Senior – Kenton

Defensive Ends – Jacob Recker – Senior – Ottawa Glandorf; Zac Rosenbauer – Senior – Shawnee

Linebackers – Jeff Siefker – Junior – Ottawa Glandorf; Mark Fackler – Senior – Kenton; Trey Runneals – Sophomore – Shawnee

Defensive Backs – Alex Nofziger – Senior – Defiance; Brian Laubenthal – Senior – Ottawa Glandorf; Dillon Risser – Senior – Shawnee

Defensive Lineman of the Year – Zac Rosenbauer – Senior – Shawnee

Defensive Back of the Year – Mark Fackler – Senior – Kenton

Offensive Lineman of the Year – Jake Rubio – Senior – Defiance

Offensive Back of the Year – Maty Mauk – Sophomore – Kenton

Kicking Game Specialist of the Year – Austin Etzler – Sophomore - Elida

Second Team Offense

Center – Treg Fortman – Senior – Van Wert

Guards – Dylon Poston – Senior – Defiance; Ryan Leopold – Senior – Ottawa Glandorf

Tackles – Corey Monhollen – Senior – Shawnee; Derek Jones – Junior – Celina; Garrett Miller – Junior – Kenton

Tight End – Matt Peck – Junior – Ottawa Glandorf

Wide Receivers – Andrew Tillman – Junior – Kenton; Dustin Howell – Junior – Kenton;

Running Backs – C. J. Sewell – Senior – Shawnee; Isaiah Irons – Senior – Shawnee; Kyle Puschell – Junior – St. Marys

Quarterback – Nathan Kahle – Junior – Ottawa Glandorf

Second Team Defense

Interior Linemen – Ben Schamp – Senior – St. Marys; Dylan Ellerbrock – Junior – Ottawa Glandorf; Lucas King – Senior – Kenton; Mike Bogan – Senior – Wapakoneta

Defensive Ends – Jarrod Kissling – Senior – Kenton

                                 Scot Gammon – Junior – Kenton

Linebackers – Brandon Craft – Senior – St. Marys; Max Peter – Senior – Defiance; Tony Black – Senior – Van Wert 

Defensive Backs – Chris Fannon – Senior – Kenton; Matt Hefner – Senior – Bath; Zach Buckland – Senior – Ottawa Glandorf

Honorable Mention

Bath

Aaron Smith – Sophomore – RB

Dan Painter – Junior – G

Brad Davis – Sophomore – DB

Cameron Garver – Junior - RB

Celina

Kahl Knapke – Junior – WR/DB

Brian Donovan – Junior - Center

Mitzhal Ross – Junior – DE

Dylan Cummins – Junior – LB

Defiance

Casey Fuhrmann – Senior – Center

Zack Dempsey – Senior – LB

Jacob Moser – Senior – LB

Dominic Jones – Senior – DT

Elida

Tyler Sebenoler – Senior – Center

Jacob Breitigan – Senior – G

Dakata Bechdolt – Senior – DB

Derrik Long – Senior – TE

Kenton

Greg Newland – Senior – Center

Cody Goslee – Senior – G

Daniel Lombardo – Senior – WR

Brice Fackler – Sophomore – DB

Ottawa-Glandorf

Logan Kaufman – Senior – LB

Ryan Kuhlman – Senior – WR

Grant Recker – Junior – DB

Craig Rieman – Sophomore – RB

Shawnee

Jamiil Williams – Junior – RB

Kishen Das – Senior – DL

Luke Morgan – Senior – DB

Hunter Bosch – Junior - DL

St. Marys

Keith Perry – Senior – LB

Matt Watkins – Senior – TE

Dan Roberts – Senior – LB

Sam Manning – Senior – Center

Van Wert

Donny Sites – Junior – LB

Zach Shytle – Junior – DT

Corey Clifton – Junior – QB

Nate Williams – Senior – WR

Wapakoneta

Justin Vorhees – Senior – OL

Dylan Shaffer – Senior – WR

Zach Ferenbaugh – Junior – LB

Alex Greve – Freshman - DB
11/16
 

Independent names All-Area grid team

With the state football playoffs well underway, it is once again time for the Van Wert All-Area Football Team to be announced. The all-area team is based on stats from the 2009 regular season only.

The all-area offensive, defensive, and special teams players are listed below. This season, the all-area committee decided to announce just one all-area team, instead of first team, second team and honorable mention lists from past seasons. This decision is believed to make the all-area team a more prestigious list of football accomplishments.

In the Van Wert area, eight high schools are represented on the team. They include Parkway, Van Wert, Crestview, Wayne Trace, Paulding, Antwerp, Delphos St. John’s and Delphos Jefferson (Lincolnview is considered a Van Wert area team but the Lancers do not field a varsity football squad).

Besides the all-area teams listed below, there are some special award winners that are chosen. At the top of the list is the 2009 “Coach of the Year.” Many fine coaches are in the Van Wert area, and the decision was a tough one, but in the end, two coaches tied for the award: Coach Bob Priest of Van Wert and Coach Todd Schulte of Delphos St. John’s.

Coach Priest turned a 3-7 record in 2008 into a 5-5 season in 2009 for the Van Wert Cougars. Van Wert came within winning one game of making the playoffs. Considering Van Wert fielded only 30-some players, this is quite a feat.

Coach Schulte is no stranger to post season awards, being named the top coach two other times. Schulte’s Blue Jays are making another run for a state football title. Schulte has guided St. John’s to the state championship twice, while also helping the Blue Jays win the Midwest Athletic Conference title in 2009 with a 10-0 record.

Offensively, it was also a tough decision, since many fine players were close on the stats page and very deserving of the Most Valuable Player award. The decision was made to honor Van Wert quarterback Corey Clifton as the Offensive MVP. Clifton, who fought through some injuries and even missed a few games, still totaled 1,814 yards of offense. Clifton accounted for 17 touchdowns, passing for 1,330 yards and rushing for 484 yards on the season. Clifton edged out teammate Connor Massillo, who led the area in rushing and all-purpose yards, and Delphos St. John’s running back Jordan Leininger, who led the area in rushing touchdowns and scoring points.

Defensively, it was another tough decision, but in the end, Antwerp linebacker John Rindahl was the top vote getter for the MVP honor. Rindahl was all over the field for Antwerp, registering an area-leading 123 tackles, which included 20 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, five quarterback hurries, and one quarterback sack. Rindahl also played offense for the Archers, gaining over 600 yards rushing from his fullback position.

The special team’s player of the year for the first time is not a kicker, but a return specialist. Van Wert’s Connor Massillo put up some big numbers, leading the area in kick-off returns (nine returns for 253 yards for a 28.1 yard average per return)

2009 Van Wert All-Area Team

All-Area Offensive Team

Offensive Linemen: Alex Recker (Delphos St. John’s); Joey Grubenhoff (Delphos St John’s); Austin Vogt, (Delphos St John’s); Grant Brand (Delphos Jefferson); Kyle Balliet (Crestview); Cameron Aldrich (Paulding); Anthony Hauter (Van Wert); Treg Fortman (Van Wert);

Quarterbacks: Corey Clifton (Van Wert); Wes Ulm (Delphos St. John’s)

Running Backs: Jordan Leininger, (Delphos St John’s); Connor Massillo (Van Wert);

Wide Receivers: Justin Riley (Paulding); Tyler Bergfeld (Delphos St. John’s); Shaile Chamberlain (Antwerp); Evan Hammons (Van Wert); Nathan Williams (Van Wert); Jordan Sherry (Wayne Trace);

Tight End: Austin Fleming (Van Wert);

Athlete: Derrick Baksa (Wayne Trace)

All-Area Defensive Team

1.             John Rindahl (Antwerp)

2.             Mark McElroy (Delphos Jefferson)

3.             Drey Gamble (Paulding)

4.             Trevor Speisor (Wayne Trace)

5.             A.J. Cross (Delphos Jefferson)

6.             Tyler Deitsch (Parkway)

7.             Tony Black (Van Wert)

8.             Mike Stuart (Antwerp)

9.             Austin Speice (Wayne Trace)

10.         Chris Pohlman (Delphos St. John’s)

11.         Grant Brand (Delphos Jefferson)

12.         Justin Riley (Paulding)

13.         Jessie Oliver (Wayne Trace)

14.         Joel Pohlman (Delphos St. John’s)

15.         Derrick Baksa (Wayne Trace)

16.         Tanner Copsey (Antwerp)

17.         Cory Hirschy (Van Wert)

18.         Cody Brinkman (Delphos St. John’s)

19.         Ryan Ebbeskotte (Delphos Jefferson)

20.         Jake Taylor (Wayne Trace)

21.         Tyler Deitsch (Parkway)

22.         Brennan Huss (Antwerp)

23.         Dallis Gibson (Crestview)

24.         Tyler Bergfeld (Delphos St. John’s)

All-Area Special Teams Players:

Best Punting Average

1.             Alex Recker (Delphos St. John’s) 38.8

Best Kick-Off Average

1.             A. J. Cross (Delphos Jefferson) 43.1

Most PAT Kicks Made

1.             Josh Rode (Delphos St. John’s) 48

Most Field Goals Made

1.             Beau Kobee (Antwerp) 4

Best Kick-Off Return Average

1.             Connor Massillo (Van Wert) 9 for 253 yards (28.1) with 0 TDs;

2.             Jordan Bergfeld (Delphos St. John’s) 8 for 202 yards (25.3) with 0 TDs;

3.             Jordan Leininger (Delphos St. John’s) 7 for 171 yards (24.4) with 0 TDs;

Best Punt Return Average

1.             Matt Dugan (Parkway) 7 for 164 yards (23.4) with 1 TDs;

2.             Tyler Bergfeld (Delphos St. John’s) 13 for 241 yards (18.5) with 0 TDs;

Friday Football Playoff results

Division 5 Region 18

Defiance Tinora 24, Lima Central Catholic 14

Hamler Patrick Henry 42, Jeromesville Hillsdale 19

Division 5 Region 20

Coldwater 28, Anna 21, OT

St. Henry 42, W. Liberty-Salem 14

Today

Delphos St. John’s versus Leipsic (7 p.m. at Lima Stadium)

From Wednesday 2009 Knight football/cheer awards Crestview football special awards – Shown are members of the Crestview football program who earned special recognition at their fall awards banquet Monday. They include (front row, from the left) Joey Overmyer (2010 captain), Steven Pierce (Captains’ Award), Drew Nofer (Offensive Award/MVP), Kyle Balliet (Captains’ Award), and Josh Staten (Captains’ Award/2010 captain); (middle row) Rob Cook (Lineman Iron Award/Captains’ Award/2010 captain), Noah Gebert (Knight Pride Award), Stephen Semer (Special Team Award), Nick Cunningham (Lineman Ironman Award), and Ryan Ramey (Skill Player Ironman); (back row) Dallis Gibson (Defensive Awards/Knight Pride Award), Matt Holden (Knight Pride Award/2010 captain), Justin Lare (Scout Team Award), Stanley Vaclavik (Most Improved Award), and Seth Mendenhall (Knight Pride Award). Football Scholar-Athletes – Shown are Crestview football student athletes who received scholar-athlete status for the fall sports season. They include (front row, from the left) Ryan Ramey, Austin Heffner, Drew Nofer, Joey Overmyer, and Trevor Roop; (middle row) Jared Burger, Rob Cook, Devin Gebert, Kyle Balliet, Nick Cunningham, and Philip Michael; (back row) Stephen Semer, Noah Gebert, Jake Harmon, Clay Nofer, Matt Holden, Tyler Myers, and Dallis Gibson. Cheer Special Awards – The Crestview cheerleaders handed out special awards at the fall banquet on Monday. Shown from the left are Shelby Minnich (Spirit Award) and Brittany Minnich (Leadership Award). Cheer Scholar-Athletes – Shown are the cheerleaders that received scholar-athlete status for the fall sports season. They include (from the left) Courtney Gehres, Camile Harting, Brittany Minnich, Mackenzie Ray, and Shelby Minnich. (Crestview photos) 11/11

Youth Football hands out 2009 awards

The Van Wert Youth Football Association held its year-end awards ceremony at the Marsh Auditorium Sunday, November 1. The evening included thanks to the various businesses and individuals for their support throughout the year, recognizing board members and countless volunteers and awarding over 150 youth football players and cheerleaders on the five Van Wert Youth Football teams.

The Van Wert Cougar White varsity team was presented both the City League trophy and the Western Ohio Youth Football League trophy as this year’s champions. The Van Wert Cougar White junior varsity team was recognized for placing second in the Western Ohio Youth Football League championships.  

The evening was capped off with the announcement of 2009 All-City Team comprised of individuals from all three varsity football teams and cheer squads. Members of the team are: Van Wert Cougar Grey team members Trystan Cowan, Gavin Cross, Nick Gutierrez, Kaden Phillips, Matthew Reichert, Colin Smith, Evan Williams and Derek Youtsey, with cheerleaders Kylie Hohman, Sidney Jenkins and Courtney Stripe; Van Wert Cougar Red team members Chandler Adams, Corbin Betz, Cole Buckner, Dylan Lautzenheiser, Ryan McCracken, Drew Myers, Jake Seacrist and Korbin Taylor, with cheerleaders Katlyn Dickson, Victoria Smith and Karli Thatcher; Van Wert Cougar White players Doug Billingham, Joshua Braun, Mason Carr, Andy Hammond, Hayden Ludwig, Lane Mansfield, Nolan Smith, Ryan Stoller and Justice Tussing, with cheerleaders Hailey Crawford, Alicia Danylchuk and Alexandria Bartley. 
The 2009 Van Wert Youth Football All-City Team poses for a photo. Photo by Carole Motycka for the Van Wert independent

From Tuesday

VWHS volleyball players earn honors

Four individuals from the Van Wert High School volleyball team have earned post-season honors. They include Lindsey Brown, Molly Gamble, Brittany Hoverman, and Becca Hurless. 

Brown was one of seven athletes selected as First Team All-Western Buckeye League. Brown, who played in all 76 games of the season, accumulated 254 kills throughout her senior season of volleyball.  She had 165 total blocks with 42 solo blocks and also 193 serves with 13 aces. Brown also earned Honorable Mention All-District 8 honors and will play in the District All Star Match on November 18 at Pandora Gilboa High School. 

Sophomore Molly Gamble was voted as a Second Team All-WBL selection.  She played in all 24 matches this season and ended with 128 kills. Gamble compiled 102 total blocks, with 17 of those being solo blocks. 

Becca Hurless helped lead the way in the offensive department and was chosen as a Third Team All-WBL honoree.  During her senior season, Hurless dished out 420 assists, had an impressive 96.2 serving percentage and led Van Wert in aces with 32. 

Brittany Hoverman made her final season campaign as a defensive specialist for the Cougars. She concluded the season with 418 digs – an average of 5.7 digs per game.  Hoverman also had a notable 87-percent serve reception. 
11/10

From Monday

Taylor 6th at state CC meet
VW girls finish 12th, Fleming does well for boys

COLUMBUS – Senior Lauren Taylor was sixth and the Van Wert girls’ cross country team 12 out of 16 teams in Saturday’s Division II state cross country meet.

Taylor clocked a 19:17.40 in earning First Team All-Ohio honors. The girls’ team scored 236 points in the race. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary was first with a team score of 98 points, while St. Clairsville was second with 105 points.

In the boys’ race, Van Wert freshman Jared Fleming finished 61st out of 146 competitors at Saturday’s state cross country meet at Scioto Downs in Columbus. Fleming clocked a time of 17:29.

Van Wert boys coach Mark Altstaetter said Fleming had a stellar freshman season.

“For Jared to be the first freshman male runner from Van Wert to ever make it to state is a huge accomplishment in itself,” Altstaetter said. “I know he wanted to finish a little further up front, but I think the experience of being down there, competing with the best in the state, is a nice springboard to next year.”

Fleming’s best time of the year came at the Columbus Grove Invitational, where he clocked a 16:27.
11/9

VW Marlins do well at weekend meets

The Van Wert YMCA Marlins swim team was in action on Saturday, sending representatives to two separate meets.

The 12-and-under age group traveled to Galion for the Lil’ Fins Invitational, with a small contingent of six swimmers competing amongst a total of 145 athletes from 11 Ohio YMCAs in 46 events. Although Van Wert was one of the smallest teams, the Marlins still made quite an impact on the results. Results from the meet include the following: In the 6 and under boys division, Daniel Miller finished fourth in the 25-yard freestyle and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle.  Emma Pollock continued her dominance in 6 and under girls events.  She took first in the 25-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 19.23 and first in the 25-yard backstroke with a personal best time of 23.95. Pollock also swam up in the 8 and under division, finishing fifth in the 25-yard freestyle and seventh in the 25-yard breaststroke.  In the 8 and under Girls division, Katie McVaigh and Risa Pollock both finished high in their events and set personal best times. McVaigh was fourth in the 100-yard individual medley at 1:54.08, first in the 25-yard freestyle, third in the 25-butterfly and third in the 50-yard backstroke event.  Risa Pollock was fifth in the 100-yard IM, third in the 50-yard freestyle, fourth in the 25-yard butterfly and fourth in the 25-yard breaststroke event.  Erin Miller competed in the 10 and Under Girls division, winning her heat in the 50-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 42.95. She also won her heat in the 25-yard breaststroke with a personal best of 26.42.  Colton Deschner competed in the 12 and under boys group and set personal best times of 51.46 in the 50-yard backstroke and 55.11 in the 50-yard breaststroke.

The Marlins had five swimmers ages 13 and over travel to Oregon for the Toledo Fall Sprint.  Paige Lucas competed in the 13 and Over Girls Division and finished, 20th in the 50-yard freestyle at 33.09, 17th in the 50-yard butterfly at 38.55, 16th in the 50-yard backstroke at 40.63 and 12th in the 50-yard breaststroke event at 41.88. 

Competing in the 13 and Over Boys group was Evan Stant and Joseph Foster.  Stant finished fourth in the freestyle at 26.30, first in the butterfly at 28.59 and seventh in the backstroke at 33.08. Foster finished 15th in the freestyle race at 38.54 and 14th in the butterfly at 16.63.  Competing in the 15 and over bracket were Trey Stemen and Matt Cucciarre. Stemen finished 18th in the butterfly at 32.75, 15th in the backstroke at 33.36, and 14th in the breaststroke race at 37.68. Cucciarre finished 28th in the freestyle and butterfly, 23rd in the 50-yard backstroke at 37.67 and 26th in the breaststroke at 51.56.

The Marlins will be in action next this coming Saturday when they host the Bucyrus and Defiance YMCA teams for a home meet. 
11/9

Blue Jays pound Arlington in playoffs

Delphos St. John’s high-powered offense was in full gear Saturday night as the Blue Jays pasted Arlington 56-0 in Division VI high school football playoff action at Stadium Park. The Jays flew out to a 14-0 first quarter advantage, increased the bulge to 35-0 at halftime, and then sealed the deal with 21 second-half points.

Junior runner Jordan Leininger bulled his way for 150 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Wes Ulm added 134 yards and a 40-yard TD gallop for the Jays. Ulm, who ended the game 4 of 6 for 109 yards in the passing department, also threw for a touchdown: a 63-yard strike to Nate Webb.

Overall, the Jays totaled 502 offensive yards, with 393 of those on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jay defense was stifling, holding the Buckeye Valley Conference’s leading rusher, Cam Brown, to a mere 35 yards on the ground and the Red Devils to 190 total yards.

St. John’s committed only one miscue, an early interception thrown by Ulm, while Arlington lost the ball three times, once on a fumble and twice via interceptions. The Blue Jays ended with 19 first downs, while Arlington totaled only eight.

Delphos St. John’s now meets Leipsic next Saturday night at a site yet to be determined in playoff round 2.

Scoring summary

First Quarter

DSJ – Leininger 14-yd run (Rode PAT good)

DSJ – Webb 63-yd pass from Ulm (Rode PAT good)

Second Quarter

DSJ – Ulm 40-yd run (Rode PAT good)

DSJ – Leininger 3-yd run (Rode PAT good)

DSJ – Leininger 1-yd run (Rode PAT good)

Third Quarter

DSJ – McClellum 9-yd run (Rode PAT good)

Fourth Quarter

DSJ – Williams 7-yd run (Rode PAT good)

DSJ – Clark 4-yd run (Rode PAT good)
11/9

From Saturday

Area Football Playoff Results

Division 5 Region 18

Quarterfinal

Defiance Tinora 45, Sherwood Fairview 6

Lima Central Catholic 49, Hicksville 0

Division 5 Region 20

Quarterfinal

Anna 20, Columbus Ready 17

Coldwater 41, Hamilton Badin 0

St. Henry 28, Richwood North Union 3

Tonight’s games

Delphos St. John’s hosts Arlington

 
From Friday

VWHS golf team holds sports banquet

Willow Bend Country Club hosted the annual awards banquet for the Van Wert High School golf team. Many parents, their sons, and coaches enjoyed a buffet style meal of Chicken Cordon Bleu, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and drinks.

After the meal, Head Coach Jeff Hood took the floor to honor this year’s Cougar golf team. Five members of the junior varsity squad earned their first-year award. Those included Trenton Metzger, Tyler Goodlin, Robby Trittschuh, Aaron Beck, and Nathan Profit.

Six members of the varsity squad were given various awards. First-year varsity letters were presented to freshmen Jacob Brake and Tyler Turnwald. Sophomores Matt Cucciarre and Vince Moreland also received first-year awards. Junior Brandt Taylor earned his second-year varsity letter, while junior Blake Doidge was awarded his third-year varsity letter.

Special awards were given out as well. Taylor earned Honorable Mention in the Western Buckeye League as well as Honorable Mention in the Northwest District. Doidge received his Player of the Year award from the Western Buckeye League, along with his First Team certificate. He earned First Team All-District with his performance at the District golf tournament and was voted Second Team All Northwest District. Doidge also received an award for participating in the state tournament.

The team finished with a record of 5-4 in league action and 7-5 in dual matches. The best team score of 159 was achieved against Wapakoneta. The best finish of the tournament schedule was at the Antwerp Invitational, where the Cougars finished fourth overall.
Letter winners for this year's Van Wert varsity golf team include (from the left) Matt Cucciarre, Tyler Turnwald, Brandt Taylor, Blake Doidge, Vince Moreland and Jacob Brake. (VWCS photo)
11/6

From Thursday

Tickets available for Knight cage games

Reserved seats for Crestview boys’ basketball games are currently on sale.  Blue reserved seat reminder/application cards have been mailed to last year’s reserved seat ticket holders.  Anyone who is interested in purchasing a reserved seat for the 2009-10 basketball season may do so by contacting the Crestview Athletic Department at 419.749.9100, extension 3.  Each reserved seat is $55.

All-sports passes are also available for the winter sports season.  An adult all-sports pass is $75.  A student all-sports pass is $35.  Any student interested in purchasing a boys’ basketball season ticket may do so for $30.

Pre-sale tickets for boys’ basketball will be available on Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the athletic department office.  Pre-sale tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for students.  All tickets at the door will be $6.
11/5

C'view hands out golf awards The Crestview golf program recently recognized its student athletes for their accomplishments this past season. Boys’ golf special award winners (above, from the left) were Tyler Clifton (Coach’s Award and Lowest Average Award) and Chan Hurless (Coach’s Award).  Leigha Taylor (below) received special recognition for having the lowest average in girls’ golf. (Crestview photos) 11/5

STATE CC QUALIFIERS

2009 STATE CROSS COUNTRY AREA TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS

GIRLS

DIVISION II TEAM QUALIFIERS

VAN WERT

(Second at Tiffin regional) Coach: Brendon Moody Katie Bono (junior, 21:00.30) Erica Davis (senior, 20:32.18) Jacey Eikenbary (freshman, 20:43.47) Madison Riethman (senior, 21:08.19) Sydney Riethman (sophomore, 21:17.44) Erika Smith (junior, 20:47.94) Lauren Taylor (senior, 19:08.78, regional champion)

DIVISION III TEAM QUALIFIERS

OTTOVILLE

(Runners-up at Tiffin regional) Coach: Robert Kaple Kari Beining (junior, 23:09.40) Brooke Bendele (junior, 21:21.54) Emilee Byrns (junior, 24:02.48) Molly Maag (senior, 21:09.27) Brianna Rodriguez (junior, 20:45.68) Shayla Siefker (junior, 19:37.61 regional champ) Melissa Turnwald (senior, 22:47.80)

SPENCERVILLE

(Runners-up at Troy regional) Coach: Brian McMichael Alexa Brown (sophomore, 21:36.62) Lyndie Brown (senior, 19:40.28) Ashley Gilroy (senior, 20:03.24) Kelli Ley (sophomore, 20:42.15) Claire McConnell (junior, 21:18.03) Cortney Miller (sophomore, 21:44.17) Kari Wisher (senior, 23:19.05)
INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS PANDORA-GILBOA: Sarah Flickinger (junior, 11th at Tiffin regional, 20:33.57)
 

BOYS COMPETITORS

DIVISION II TEAM QUALIFIERS

DEFIANCE

(Runners-up at Tiffin regional) Coach: Obie Mouser Trevin Flickinger (senior, 16:28.25) Geoff Burns (senior, 17:52.21) Abel Flores (freshman, 16:28.50) Ben Hackworth (senior, 17:03.01) Ryan McDonough (senior, 18:44.84) Sebastian Miller (junior, 19:28.43) Ryan Zeller (senior, 17.47.10)

INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS

CELINA: Andrew Goodwin (senior, second at Tiffin regional, 15:59.13) SHAWNEE: Garrett Diltz (sophomore, 13th at Tiffin, 16:39.98) VAN WERT: Jared Fleming (freshman, 15th at Tiffin, 16:42.84)

DIVISION III INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS

SPENCERVILLE: Jonathan Rex (senior, seventh at Troy, 17:01.15)
11/5

From Wednesday

All-Northwest Conf. grid teams selected

The All-Northwest Conference football teams were recently chosen. They include the following:

NWC First Team Offense

Quarterback: Heath Jackson, Ada

Running backs: Rayce Risser, Columbus Grove; Tyler Rahl, Bluffton; Levi Hoy, Allen East

Tight End: Jacob Rigali, LCC

Wide Receivers: Konnor Baker, Ada; Desi Kirkman, LCC

Offensive Lineman: Zach Gibson, Ada; Dylan Vogt, Columbus Grove; Max Brodbeck, LCC; Robert Guyton, Ada; Grant Brand, Delphos Jefferson; Joe Shanahan, LCC

NWC First Team Defense

Defensive Ends: Taylor Cook, LCC; Luke Kohls, Columbus Grove

Defensive Lineman: Tanner Craig, Ada; Dylan Vogt, Columbus Grove; Grand Brand, Delphos Jefferson; Demitrius Williams, Allen East; Cory Hahn, LCC

Linebackers: Jacob Rigali, LCC; Aaron Weyer, Ada; Casey Rex, Allen East

Defensive Backs: Heath Jackson, Ada; Desi Kirkman, LCC; Rayce Risser, Columbus Grove

Specialist: Tyler O'Connor, LCC

NWC Second Team Offense

Quarterback: Tyler O'Connor, LCC

Running backs: Rufus Johnson, LCC; Tyler Simmons, Ada; Matt Holden, Crestview; Mitchell Antalis, Delphos Jefferson

Tight End: Matt McBride, Ada

Wide Receiver: Alex Weber, Ada; Justin Riley, Paulding

Offensive Lineman: Anthony Kimbrough, LCC; Tyler Obringer, Spencerville; Kyle Balliet, Crestview; Anthony McCormick, LCC; Ben Moser, Bluffton

NWC Second Team Defense

Defensive End: A.J. Cross, Delphos Jefferson, Dallis Gibson, Crestview

Defensive Lineman: Tylar Dailey, LCC; Tyler Obringer, Spencerville; Robert Guyton, Ada; Jason Myers, Bluffton

Linebackers: Tyler Rahl, Bluffton; Garrett Burgoon, LCC; Devin Verhoff, Columbus Grove

Defensive Backs: Aaron Swaney, Allen East; Logan Bonifas, Delphos Jefferson; Bubba Krieg, LCC

Specialist: Austin Everhart, Ada

NWC Honorable Mention Offense

Quarterbacks: Jordan Jettinghoff, Delphos Jefferson; Jordan Travis, Columbus Grove

Running backs: Kory Plotts, Paulding; Jacob Miller, Columbus Grove; Curtis Miller, Delphos Jefferson

Tight End: Matt Lee, Bluffton

Wide Receiver: Andrew Wiltsie, Delphos Jefferson; Craig Carder, Delphos Jefferson; Drew Nofer, Crestview; Ryan Ebbeskotte, Delphos Jefferson

Offensive Lineman: Cameron Aldrich, Paulding; Spencer Wolfe, Columbus Grove; Ben Krouskop, Spencerville; Daniel Buckingham, Bluffton; Greg Martin, Columbus Grove; Jared Burger, Crestview; Austin Hefner, Crestview; Cade Bevington, Delphos Jefferson; Brayton Kruse, Delphos Jefferson.

NWC Honorable Mention Defense

Defensive End: Dylan Welch, Paulding; Evan Miller, Allen East; Gavin Windau, Columbus Grove

Defensive Lineman: Sean Griesdorn, LCC; Justin Barne, Jefferson; Jared Burger, Crestview; Brad Wirth, Spencerville; Devin Gebert, Crestview

Linebackers: Mark McElroy, Delphos Jefferson; Clay Atkins, Bluffton; Drey Gamble, Paulding; Mitchell Antalis, Delphos Jefferson; Joey Overmeyer, Crestview; Zach Devier, Bluffton

Defensive Backs: Justin Riley, Paulding; Ryan Ebbeskotte, Delphos Jefferson; Drew Luginbuhl, Bluffton; Matt Holden, Crestview; Tyler Deitering, Spencerville; Brandon Deeds, Bluffton; Andrew Wiltsie, Delphos Jefferson

Specialists: Jordan Jettinghoff, Delphos Jefferson; Matt Holden, Crestview

Back of the Year: Heath Jackson (Ada)

Lineman of the Year: Jacob Rigali (LCC)

Co-Coach of the Year: Mike Fell (Ada) and Scot Paulti (Columbus Grove)
11/4

From Tuesday

VW Flag Football League finishes season

The Van Wert Parks & Recreation Department recently concluded their NFL Flag Football Program with a post-season tournament.

Tournament results were rather surprising. The Bears, who were league champs, came into the tournament with no losses (6-0), yet were defeated in their first game to knock them into the consolation game. The Bears regrouped to take third place honors in tournament action by defeating the Broncos, who entered the tournament with a 5-1 record and a second place finish in the league.  

The Vikings, who came into the tournament with a 3-3 record, brought their "A" game in defeating the Packers, Bears and Jets to capture the tournament crown.  

The Jets, who finished the regular season with a 2-4 record, took tourney runners-up honors.
Members of the Vikings, tournament champs, include Head Coach Preston Proffitt and team members Kolby Barnhart, Tanner Barnhart, Gavin Flickinger, Joshua Halker, Drew Motycka, Charlie Pauquette, Clayton Proffitt, Conner Smith and Karter Tow.

The Bears (league champs) include Head Coach Mark Price and team members Kaiden Bates, Worth Clark, Sam Easley, Hayden Maples, Colin Place, Jacob Place, Mox Price, Nate Showalter, Jacob Smith and Andrew Henkaline. (VW Parks Dept. photos)

From Monday

Taylor wins regionals, Fleming qualifies

TIFFIN – The Van Wert girls’ cross country team is heading back to Scioto Downs racetrack for the first time since 2006 to compete in the Ohio High School Athletic Association state cross country meet. Although the boys’ team didn’t qualify, Cougar boys’ team member Jared Fleming will join the girls at state, as he placed high enough to qualify as an individual.

The girls’ squad, led by regional champion Lauren Taylor (19:08), punched its ticket to the state meet by finishing in the runner-up position at the regional meet on Saturday. 

Traveling to Columbus with Taylor will be Erica Davis (20:32) 26th, Jacey Eikenbary (20:43) 33rd, Erika Smith (20:47) 37th, Katie Bono (21:00) 46th, Madison Riethman (21:08) 49th, and Sydney Riethman (21:17) 54th.

“The girls ran well enough today to move on and that is the key at this point in the season,” said Van Wert Coach Brendon Moody. “We know that we can run better than what we did today, so that gives us a lot of hope for performing well next weekend. 

“I’m so proud of what these young ladies have accomplished this far and the reward of being able to compete for a state title next week is just bonus,” Moody added.

The Van Wert boys cross country team finished 13th at the Division II regional meet at Tiffin on Saturday.

Fleming qualified for next Saturday’s state meet with a 15th place finish in a time of 16:42. The top 16 placers advance to the state meet.

Van Wert coach Mark Altstaetter said Fleming ran a smart race.

“Jared went out and established himself early in the race,” Altstaetter said. “He knew he had to be in the hunt at mile 2. From that point, he was pretty much in control. He had a nice kick in the last 800 meters.”

Jared Fleming

Rounding out Van Wert’s pack included Luke Brubaker (18:18), Luke Strick (18:31), Brian Easley (18:45), Dustin Farmer (18:46), Jake Bagley (19:06) and Kase Schalois (19:23).

Altstaetter said Bagley – a two-time state qualifier– experienced some problems during the race.

“Jake suffered severe tightness in his hamstring,” Altstaetter said. “He tried to battle through it, but unfortunately it was too much to overcome. I felt bad for Jake … he really wanted to make another trip to state.”

Altstaetter said his team will try to build on this year’s successes.

“We have a good number of underclassmen,” he said. “I think that having the success they did this year will give us a lot to build upon.”

Van Wert’s record is 135-55.

Girls Team Results

1. Shelby, 101; 2. Van Wert, 116; 3. Rocky River, 118; 4. Coldwater, 138; 5. Avon, 158  6. Defiance, 180; 7. Oak Harbor, 182; 8. Mansfield Ontario, 182; 9. Maumee, 187; 10. Lexington, 196; 11. Napoleon, 264; 12. Bay Village Bay, 293; 13. Milan Edison, 297; 14. Elyria Catholic, 298; 15. Bellevue, 370; 16. Pemberville Eastwood, 422.  
The Van Wert High School girls' cross country team and coaches pose with the Division II regional plaque at Tiffin on Saturday (click here for more photos). Photos by Jim Robideau for the Van Wert independent
11/2

Gleckler 32nd at Division IV regionals

Crestview's Garret Gleckler competed in the Southwest Ohio Division III Boys race in Troy on Saturday.  Garret wrapped up his season with a 32nd place finish in a time of 17:51.
11/2

From Saturday

Shawnee dominates Van Wert
Indians control Cougs both offensively, defensively

By DAVE MOSIER

Van Wert independent Editor

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP – It was a disappointing end to a season that had its moments, as the Shawnee Indians turned in a dominating performance on both offense and defense to defeat Van Wert 47-6 in both teams’ final Western Buckeye League game of the season.

The Indians compiled 515 yards of total offense – 453 of those yards on the ground – while holding Van Wert to a total of 196 yards of offense. Cougar running back Connor Massillo was held to 43 yards on 12 carries, while Shawnee had two runners with more than 100 yards of rushing. Isaiah Irons had 198 yards rushing on 19 carries and two touchdowns, while CJ Sewell rushed for 105 yards on 11 carries and also scored a TD.

The Indians set the tone in the first seconds of the game as Kishen Das took the opening kick-off 80 yards for Shawnee’s first score with just 17 ticks off the clock. The kick failed and it was 6-0, Indians.

It would get much worse. All but one of Shawnee’s seven touchdowns came on the ground. In addition to Das’ kick-off return for a TD, the Indians scored two more times in the first quarter on runs of 62 and 47 yards. Jamiil Williams scored the first of those touchdowns at the 9:43 mark of the first stanza, while Irons ran for the second score with 7:05 remaining in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, Sewell scored his only TD of the night on a 2-yard run with 4:08 remaining in the half. It would be the only other score of the half, and Shawnee went into the locker room with a 26-0 halftime lead.

The second half wasn’t much different than the first. The Indians scored at the 6:11 mark of the third quarter when quarterback Seth Rosenbauer found Trey Runneals on an 8-yard touchdown pass. Shawnee scored again with just 29 second left in the third period when Nick Truesdale took a lateral and scored from four yards out for a 40-0 lead.

In the final quarter, the Indians put the capper on with a 34-yard TD run by Irons and a 47-0 lead. However, Van Wert finally broke into the scoring column with just 57 seconds left on the game clock when Austin Fleming hit paydirt from the Shawnee 13-yard line. Gyer Blackmore’s kick failed and that was the game.

The Cougars were hampered by the loss of quarterback Corey Clifton, who also plays defensive back for Van Wert. Clifton sustained a concussion in the Ottawa-Glandorf game last Friday.

Fleming took over for Clifton and was 9 of 23 passing for 131 yards and two interceptions. Leading receivers for the Cougars were Evan Hammons, who hauled in seven passes for 88 yards, and Austin Reichert, who caught one pass for 33 yards.

Zach Rosenbauer caught one of his brother’s passes for 26 yards. Seth Rosenbauer hit 5 of 11 pass attempts for 62 yards and a touchdown.

Van Wert was again hit by dropsy, fumbling five times but, fortunately, losing just one of those to the Indians.

The Cougars end the season with an overall record of 5-5 and are 5-4 in the WBL. Shawnee is now 7-3 after dropping three games early in the season and 7-2 in league play.
Van Wert's Nate Williams (7) runs down a Shawnee player during Friday's game at Shawnee. Photos by Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent (photo reprints available; email snapshotjan@embarqmail.com)

10/31

Prep Football Roundup

Paulding 16, Crestview 13

Paulding jumped out to a 16-7 first half lead and then held off a furious rally by Crestview. The Panthers went on to post a 16-13 victory over their Northwest Conference and neighboring rival.

Vince Ross of Paulding (3-7, 2-6 NWC) had 106 yards on 21 carries and a score, while teammate Justin Riley caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Steve Heilman.

Matt Holden ran 26 times for 174 yards and a touchdown to lead the Knights (3-7, 2-6 NWC).

Scoring summary

First Quarter

Crestview - Holden 3-yard run (Lichtensteiger kick).

Paulding - Ross 1-yard run (Heilman run).

Second Quarter

Paulding - Riley 19-yard pass from Heilman (Gamble Run).

Third Quarter

Crestview - Semer 3-yard run (kick blocked).

Wayne Trace 20, Holgate 6

Wayne Trace ended their roller-coaster season with a victory over Holgate. Dylan Horner ran for 152 yards and a touchdown to help lead Wayne Trace to the 20-6 GMC victory.

Derrick Baksa added 37 yards rushing, while hitting pay dirt from 15 yards out for the Raiders (6-4, 3-4 GMC). Josiah Buttermore led the Tigers (1-9, 1-6 GMC) with 112 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Scoring summary
Wayne Trace - Horner 6-yard run (Gordon kick).
Holgate - Buttermore 25-yard run (kick failed).
Wayne Trace - Baksa 15-yard run (kick failed).
Wayne Trace - Horner 2-yard pass from Baksa (Gordon kick).

Delphos Jefferson 28, Spencerville 14

Delphos Jefferson scored twice in the second half to open up a halftime tie and take a 28-14 win in Northwest Conference football action.

With the win, Jefferson finishes an impressive first season under rookie coach Bub Lindeman at 6-4 overall and 5-3 in the conference. The Bearcats finish the season 0-10 and 0-8 in the Northwest Conference.

Mitchell Antalis returned an interception 36 yards in the third quarter to break the tie, and Curtis Miller ran in from 35 yards out in the fourth. Miller had 92 yards for the Wildcats. Jefferson quarterback Jordan Jettinghoff threw two first-half TDs, one to Andrew Wiltsie and the second to tight end Craig Carder.

Spencerville quarterback Tyler Dietering completed a TD pass to Dan Binkley and had a 2-yard TD rush.

Statistically, Jefferson totaled 263 yards of offense (169 rushing, 94 passing) in recording 10 first downs. Jettinghoff completed 5 of 10 passes with no interceptions. Jefferson did lose two of four fumbles.

Spencerville totaled 210 yards of offense (112 rushing, 98 passing) in registering nine first downs. Dietering was 11 of 22 with one interception. The Bearcats fumbled four times but lost none.

Delphos St. John’s 62, Fort Recovery 0

Delphos St. John’s (10-0, 8-0 Midwest Athletic Conference) won the outright Midwest Athletic Conference football title with a 62-0 thrashing of lowly Fort Recovery.

The Blue Jays had 359 total yards — 330 of those on the ground — while holding Fort Recovery to a mere 59 yards (38 rushing, 21 passing) of total offense.

Substitute running back Blake Williams carried the ball 14 times for 105 yards and three touchdowns, while starter Jordan Leininger had 14 carries for 89 yards and two scores. The Jays had only one penalty and punted just once.

Wes Ulm completed 3 of 9 passes with no interceptions, while the Jays fumbled twice on the wet turf but did not lose any. The Blue Jays defense picked off two Fort Recovery passes, while also recovering one fumble.

Other Area Football Scores

Versailles 48, Parkway 8

Edgerton 27, Antwerp 7
10/31

For Friday

Thursday Sports Roundup

FOOTBALL

Friday Night Lights (Week 10):

Paulding at Crestview

Van Wert at Shawnee

Delphos St. John’s hosts Fort Recovery

Antwerp hosts Edgerton

Wayne Trace hosts Holgate

Parkway at Versailles

Delphos Jefferson at Spencerville

VOLLEYBALL

At Napoleon

Parkway defeated Evergreen 25-20, 25-19, 25-17, and now faces Archbold in the district finals at Napoleon Saturday at 6 p.m.

Archbold (25-0) defeated Fort Recovery 25-23, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19

BOYS GOLF

Division III Boys - Northwest District League Honors

1st Team

Oliver Holtzberry Lima Central Catholic

Ben Hogenkamp Minster

Craig Purpus Minster

Connor Dudley Fremont St. Joseph

Louis Fahrbach Northwood

Jared Ebert Sandusky St. Marys

2nd Team

Josh DeGroff Stryker

Jordan Schimmoeller Ottoville

Wes Krummery Upper Scioto Valley

Reed Silverman Ottawa Hills

Andrew Bell Van Buren

Brandon French Lima Central Catholic

Honorable Mention

Brody Cook Colonel Crawford

Kyle Hoffman Kalida

Issac Yenser Antwerp

Zac Coleman Antwerp

Tyler Clark Edgerton

Spencer Hastedt Edgerton

Trent Feltz Edgerton

Brandon Conkey Fairview

Dalton Coburn Wayne Trace

Nick Germann Wayne Trace

Pierce Wolters Lincolnview

Kyle Karhoff Ottoville

Josh Klaus Lima Central Catholic

Dru Leach Delphos St. John's

Austin Clarkson Delphos St. John's

Austin Stolley Lima Central Catholic

Travis Bleile Norwalk St. Paul

Dalton Buffenbarger Waynesfield Goshen

Roman Ream Old Fort

Luke Edgar Old Fort

Kyle Frank Hopewell Loudon

Duncan Campbell St. Wendelin

Patrick McNinch St. Wendelin

Colin Ebert Sandusky St. Mary's

Evan Slattery Sandusky St. Mary's

Hayden Doehrmann Stryker

Troy Saunders Stryker

Cole McMath Arlington

Chris Bils Arlington

Jacob Nafziger Archbold

Marcello Trevino North Baltimore

Jarron Theis Seneca East

Andrew Jamieson Ottawa Hills
10/30

From Thursday

Wednesday Sports Roundup

BOYS SOCCER

2009 All-WBL Boys Soccer Team

First Team

Doug Herrett, Defiance; Shane Naylor, Bath; Mitch Leuger, Celina; Cody Sanderson, Elida; Matt Thompson, Elida; Brandon Good, Elida; Nick Leatherman, Ottawa-Glandorf; Cody Myers, Ottawa-Glandorf; Garrett Black, Shawnee; Austin Howard, Shawnee, Joe Brenneman, St. Marys; Andy Failer, Wapakoneta.

Player of the Year: Cody Sanderson, Elida.

Second Team

Alec Blake, Defiance; Mickie Grothause, Wapakoneta; Jared Stump, Elida; Josh Barnes, St. Marys; David Racster, Van Wert; Chad Braun, Celina; Cory Stewart, Elida; Cory Ellerbrock, Ottawa-Glandorf; Jordan Alt, Ottawa-Glandorf; Christian Loryza Shawnee; Christian Vouelgesang, Shawnee; Wade Rhodes, Kenton.

Third Team

Conner Rockhold, Bath, Jacob Frysinger, Celina; Brady Collins, Kenton; Ryan Musgrave, Elida; Andrew Trenkamp, Ottawa-Glandorf; Scott Kinkley, St. Marys; Brad Brock, Bath.

Honorable Mention

Joe Koester, Defiance; Garrett Renner, Bath; Scott Moeder, Celina; Trey Bowman, Elida; Justin Long, Kenton; Matt Recker, Ottawa-Glandorf; Matt Birum, Shawnee; Jacob Luthman, St. Marys; Tyler Monroe, Van Wert; Mitch Johnson, Wapakoneta.

VOLLEYBALL

The Division IV district semifinals at Napoleon saw Antwerp face-off against Pettisville. After a close first set, Antwerp earned a 25-21, 25-13, 25-18 win and a trip to the district finals.

At Napoleon

Antwerp defeated Pettisville, 25-21, 25-13, 25-18

Pettisville (16-8) - Tessa Yoder 12-12 serving, 33-35 setting, 10 assists; Ashley Eicher 7-8 hitting; Chelsea Schmucker 9-9 serving, 18-20 serve receive, 15 digs, 17-20 hitting, 10 kills; Katie Yoder 30-33 hitting, 10 kills; Mackenzie Nofziger 7-7 serving; Stephanie Yoder 6-6 serving, 14-14 serve receive, 14 digs, 21-28 hitting, 5 kills; Laura Rupp 6-7 serving, 5 digs, 31-32 setting, 7 assists; Lauren Frey 7 digs.

Antwerp (18-6) - Kelsey Bashore 29-34 hitting, 19 kills, 36-36 setting, 10 assists; Megan Koppenhofer 19-22 hitting, 6 kills, 13-14 serve receive, 14 digs; Ashlee Smith 11-12 hitting, 5 kills, 14-15 serving, 4 blocks; A.J. Stuck 11-11 hitting, 5 kills; Loni Walk 39-39 setting, 15 assists, 18-18 serving, 3 aces, 12 digs; Darcie Reinhart 16-18 serve receive, 16 digs; Taylor Vail 6 blocks; Tricia Smalley 8 digs.
10/29

From Wednesday

Elks Hoop Shoot event ready to go

Van Wert Elks Lodge 1197 officials remind all boys and girls ages 8-13 of the upcoming Hoop Shoot Free Throw Contest that will be held this Saturday, October 31, at the S.F. Goedde Building (old high school) on West Crawford Street in Van Wert. Registration will be held at 8:30 a.m. and the contest begins at 9 that morning.

The contest is open to all boys and girls in the above age group. Boys and girls will be competing separately in their age class. All local winners will receive trophies and will be eligible to compete in the district competition, which will be held at the University of Findlay on January 10.

Elks Hoop Shoot Contests are free of charge, with no registration fees required. All boys and girls are encouraged to participate this year by Chuck Rollins, Hoop Shoot chairman for the local program.

10/28

Tuesday Sports Roundup

GIRLS SOCCER
District Semifinals
Division II
Fort Jennings 2
Delphos St. John’s 1
Fort Jennings outshot Delphos St. John’s 3-1 in the overtime shootout to win the district semi-final match and move on to the district finals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Elida against St. Marys. Krista Maag scored in the first half for Fort Jennings (12-4-3) off a Katie VonLehmden assist. Morgan Haines answered with a goal for St. John’s (5-10-4).
 

VOLLEYBALL
District Semifinals
Division IV
St. Henry 3 Delphos Jefferson 0
St. Henry swept Delphos Jefferson 25-18, 25-21, 25-11 to advance to the district finals. The Redskins will play Marion Local for the district crown at 3 p.m. Saturday at Coldwater. St. Henry improves to 20-4 while Jefferson finishes the season at 21-2.
10/28

From Monday

Cougar girls win district title, boys 4th

OTTAWA – The Van Wert girls’ cross country team won the Division II district title, while the boys finished fourth at Saturday’s district meet at Ottawa.

As she has most of the year, Lauren Taylor was the first Cougar – and first girl runner overall – across the finish line, winning the district individual title in a time of 19:04, again beating rival Megan Vogelsang of Defiance, who was 18 seconds behind at 19:22.

The second Lady Cougar to finish was senior Madison Riethman, who was ninth overall in a time of 20:10, followed by Jacey Eikenbary, 19th in 20:35; Erica Davis, 20th in 20:31; and sophomore Sydney Riethman, 21st in 20:41. Sixth runner Erika Smith actually won the race for the Cougars, as her 22nd place finish in a time of 20:55 allowed Van Wert to edge out Coldwater’s Lady Cavaliers for the team title. Katie Bono was the seventh runner for the Cougars, finishing 24th in a time of 21:06.

With its fourth-place finish, the Van Wert boys also earned a berth in Saturday’s regional meet at Tiffin. The top four teams at Ottawa advanced to regionals.

Defiance won the team title with 50 points. The next three spots were tight, with just seven points separating second through fourth place.

Finishing second was Shawnee (85), Napoleon was third (89), while Van Wert finished fourth (92). There were 12 teams figured into the team scoring.

Jared Fleming led the way for the Cougars with a sixth-place finish in a time of 17 minutes, 5 seconds. Jacob Bagley was not far behind, finishing 11th (17:36).

Rounding out Van Wert were Luke Brubaker (19th, 17:57), Brian Easley (25th, 18:14), Luke Strick (32nd, 18:37), Dustin Farmer (34th, 18:38) and Kase Schalois (60th, 19:23).

Van Wert boys’ coach Mark Altstaetter said his team knew it was going to be a battle for the top four spots.

“We knew the battle for second through four would be tight,” Altstaetter said. “We did not run our best race on Saturday, so to finish that close to Napoleon and Shawnee gives us something to build on for next week.”
Lady Cougar runners (from the front) Erika Smith, Katie Bono and Sydney Riethman run during Saturday's Division II district meet at Ottawa-Glandorf. Photos by Monica Campbell for the Van Wert independent
10/26

C'view runners both 6th at district meet

The Crestview High School girls’ and boys’ cross country teams placed sixth in the District meet on Saturday in Spencerville.  

The Lady Knights were paced by Elizabeth Saylor, who finished 21st in a time of 22:39. She was followed by Katie Thompson 34th (23:48), Mari Young 37th (23:58), Leah Saylor 39th (24:02), Sammy Gerardot 50th (25:20), and Cora Finfrock 52nd (25:58).

The Knight boys were led by Garret Gleckler, who earned All-District honors with his eighth place finish in a time of 17:43. Gleckler qualified as an individual to the Southwest Regional meet in Troy on Saturday, October 31. He was followed by Micah Brant 21st (18:11), CJ Germann 29th (18:34), Joel Genter 32nd (18:40), and Conley Zaleski 37th (18:58).  

Other Crestview competitors were Shelby Ripley 42nd (19:18) and Zach Merkle 48th (19:45).
10/26

Knight volleyball team ends season

Crestview was defeated by Ottoville in the sectional volleyball finals in four games, 25-19, 21-25, 17-25, and 17-25.  Crestview finishes with an overall record of 13-10 overall and also as 8-1 in the Northwest Conference, sharing the league title with Delphos Jefferson.

“I am very proud of what these girls accomplished this season,” said Crestview Coach Tammy Gregory. “The seniors of this year's team were great leaders and will be greatly missed.  The underclassmen are hard workers and have lots of varsity experience to carry with them into next year and know what it takes to compete at the highest level. 

“I've really enjoyed working with this team, as they play with a lot of heart and they are true team players.” Coach Gregory added. “We were a young team and small in size, but these girls continually pulled for one another and set their goals high as we strived to be the best team possible.”

Leading the Lady Knights in their final match was:

Serving

Taylor Springer    14/14 with 1 ace

Taylor Hamrick    10/10

Danica Hicks    13/14

Melissa Drake    14/16 with 1 ace

Jessica Burger    12/15 with 4 aces

Lydia Etzler    9/11

Hitting

Etzler    30/39 with 12 kills

Drake    17/22 with 10 kills

Springer    24/27 with 6 kills

Hicks    16/17 with 4 kills

Burger    16/22 with 2 kills

Jessica Gamble    8/12 with 1 kill

Setting

Hicks    71/74 with 18 assists

Springer    44/45 with 11 assists

Digs

Hamrick    15

Etzler    7

Springer    6

Blocks

Springer    20 with 1 stuff

Drake    12 with 2 stuff

Gamble    13 with 1 stuff

Hicks    8

Etzler    8

Serve Receive

Hamrick    39/41

Springer    13/13

Burger    12/14
10/26

Saturday Sports Roundup

CROSS COUNTRY

At Ottawa

Boys Meet

Defiance 50, Shawnee 85, Napoleon 89, Van Wert 92, Ottawa-Glandorf 137, Wapakoneta 169, Wauseon 197, Celina 204, Bryan 208, St. Marys 227, Lima Bath 249, Elida 346

Top 10 Individuals

Andrew Goodwin (C), 16:06.20; Trevin Flickinger (D); Steven Weaver (N); Abel Flores (D); Garrett Diltz (S); Jared Fleming (VW); Zach Diltz (S); Ben Majewski (N); Ben Hackworth (D); Michael Becker (W).

Girls Meet

Van Wert 70, Coldwater 70, Defiance 82, Napoleon 102, Wauseon 127, Shawnee 140, Celina 155, Bryan 202, Ottawa-Glandorf 249, Wapakoneta 250, St. Marys 330, Elida 338

Top 10 Individuals

Lauren Taylor (VW), 19:04.40; Megan Vogelsong (D); Rachel Huddle (N); Alyssa Brunswick (Cold); Anna Meyer (D); Adrienne Pohl (S); Marin Baird (W); Ashley Figel (Cel); Madison Riethman (VW); Molly Scott (S). 
        

Spencerville District

The following runners advanced to next week’s regional at Troy: Spencerville’s Kevin Lenhart (fourth, 17:21) and Jonathan Rex (fifth, 17:28); Crestview’s Garret Geckler (eighth, 17:43).

VOLLEYBALL

Sectional Finals

At Lima Senior

Ottawa-Glandorf def. Van Wert, 25-16, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 16-14

Ottawa-Glandorf (17-7) - Kelly Selhorst 4 aces; Sara Basinger 3 aces, 31 assists, 18 digs; Melissa Verhoff 3 aces, 13 kills, 23 digs; Hannah Kaufman 10 kills, 21 digs; Shannon Roof 10 kills; Jill Recker 8 blocks.

Van Wert - No stats.

Ottawa-Glandorf advances to district action at Liberty-Benton.

At Van Wert

Parkway def. Fairview, 25-9, 25-14, 25-12

Fairview - No stats.

Parkway - No stats.

At Edgerton

Antwerp def. Hicksville, 25-14, 16-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-10

Antwerp - Kelsey Bashore 27 kills, 10 assists; Loni Walk 15 assists, 3 aces; Taylor Vail 9 kills, 4 blocks; Toni Winslow 8 kills, 10 digs; Megan Koppenhofer 7 kills, 12 digs; A.J. Stuck 4 aces.

Hicksville (15-9) - Kacee Babinger 12-12 serving, 11-14 hitting, 4-4 serve receive, 11-13 passing, 6 digs; Whitney Thiel 14-14 serving, 21-21 setting, 30-34 hitting, 13 kills; Hailey Turnbull 21-22 serving, 3-3 setting, 13-14 hitting, 3 kills, 24-31 passing, 7 blocks, 3 digs; Macy Weatherhead 18-19 serving, 3-3 setting, 25-32 serve receive, 43-47 passing, 17 digs; Kayla King 16-19 hitting, 6 kills, 6-7 passing; Karley Schmidt 6-6 serving, 3-3 setting, 9-11 hitting, 9-10 passing, 5 blocks, 5 digs; Jenna Kinn 17-18 hitting, 4 kills, 4 blocks; Mariah Stevenson 20-22 serving, 31-35 setting, 7 assists; Megan Headley 13-22 serve receive, 31-35 passing, 6 digs.

At Lincolnview

Delphos Jefferson def. Delphos St. John's, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18, 25-16

Delphos Jefferson - No stats.

Delphos St. John's - No stats.

Ottoville and Delphos Jefferson advance to district action at Coldwater.
10/26

From Saturday

Cougs' playoff hopes dashed

Titans down Van Wert in crucial league match-up

By DAVE MOSIER

Van Wert independent Editor

After demolishing St. Marys 43-6 last week, the Van Wert Cougars had playoff stars in their eyes coming into Friday’s game against Ottawa-Glandorf. Four quarters later and those stars were lying trampled on the muddy field of Eggerss Stadium after the physical Titans administered a 36-14 whipping to the home team.

O-G scored in every quarter in a match-up of second-place teams in the Western Buckeye League. The victory leaves the Titans (7-2, 6-2 WBL) in a tie for second place with Shawnee (6-3, 6-2 WBL), which blanked St. Marys 25-0 on Friday. Kenton remains alone atop the league with a record of 8-1, 8-0 in the WBL after downing Wapakoneta 34-14. The Cougars and Roughriders are tied for fourth place with identical records of 5-4, 5-3 WBL, while Defiance slipped to sixth place after Elida shocked the Bulldogs 28-21 on Friday.

The Titans set the tone on their very first play from scrimmage, as Brandon Kuhlman took a pitch, ran around the right side of the line, cut back left and scampered 69 yards for the first score of the game. Kuhlman was the game’s leading rusher with 200 yards on 20 carries – an average of a first down each time he touched the ball.

O-G added another score in the first quarter after stopping the Cougars on their next possession. This time the Titans ate up most of the remainder of the quarter before Logan Kaufman ran the ball in from 7 yards out for a 12-0 lead with 16 seconds left in the stanza.

After coming up empty on its first two possessions, Van Wert got within a touchdown as Connor Massillo powered it in from the Titan 18-yard line. Gyer Blackmore’s kick went wide and it was 12-6 with 8:27 left in the half.

O-G wasn’t about to let things stay that way, though, as Titan quarterback Nathan Kahle found Ryan Kuhlman open for a 34-yard scoring strike that made it 20-6 with 1:42 left before halftime.

Ottawa-Glandorf added another touchdown to open the third quarter, with Kaufman running for paydirt from the Cougar 3-yard line for a 22-point lead at 28-6. Again, Van Wert gutted it out, scoring with just over 2 minutes remaining in the quarter when junior Austin Fleming, who took over for Corey Clifton at quarterback after his classmate was injured, ran the ball in from the 1. Fleming then hit Austin Reichert on a two-point PAT pass to cut the lead to 28-14.

That was as close as the Cougars would get, as O-G scored its final TD of the night when Brandon Kuhlman powered it in from the 3 for a 36-14 lead and just 6:11 remaining in the game.

The Titans compiled 412 yards of total offense, 292 of that on the ground, while Van Wert had 329 yards total, 181 of those via the rushing game. Massillo led the Cougars with 106 yards rushing and a touchdown on 19 carries, while Fleming rushed for 41 yards and a TD on seven carries.

Clifton was 6 of 16 passing on the night for 95 yards and one interception for Van Wert, while Fleming was 2 of 7 for 53 yards. The Titans’ Kahle completed 9 of 14 passes for 120 yards, a touchdown and one interception.

Nate Williams was Van Wert’s top receiver, catching four passes for 81 yards. Fleming caught two for 35 yards while Evan Hammons had two receptions for 32 yards. Ryan Kuhlman had four receptions for 67 yards for the Titans.

The keys to the game were penalties – most of the Cougars’ 57 penalty yards led to stalled offensive drives – and the defense’s inability to stop the Titan running game. O-G had 45 yards in penalties, but most of those were on the defensive side of the ball.

After Friday’s loss, Van Wert is placed squarely in the role of spoiler as it visits Shawnee this coming Friday for both teams’ final regular season game.
Cougar Tony Black (40) makes a tackle during Friday's game against Ottawa-Glandorf. The Titans won 36-14 to end Van Wert's playoff hopes. Photos by Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent (photo reprints available; email snapshotjan@embarqmail.com)

Area Football Roundup

Delphos St. John’s 28, St. Henry 6

It has been nearly a decade, but the wait was worthwhile for Delphos St. John’s as the Blue Jays finally won another Midwest Athletic Conference football title – or clinched at least a share of it with a 28-6 thrashing of St. Henry.

With a win over Fort Recovery next week, the ‘Jays can win the league championship outright. To understand just how tough it is to win the MAC, St. John’s has won three state titles in this decade (2000, 2005, 2008) without winning the league.

Blue Jay quarterback Wes Ulm threw for three touchdowns and completed 8 of 13 passes for 151 yards for St. John’s (9-0, 7-0). Ulm hit Jordan Leininger on a 50-yard TD pass, Tyler Bergfeld on a 30-yard scoring strike and Bergfeld again on a 3-yard touchdown pass. Leininger also scored on a 2-yard run and rushed for 68 yards on 18 touches.

St. Henry’s Kevin Stahl passed for 160 yards and Jon Speck kicked field goals of 25 yards and 22 yards. St. Henry is 6-3 overall, 4-3 in the MAC.

Columbus Grove 27, Crestview 6

The Crestview Knights’ defense had no answers to the question of how to stop the Columbus Grove ground game, as Rayce Risser guided the Bulldogs to a 27-6 triumph over Crestview with 126 yards rushing on 21 totes. Risser also scored three touchdowns to help ‘Grove improve to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the Northwest Conference.

Overall, Columbus Grove (6-3, 5-2 NWC) rushed for 240 yards while holding the Knights to 101 yards on the ground. Risser led the Bulldogs with 126 yards on 21 carries, with three of those runs going for touchdowns.

Risser started the scoring with a 6-yard run midway through the first quarter and added the other two scores late in the second half.

Crestview (3-6, 2-5 NWC) scored in the fourth quarter on a 65-yard pass from Cody Hagaman to Matt Holden.

Wayne Trace 34, Ayersville 0

The Wayne Trace Raiders finally put together four quarters of solid football. The Raiders outplayed Ayersville in all phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams.

Offensively, Wayne Trace put up 34 points on the scoreboard, with Dylan Horner rushing for 171 yards and two TDs.

Defensively, the Raiders pitched a shutout – enough said.

Horner opened the scoring on the Raiders’ first offensive play with a 73-yard TD toss to Kim Bickford and later scored two second-half touchdowns for the Raiders (5-4, 2-4 GMC).

Ayersville (1-8, 0-6 GMC) was held to 87 yards rushing and 88 yards through air.

Bluffton 12, Paulding 0

Bluffton pounded out a 12-0 victory over Paulding the old-fashioned way – on the ground.

The Pirates compiled 207 yards on the ground while also holding Paulding to 220 total yards in the win.

Tyler Rayl had 77 yards rushing for Bluffton (4-5, 3-4 NWC), while teammate Levi Eason scored on a two-yard run and Matt Lee hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass.

Paulding’s Steve Heilman broke the century mark, rushing for 137 yards in a losing effort for Paulding, which falls to 2-7 overall and 1-6 in the NWC.

Ada 33, Delphos Jefferson 6

Ada did its part Friday night in Delphos, defeating the Wildcats 33-6. Now the Bulldogs (9-0 overall, 8-0 NWC) will face off against Lima Central Catholic (8-1 overall, 8-0 NWC) next Saturday for the Northwest Conference title.

Ada jumped on Jefferson (5-4 overall, 4-3 NWC), building a 13-6 first-quarter lead behind the arm of Heath Jackson. Jackson threw TD strikes to Konnor Baker (20 yards) and Alex Weber (11 yards).

Ada’s defense also rose to the occasion, holding the Wildcats on downs from inside the 5-yard line just before halftime. The biggest play of the game came in the third stanza with Ada trapped on its own 1-yard line. Jackson found Kyle Baker at the 50-yard-line and the senior wideout zigged-zagged his way to the end zone for a 20-6 lead.

Jackson finished with 113 rushing yards on 18 carries for one TD and 324 yards on 15 of 32 passing with two interceptions to go with his three scoring tosses.

10/24

From Friday

YWCA has new swim lesson session

The YWCA announces a new swim lesson session scheduled from October 26 to December 19.

The new schedule includes an adult class, as well as the recently updated Red Cross Learn to Swim Program that includes new classes for preschool age children. The session runs for eight weeks and classes are offered once a week on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Call or stop by the YWCA for more information on specific class offerings and availability. Costs for the eight-week session: 30-minute class – members $28 and non-members $36; 45-minute class – members $36 and non-members $50.

Sign-up starts Monday, October 26, at the YWCA, 408 E. Main St. Pre-registration and pre-payment is required.

Friday Night Lights (football games tonight)

Van Wert hosts Ottawa-Glandorf

Paulding hosts Bluffton

Delphos St. John’s at St. Henry

Antwerp at Holgate

Wayne Trace at Ayersville

Parkway hosts New Bremen

Crestview hosts Columbus Grove

Delphos Jefferson hosts Ada

Thursday Sports Roundup

GIRLS SOCCER

Division II at Ottoville

Delphos St. John’s 1, Continental 0

Delphos St. John’s Bailey Calvelage scored the goal to help the Lady Blue Jays defeat Continental in the Division II sectional finals at Ottoville 1-0.

Samantha Stant had two saves for the Lady ‘Jays in the shutout. Lena Weller had four saves for the Lady Pirates.

The Blue Jays now advance to the district semifinals against Fort Jennings at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Ottoville.
10/23

From Thursday

Cougars put scare in top-seed Napoleon

DEFIANCE – The Van Wert Cougars entered the Defiance Soccer Sectional Tournament seeded seventh out of eight teams. They left the field Wednesday night after having earned a ton of respect. 

Van Wert’s Curtis Calvelage scored a first-half goal to give the Cougars a shocking 1-0 halftime advantage over the top-seeded Wildcats of Napoleon.

The second half was playing out the same, with the Cougars holding their own, until five minutes showed on the game clock. That’s when Van Wert was called for a roughing penalty in the box, resulting in a penalty kick for Napoleon. The Wildcats made the easy kick and the score was tied at 1-all. Unfortunately, all the momentum then shifted to the fired-up Wildcats, who converted the winning goal a few minutes later.

“I am so proud of the way the team played tonight,” Van Wert Coach Derek Stemen said. “It is so unfortunate for us that a really bad call cost us – I mean the official that made the call was forty yards from the incident.”

The Cougars bow out of the 2009 season with a record of 2-13-2.
10/22

Cougars, O-G to meet in v-ball tourney

In the Division II sectional volleyball tourney at Lima Senior, second-seeded Ottawa-Glandorf (16-7) will face Van Wert in a sectional final at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.

The Titans and Cougars will square off 20 minutes following the other sectional final, pitting Celina and St. Marys, which starts at 3 p.m.

Shawnee forfeited to Van Wert and O-G defeated Elida 3-0 in the Division II Lima Senior sectional.
10/22

From Wednesday

Tuesday Sports Roundup

VOLLEYBALL

Division III at Van Wert

Fairview defeated Paulding 3-1 (29-27, 11-25, 27-25, 25-21)

Division IV at Lincolnview

Delphos St. Johns def. Lincolnview 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 26-24)

Brittany Wrasman had 22 digs for St. John’s, Lindsy Reindel had 12 kills and 5 blocks and Katie Wallenhorst added 20 assists and 4 aces.

Ottoville defeated Wayne Trace 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-16)

Ottoville - Tasha Kaufman 9 kills, 18 assists, 13 digs; Samantha Modica 6 kills, 6 blocks; Gayle Rayman 9 kills; Bridget Miller 20-20 serving, 3 aces; Shelby Roney 5 blocks, 4 kills; Melany Honigford 13 assists; Chelsea Ditto 13 digs.

Wayne Trace (12-12) - Janelle Davis 11 blocks, 11-12 serving, 66-66 setting, 9 assists; Jenna Stoller 7-7 serving, 29-37 hitting, 5 kills; Sarah Feasby 14 blocks, 12-13 hitting; Kelsey Heck 12-14 serving, 48-56 passing; Carlee Sinn 18-18 hitting, 4 kills.

GIRLS SOCCER

at Ottoville

Bluffton 4, Delphos Jefferson 1

Bluffton (6-10-1) - Goals: Lydia Guagenti 2, Jenny Steinmetz 2.

Assists: Jenny Steinmetz, Kari Leugers.

Delphos Jefferson (6-9-1) – Goals: Megan Moreo.
10/21

From Tuesday

Monday Sports Roundup

Girls Soccer sectional

Blue Jays win, Lady Knights fall short

Delphos St. John’s defeated Ottoville 2-1 Monday night in the first game of the Division II girl’s soccer sectional at Ottoville. Bailey Calvelage scored twice for Delphos St. John’s, who now advance to face Continental at 5 p.m. Thursday. Ottoville got a lone goal from Abbey Siefker midway through the first half.

Continental 5, Crestview 0

Continental advanced in the night-cap with a 5-0 whitewash of Crestview. Kyleigh Holtsberry scored twice and Taylor Bidlack added a pair of assists as the Lady Pirates earned the right to face Delphos St. John’s at 5 p.m. Thursday. The Pirates out-shot the Knights 16-1.
10/20

From Monday

Doidge ends up 19th in state golf tourney

In the Boys Division II State Golf Championships on Saturday, Van Wert junior Blake Doidge finished in a tie for 19th place overall.

Doidge’s two days of state competition saw the junior card 18-hole rounds of 81 and 82 for a total of 163. For a complete list of scoring, go to www.ohsaa.org (golf).
10/19

Taylor, VW girls finish first in WBL meet

DEFIANCE – The Van Wert High School girls’ cross country team claimed its eighth overall Western Buckeye League title this past weekend, breaking a 7-7 WBL tie with Defiance by beating the rival Lady Bulldogs by five points.

Not only did the Cougars prevail as team champions, but Van Wert’s Lauren Taylor finished out her senior WBL campaign with a convincing 39-second win over the competition. Following Taylor into the chute were Jacey Eikenbary ninth (20:45), Katie Bono 10th (20:45), Erica Davis 11th (20:50), Madison Riethman 12th (20:51) – all of who earned First Team All-WBL honors – as well as Erika Smith 13th (20:53), and Sydney Riethman 14th (21:00), who were named Special Mention All-WBL.

“These girls work hard week in and week out,” said Coach Brendon Moody, who was named “Coach of the Year” for the WBL. “To go in to Defiance, beat them on their home course, and break the 7-7 WBL tie was a great feeling. I’m sure they’ll be gunning for us this next week at districts.”

Other Cougar girls crossing the line on Saturday include, Kelsey Wagner 18th, Becca Ries 25th, Rachael Scheidt 27th, Courtney VanHorne 38th, Shelby Wolford 41st, Courtney Showman 76th, Morella Mills 86th, and Madison Hernandez 100th. 

Team Scores: 1. Van Wert, 43; 2. Defiance, 48; 3. Lima Shawnee, 75; 4. Celina, 95; 5. Ottawa-Glandorf, 134; 6. Wapakoneta, 155; 7. Kenton, 209; 8. St. Marys, 221; 9. Elida, 244. 

WBL First Team

Lauren Taylor (VW), 19:02.06; Megan Vogelsong (D); Ashley Figel (C); Anna Meyer (D); Adrienne Pohl (S); Emily Wolery (S); Kristen Fett (D); Molly Scott (S); Jacey Eikenbary (VW); Katie Bono (VW); Erica Davis (VW); Madison Riethman (VW).

WBL Special Mention

Erica Smith (VW); Sydney Riethman (VW); Alex Ramirez (D); Kaitlin Blackburn (W); Ashley Coon (C); Kelsey Wagner (VW); Demi Snider (K); Elizabeth Martin (W); Brittney Holmes (D); Dana Lanwehr (O-G).

WBL Coach of the Year

Brendon Moody, Van Wert.
10/19

Cougar boys finish 2nd in WBL CC meet

The Van Wert boys’ cross country team finished second at Saturday’s Western Buckeye League meet. Defiance won the boys’ title, scoring 34 points, while Van Wert slipped past Shawnee for second place – 84 to 85.

The Cougars had three runners come away with all-league honors on Saturday.

Jared Fleming finished sixth overall in a time of 17:09.94, while Jacob Bagley came in eighth in 17:14.34. With their top-12 finishes, both Fleming and Bagley earned First Team All-Western Buckeye League honors. Luke Brubaker’s 18th place finish (18:00.03) earned him Special Mention All-WBL honors.

Rounding out the remaining Van Wert competitors on Saturday included Brian Easley (24th, 18:14); Dustin Farmer (28th, 18:34); Luke Strick (33rd, 18:42); Kase Schalois (46th, 19:12); Brian Voisard (47th, 19:12); Nathan Simson (49th, 19:16); Noah Edwards (19:21); Adam Saylor (19:34); Spencer Prichard (20:42); Josh Roberts (21:24); Jacob Hoverman (23:13).

Van Wert coach Mark Altstaetter said his team came out and competed well on Saturday.

“I really liked the way the guys came out and performed on Saturday,” Altstaetter said. “I normally would not be happy with a second-place finish, but we knew how good Defiance is. They’re a top-10 team (in the state) and they showed it on Saturday.

“We need to get refocused on Monday and start preparing for Saturday’s district meet at Ottawa,” Altstaetter added. “We will need to keep improving if we want to take it to the next level.”

Van Wert’s overall record stands at 124-40.

Final team standings: 1. Defiance 34; 2. Van Wert 84; 3. Shawnee 85; 4. Wapakoneta 105; 5. Ottawa-Glandorf 110; 6. Celina 161; 7. St. Marys 170; 8. Kenton 187; 9. Bath 206.
10/19

Knight boy runners 3rd at NWC CC meet

The Crestview cross country teams competed in the Northwest Conference meet on Saturday.  The meet was held at a great cross country venue, Lima's Faurot Park.

The Crestview boys’ team raced to a third place finish. The Knights were led by Garret Gleckler, who placed fifth to earn First Team All-NWC honors. He was followed by teammates Joel Genter (12th), CJ Germann (16th), Micah Brant (22nd), and Conley Zaleski (23rd).

Complete List of Boys Places and Times:

Garret Gleckler               fifth                   17:50

Joel Genter                     12th             18:33

CJ Germann                    16th             18:43

Micah Brant                     22nd             19:28

Conley Zaleski                 23rd             19:33

Shelby Ripley                  27th             19:58

Zach Merkle                     29th             20:07

Collin Thompson              44th             21:28

Cody Klinker                     58th             22:58

Isaac Simerman               60th             23:29

Nick Bowen                     64th             25:38

Crestview girls had the following finish places and times:

Elizabeth Saylor               12th                  22:51

Leah Saylor                      25th                  24:15

Sammy Gerardot               33rd                  26:24

Cora Finfrock                     34th                  26:30

Saturday Sports Roundup

CROSS COUNTRY

NWC Meet

Girls Team Results

1. Spencerville (15), 2. Lima Central Catholic (66), 3. Lincolnview (83), 4. Columbus Grove (89), *Crestview (only four runners)

Individuals (top local runners):

Lincolnview was led by Karissa Burns (finished11th overall).

Crestview was led by Elizabeth Saylor (finished12th overall).

Boys Team Results

1. Spencerville (45), 2. Columbus Grove (60), 3. Crestview (74), 4. Lima Central Catholic (90), 5. Bluffton (137), 6. Lincolnview (140), 7. Allen East (172).

Individual (top local runners):

For Crestview: Garret Gleckler finished fifth overall.

For Lincolnview: Austin Teesh finished 19th overall.

MAC Cross Country Meet

Boys Team Scores: Minster 61, St. Henry 62, Coldwater 85, New Knoxville 88, New Bremen 101, Versailles 113, Marion Local 203, Fort Recovery 221, Parkway 251.

Top 10 Individuals: 1. Eilerman (NB) 16:27.20; 2. Prakel (VE) 16:34.20; 3. Seas (CO) 16:40.60; 4. Slonkosky (MI) 16:51.20; 5. Gray (CO) 17:09.00; 6. Schulze (SH) 17:13.80; 7. Muhlenkamp (CO) 17:26.80; 8. Barga (MI) 17:27.90; 9. Rindler (SH) 17:33.90; 10. Gorman (VE) 17:36.50.

St. John’s Runners (118 Runners): 69. Jason Michel 20:12.60; … 117. Todd Rode 26:29.20.

Girls Team Scores: Minster 30, Coldwater 47, Versailles 52, Marion Local 124, Fort Recovery 134, New Bremen 189, St. Henry 204.

Top 10 Individuals: 1. Berger (VE) 19:03.30; 2. Dahlinghaus (MI) 19:56.60; 3. Bruns (CO) 19:56.70; 4. Butler (MI) 19:59.10; 5. Holescher (MI) 20:02.90; 6. Grillot (VE) 20:09.20; 7. Brunswick (CO) 20:21.2; 8. Kohn (CO) 20:24.70; 9. Fausey (MI) 20:32.80; 10. A. Bornhorst (MI) 20:36.20.

St. John’s Runners (129 Runners): 50. Mary Bemis 22:54.60; … 114. Julia Dickman 27:09.50.

GIRLS SOCCER

Kalida 5, Crestview 0

Summer Holtkamp tallied two goals to lift Kalida to the victory over Crestview. Also, Kylie McIntyre, Sam Edwards and Chelsea Verhoff each added a goal for the K-Cats (11-2-3), who dominated play by out-shooting Crestview 26-4. Kara Kaufman added 2 assists for Kalida, while Crestview keeper Darci Swager had 19 saves.

VOLLEYBALL

Antwerp defeated Lincolnview 2-0 (25-20, 25-23)

Antwerp (15-6) - Megan Koppenhofer 4 aces, 11 digs, 11-11 serve receive; Loni Walk 34-34 setting, 19 assists; Kelsey Bashore 24-24 setting, 5 assists, 24-27 hitting, 18 kills, 5 blocks; Taylor Vail 6-7 hitting, 4 kills; Darcie Reinhart 9 digs.

Lincolnview - No stats.

Antwerp defeated Van Wert 2-0 (25-15, 25-14)

Antwerp (16-6) - Darcie Reinhart 14-14 serve reception; Loni Walk 16-16 setting, 6 assists, 16-16 serving, 9 digs; Kelsey Bashore 13-13 seting, 13-16 hitting, 8 kills; Taylor Vail 6 blocks, 7-8 hitting, 5 kills; Ashlee Smith 4 blocks; AJ Stuck 5-5 hitting, 3 kills, 11-12 serving, 3 aces.

Van Wert - No stats.

Antwerp wins GMC Volleyball Title

Antwerp claimed its second straight GMC title Thursday night with a five-set victory over rival Edgerton (25-17, 25-16, 27-29, 22-25, 15-8).

Antwerp defeated Edgerton 3-2 (25-17, 25-16, 27-29, 22-25, 15-8)

Antwerp (14-6, 7-0 GMC) - Taylor Vail 36-40 hitting, 14 kills; Kelsey Bashore 35-38 hitting, 23 kills, 83-84 setting, 16 assists; Toni Winslow 34-34 hitting, 10 kills, 18-18 serving, 5 aces, 14 digs; A.J. Stuck 24-25 serving, 4 aces; Darcie Reinhart 25-26 serve receive, 13 digs; Megan Koppenhofer 10 digs, 5 kills; Loni Walk 38-39 setting, 16 assists.

Edgerton - Brooke Riehle 18-19 serving, 38-42 serve receive, 17-19 hitting, 21 digs; Brooke Clark 6-6 serving, 22 digs; Rebekkah Ferrebee 29-33 hitting, 9 kills; Jayma Nihart 15-15 serving, 17 digs; Addie Henricks 60-64 hitting, 25 kills; Sarah Smethurst 10-13 hitting, 4 kills; Taylor Stark 10-13 serving, 22 digs; Cassandra Fritch 7-7 serving; Tia Wheeler 37-37 setting, 9 assists; Miranda Landis 11-12 serving, 93-94 setting, 23 assists.

Reserves: Antwerp, 25-14, 25-15

MIDDLE SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY

The Van Wert Middle School girls’ cross country team traveled to Defiance on Saturday to compete in the Western Buckeye League championships.  The girls came away with an individual champion in Andrea Foster, as well as the overall team championship.  Foster’s time of 13:05 bettered Celina’s Jenna Coon by just two seconds.

Following Foster’s lead were Courtney Smith 11th (14:38), Karlyn Koontz 13th (14:44), Taylor Whitcraft 16th (14:51), Becky Anderson 18th (14:56), Leah Brubaker 33rd (15:44), Carisa Burgos 34th (15:54), Alea Hill 35th (15:58), and Alexis Hawkins 50th (17:41).

 “This was a great way for the girls to end their season,” said Coach Kylee Moody. “They’ve worked very hard and really deserved to go out on top.” 

Team Scores: 1. Van Wert, 59; 2. Celina, 71; 3. Defiance, 78; 4. Ottawa-Glandorf, 83; 5. Wapakoneta, 110; 6. St. Marys, 121; 7. Shawnee, 163; 8. Elida, 187.    

The Van Wert Middle School boys’ cross country team capped off its season with a Western Buckeye League championship on Saturday. 

The team edged Defiance by only three points, 67-70, through a great team effort. Three Cougar runners were recognized as the “top 20” and included Connor Shaffer, 13th in 12:46; Eric Easley, WBL runner-up in 11:49; and WBL champion Connor Holliday in 11:40.  

Rounding out the top five were Nick Keber, finishing 26th in 13:33 and Austin Taylor, 28th running a 13:35. Three runners also achieved personal records for the season. The team’s final record ends at 116-27. 

Other runners and their times:

Daniel Perry               29th            13:35

Reed Baxter               32nd            13:49

Bryan Mills                 40th            14:05

Adam Jurczyk            45th            14:21

Ryan Rice                  50th            14:36

Adam Myers               65th            16:54

Quintin Profit              66th            17:11

Quinton Rutkowski      68th             18:28
10/19

From Saturday

Cougars ride over St. Marys
Van Wert downs Roughriders for 1st time in decade

By DAVE MOSIER

Van Wert independent Editor

ST. MARYS – It had been a decade since Van Wert had last beaten St. Marys. Frustration can be a dangerous thing, as the Cougar offense and defense showed in dominating the Roughriders in a 43-7 thrashing of the second-best team in the Western Buckeye League coming into the game. It was the most points a Cougar team has scored against St. Marys in more than 50 years.

As it has shown in the last few games, Van Wert can put up some impressive offensive numbers and Friday was no exception. The Cougars had 455 yards of total offense, including 285 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, as they tore up and down the field at Skip Baughman Stadium.

Van Wert quarterback Corey Clifton has become the team’s offensive leader and the junior demonstrated his explosiveness against the Roughriders, running for two scores and passing for two more against one of the best defenses in the league.

The combination of Clifton and fullback Connor Massillo, also a junior and Van Wert’s leading rusher, was a deadly one for St. Marys, as the pair rushed for a total of 253 yards and four TDs. The Cougar defense was also crucial in the win, holding the Roughriders’ vaunted running attack to just 137 yards on 37 carries, 3.7 yards a carry, while the Van Wert “O” turned that number around with an average of 7.3 yards a carry, thanks to some big runs by Clifton and Massillo.

Clifton completed 9 of 15 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions, while St. Marys quarterback Derek Roop hit just 1 of 10 pass attempts for 22 yards, while also throwing two interceptions in the game.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Cougars’ offense got on track with three scores in the second stanza and led 22-0 at the half. Massillo broke several tackles and scampered down the sideline for a 42-yard touchdown to start off the second quarter, while kicker Gyer Blackmore hit the point-after attempt to make it 7-0 Van Wert.

After stopping the Roughrider offense, Van Wert went back to work, with Clifton hitting receiver Nate Williams for a 50-yard TD. The two also hooked up on a faked extra-point kick to put two more points on the scoreboard on the PAT, making it 15-0 with 5:56 remaining.

The Cougars got the ball back one more time before the half ended and Clifton went solo, keeping the ball on a veer play and taking it 5 yards to paydirt with less than a minute left until halftime. Blackmore kicked the PAT this time and it was 22-0.

Van Wert continued its dominance of the Roughriders in the third period, scoring with 8:44 remaining in the quarter when Clifton again found Williams for a 31-yard scoring strike. The kick was wide this time and it was 28-0, Cougars.

Clifton was deadly from 5 yards out, scoring again from that distance on Van Wert’s next possession. Blackmore split the uprights this time and it was 35-0 with 5:50 remaining in the third stanza.

The final score for the Cougars was a 25-yard run by Massillo. Clifton hit Donny Sites on the PAT attempt and Van Wert had the game sewed up with a 43-0 lead with 5:28 left in the game.

St. Marys finally got on the scoreboard with 3:41 left when Brad Sawmiller broke away for a 47-yard touchdown. Allan Broyles kicked the PAT for the final score.

Massillo was the rushing leader for Van Wert, running for 147 yards and two TDs on 12 carries. Clifton had 106 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns.

Williams caught three passes – two for touchdowns – and 94 total yards, while Evan Hammons hauled in three passes for 39 yards.

Sawmiller had 63 yards on eight carries, most of those on his TD run, while the Roughriders’ rushing leader, Kyle Puschel, was held to just 45 yards on 21 carries, about 2 yards a carry.

With the win, Van Wert is now tied for second place in the WBL at 5-2 and 5-3 overall. St. Marys, which had held sole possession of second place coming into Friday’s contest, is now tied with the Cougars, and the next two opponents for Van Wert: Shawnee and Ottawa-Glandorf. Kenton, which defeated Defiance 40-21, remained atop the league at 7-0.

The Cougars now have a chance to make the state playoffs, but they’ve got a tough road ahead to do so. While Van Wert catches a bit of a break in meeting O-G at home next week, the Cougars then have to end league play on the road at Shawnee in two weeks. Winning out, though, would likely be enough to put the locals into the playoffs.
The Cougar defense solved the Roughriders' vaunted run offense, limiting St. Marys to just 137 yards on the ground during Friday's WBL match-up at Skip Baughman Stadium. Photos by Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent

VW golfer shoots 81 at state golf tourney

Blake Doidge, participating in the Division II State Golf Tournament, withstood cold and windy weather conditions at the North Star Golf Resort in Sunbury.  

Doidge recorded an 81 on the first day of competition and currently sits in 20th place out of 72 golfers.  Tournament leaders sit at 72 and 73, respectively.  

Doidge will tee off this morning at 9:20.
10/17 

Area Football Roundup

Delphos St. John’s 27, Coldwater 20

Jordan Leininger took the pitch, shook a tackler at the 30-yard line, got outside, stopped and threw a strike to Tanner Calvelage running a curl at the 5-yard line, who then made a nice spin move to break a tackle and leap into the end zone, giving St. John’s a 26-20 lead with just 10 seconds remaining. Jordan Rode’s PAT kick gave St. John’s a 27-20 lead and the ‘Jays held on for a wild win over Midwest Athletic Conference nemesis Coldwater.

The victory gave St. John’s (8-0, 6-0 Midwest Athletic Conference) sole possession of first place in the MAC, just ahead of the Cavaliers (7-1, 5-1 MAC). It also marked the Blue Jays’ first win over Coldwater since 2001. In that time period, the Jays have not won the MAC, but won two state football titles (2005 and 2008). Coldwater entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state in Division V, while St. John’s is ranked No. 1 in Division VI.

Leininger finished with 106 yards, while Blue Jays quarterback Wes Ulm totaled 159 yards of offense (43 rushing and 116 passing). Two of Ulm’s passes found the end zone.

Coldwater quarterback Keith Wenning, a load at 6-4, 235 pounds, ran for 104 yards, while completing 25 of 37 passes for 343 yards. Wenning had two TD passes to go along with his two interceptions.

St. John’s led 6-0 after the first quarter and 20-13 at the half. The Blue Jays took a 20-13 lead on a 41-yard pass from Ulm to Leininger in the flat with 1:35 left before halftime.

Coldwater tied the game at 20-all on an 18-yard run by Wenning in the third quarter.

Crestview 27, Spencerville 21

The Crestview Knights, behind the performance of quarterback Stephen Semer, who threw for 88 yards and a touchdown and added a game-high 112 yards on the ground and two more TDs, led Crestview to an exciting 27-21 win over Spencerville in Northwest Conference action on Friday.

The Knights outgained Spencerville 183-9 on the ground. Bearcats quarterback Derek Goecke completed 10 of 13 passes for 149 yards and a pair of TDs. He also scored on a 1-yard romp into the end zone.

Columbus Grove 22, Paulding 6

Jordan Travis sparked the Bulldogs (5-3, 4-2 NWC), throwing for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Luke Kohls scored on a touchdown pass from Travis, while also kicking a field goal. Jacob Miller had an end zone reception to cap the night.

Bruce Sowder hauled in a touchdown pass from Steve Hielman for Paulding (2-6, 1-5 NWC).

Scoring summary

First Quarter

Col. Grove - Risser 18-yard run (kick failed).
Second Quarter

Col. Grove - Kohls 22-yard field goal.
Third Quarter

Col. Grove - Kohls 8-yard pass from Travis (Kohls kick).
Fourth Quarter

Paulding - Sowder 11-yard pass from Heilman (pass failed).
Col. Grove - Miller 47-yard pass from Travis (kick failed).

Antwerp 35, Ayersville 14

Antwerp picked up their first GMC victory with a 35-14 victory over Ayersville.

John Brown led the Archers (3-5, 1-4 GMC) with 111 yards on the ground and a touchdown while John Rindahl added 68 rushing yards.

Dillon Flint ran for 176 yards and a score to lead the Pilots, who fall to 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the conference.

Scoring summary

First Quarter

Antwerp - Stuart 3-yard run (Kobee kick).
Antwerp - Koppenhofer 4-yard pass from Brown (Kobee kick).
Antwerp - Rindahl 9-yard run (Kobee kick).
Second Quarter

Antwerp - Koppenhofer 6-yard pass from Brown (Kobee kick).
Third Quarter

Ayersville - Justin Flory 7-yard run (McIlvan kick).
Antwerp - Brown 56-yard run (Kobee kick).
Fourth Quarter

Ayersville - Flint 46-yard run (McIlvan kick).

Fairview 42, Wayne Trace 21

Fairview improved its record to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the GMC with a 42-21 romp past Wayne Trace Friday night. Derrick Baksa finished with 11-of-23 passing attempts for 155 yards to lead Wayne Trace (4-4, 1-4 GMC), but it was not enough as Fairview had too many weapons.  

Scoring summary:
Fairview - Yoder 42-yard pass from Bro. Mosier (Murray kick).
Wayne Trace - Holbrooks 42-yard INT return (Gordon kick).
Fairview - Webb 28-yard pass from Bro. Mosier (Murray kick).
Wayne Trace - Baksa 1-yard run (Gordon kick).
Fairview - Valle 28-yard pass from Bro. Mosier (Murray kick).
Fairview - Roehrig 5-yard pass from Bro. Mosier (kick failed).
Wayne Trace - Horner 1-yard run (Gordon kick).
Fairview - Yoder 50-yard pass from Bro. Mosier (Woenker pass from Mosier).
Fairview - Roehrig 36-yard pass from Mosier (Murray kick).

Sidney Lehman 35, Delphos Jefferson 7

Sidney Lehman Catholic ran roughshod over Delphos Jefferson Friday night to the tune of a 35-7 romp.

Lehman Catholic used rough field conditions (mud, rain, wind, cold, and snow) to subdue the D-Cats. Lehman Catholic totaled 360 yards of offense, with 358 of those coming via the ground attack.

The hosts recorded 16 first downs to Jefferson’s nine, while also holding the D-cats to 112 total yards. Jefferson ended the night 12 of 30 for 101 yards passing, while throwing one pick.

Jordan Jettinghoff’s throw was intercepted by Jonathon Slagle and returned 45-yards for the TD. The D-Cats lone TD came via the airwaves too, as Craig Carder hauled in a 12-yard pass from Jettinghoff.

Outstanding Jefferson players in the game:

Offense

Craig Carder

3 receptions for 46 yards and 1 touchdown.

Defense

Logan Bonifas

15 tackles

Zac Lumpkins

15 tackles and 1 fumble recovery

Justin Bame

13 tackles

A.J. Cross

11 tackles

Mark McElroy

10 tackles
10/17

From Friday

Thursday Sports Roundup

VOLLEYBALL

Van Wert defeated Shawnee 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-20)

Lindsey Brown came up with 20 kills, while Becka Hurless had 35 assists for the Cougars (10-10, 7-2 WBL), and Tisha Parish had 37 digs, with Carlee Brown adding 26 more.

New Knoxville defeated Delphos St. John’s 3-2 (19-25, 25-16, 14-25, 25-21, 15-12)

Lindsy Reindel had two aces and 24 kills for the Jays, while teammates Katie Wallenhorst had 20 assists and Brittany Wrasman had 40 digs. The Jays fell to 9-12 while the Rangers moved to .500 at 11-11.
 

Wayne Trace defeated Holgate 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 15-25, 25-14)

Wayne Trace (12-11, 4-3 GMC) - Kari Myers 6 blocks, 8-8 serving; Sarah Feasby 4 blocks, 18-23 hitting, 6 kills; Rebecca Habern 6 blocks, 7-7 serving, 15-15 hitting; Janelle Davis 120-120 setting, 39 assists, 15-15 serving; Jenna Stoller 50-56 hitting, 17 kills; Kelsey Heck 13-14 serving, 16 digs; Carlee Sinn 21-22 hitting, 8 kills; Taylor Baumle 10-11 hitting.

Holgate  - No stats.

Delphos Jefferson defeated Kalida 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-20)

Delphos Jeff. (20-1) - Mallory Wilson had eight blocks and 20 assists. Kristin Klausing and Courtney Rostorfer each had 21 digs.

Kalida (14-6) - Julia Fuerst 13 kills; Amy Hamburg 5 kills; Trisha Horstman 5 kills; Emily Turnwald 6 kills, 13 assists; Halie Zenz 15 assists.

BOYS SOCCER

Shawnee defeated Van Wert 9-0

Garrett Black and Ryan Magee each scored twice as Shawnee ran over Van Wert 9-0 in a boys soccer match Thursday.

The Indians improved to 10-4-2 overall and 7-1-1 in the Western Buckeye League. Shawnee totally dominated the match, outshooting Van Wert 35-2. The Cougars fell to 2-12-1.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (October 16)

Delphos St. John’s hosts Coldwater

Paulding at Columbus Grove

Van Wert at St. Marys

Antwerp at Ayersville

Wayne Trace hosts Fairview

Parkway at Minster

Crestview at Spencerville

Delphos Jefferson at Sidney Lehman
10/16

From Thursday

Lady Knights downed by Delphos Jeff

The Lady Knights were defeated in three straight games by a very aggressive and dominating team, the Wildcats of Delphos Jefferson.  Scores were 19-25, 13-25 and 13-25.  Due to the loss the Lady Knights share the conference title with Delphos Jefferson as both teams finished 8-1 in the NWC.

Crestview finished its regular season 13-9 overall. The Lady Knights will begin their tournament run on Saturday, October 24, at Lincolnview as they play the winner of Ottoville and Wayne Trace. The first match that day will begin at 3 p.m. and Crestview’s match will begin 20 minutes after the first match.

Individual Stats

Serving

Danica Hicks and Taylor Springer    each going 8/8

Jessica Burger    10/11 with 2 aces

Taylor Hamrick    8/9 with 1 ace

Hitting

Hicks    9/12 with 6 kills

Lydia Etzler 30/37 with 5 kills

Burger 18/20 with 5 kills

Springer    18/20 with 4 kills

Setting

Hicks 70/70 with 14 assists

Springer 24/25 with 6 assists

Digs

Etzler    8

Blocks

Springer    11

Jessica Gamble    10

Serve Receive

Hamrick    31/32

Leaders for Jefferson included Mallorie Wilson (17/17 serving with five aces, 12 kills, six blocks, four digs), Bridget Culp (4/4 serving, 11 kills, ten digs, two blocks), Stacey Blockberger (12/12 serving, five digs, three kills, one block), Jenna Miller (12/12 serving, eight digs, two kills, one block), Kristin Klausing (8/8 serving, 15 digs, three blocks, one kill), Courtnie Rostorfer (14/14 serving with an ace, 12 digs), Steph Blockberger (eight kills, three digs, one block), and Tiffany Culp (6/6 serving, three digs).
10/14

VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP

O-G 3, VW 0 (25-15, 26-24, and 25-19)

Lindsey Brown led Van Wert in kills with nine. Brittany Kallas and Carlee Brown each added four kills. Becca Hurless led the Lady Cougars in assists with 16 and Molly Gamble added four.

Tisha Parrish and Danielle Hoverman each had 12 digs for Van Wert, with Brittany Hoverman contributing 11. Hurless and Carlee Brown each added an ace on the night.

Van Wert falls to 9-10 overall on the season and 6-2 in the Western Buckeye League.

Bluffton 3, Lincolnview 1 (13-25, 24-26, 25-19, and 21-25)

Leaders for the Lady Lancers in digs were Eley and Emily Osting with 28 and 15, respectively. Calista Dowdy was 24 of 24 hitting with seven kills, while Courtney Tunis was 13 of 15 with four kills. Paige McClure was the leading setter (63/64 with 22 assists) and server (18/18 with two aces) for Lincolnview on the night.

Parkway 3, Coldwater 0 (25-17, 25-22, and 25-20)

The leaders for the Lady Panthers included Emily Crowell (nine kills, four aces, five blocks), Tara Luth (18 digs, six kills), Claire Burtch (ten digs, six kills), Haley Roehm (16 assists), Morgan Cron (14 assists), Kelsey Bates (11 kills), Danielle Matthews (five blocks), and Haley Burtch (three aces). Parkway improves to 16-5 on the year and 6-2 in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

Wayne Trace 3, Ayersville 0 (27-25, 26-24, and 25-23)

Leaders for Wayne Trace included Jenna Stoller (27/32 hitting with 15 kills, 15/17 serving with one ace), Janelle Davis (72/72 setting with 17 assists, 12/14 serving with two aces, five blocks), Carlee Sinn (18/19 hitting with five kills, 3/4 serving with an ace), Kari Myers (5/5 hitting with a kill, 10/11 serving with two aces), Sarah Feasby (11/13 hitting with three kills, 12 blocks), Rebecca Habern (6/7 hitting with three kills, 3/3 serving), Abbey Linder (3/3 serving, four blocks, three digs), Kelsey Heck (10/12 serving, 13 digs), Taylor Baumle (10/12 hitting, nine blocks), and Jalyn Egnor (10/10 serving). Wayne Trace improves to 11-11 on the season and is 3-3 in the Green Meadows Conference.
10/14

From Tuesday

Elks set date for annual Hoop Shoot event

Van Wert Elks Lodge 1197 will be holding its annual Hoop Shoot Free Throw Contest on Saturday, October 31, at the Goedde Building (old high school) on West Crawford Street in Van Wert.   Registration will be held at 8:30 am and the contest will start at 9 a.m.

The contest is open to all boys and girls, ages 8-13.  Boys and girls will be competing separately in their age class.

The Elks National “Hoop Shoot” is the nation’s largest coed sports competition and the only non-commercial sporting event conducted on a national basis.  More than 3 million boys and girls, ages 8 to 13, from all 50 states, compete in the Elks “Hoop Shoot” contests at various levels of competition each year.  Seventy-two finalists advance from the regional competition to Springfield, Mass for the national finals.

The national winners, three boys and three girls, will each receive a trophy and have their names inscribed on plaques permanently displayed at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in Springfield, Mass., which began in 1976.

The “Hoop Shoot” program exerts a great constructive influence upon the young people who are brought into its activities.  The program is to build character in young people through competition with their peers, in which there is no outside influence from parents, coaches or teammates, reported Chuck Rollins, Van Wert Lodge Hoop Shoot chairman.

The local winners will advance to the district competition in Findlay on January 10 with those winners going to state competition. The state winners will advance to the regional contest.   The local, as are all the contests, are free of charge with no registration fees required.   All boys and girls are encouraged to attend and participate this year.
10/13

C'view girls' soccer team loses to Pirates

The Lady Knights varsity soccer team traveled to Bluffton to take on the Lady Pirates. Bluffton defeated the Crestview 2-0 despite a strong effort by the Lady Knights. 

"We started out a little sluggish, but a great performance by freshman keeper Darcci Swager and standing strong on our corner kicks helped us stay strong defensively," said Crestview Coach Sarah Plas.

The Lady Knights were unsuccessful in the few opportunities they had to score goals, but played strong through the end of the game. 

"We had to throw girls into positions they had little experience in because our numbers were low tonight, and those girls really stepped up to the challenge," Plas added.

The Lady Knights travel to Ada on Thursday. 
10/13

From Monday

Marlins do well in first meet of season

On Saturday October 10, the Van Wert YMCA Marlins swim team coached by Lee Schumm, traveled to Kenton for the Hardin County Sprint Invitational. This was the first meet of the 2009-10 winter season.

Participating in the invitational were four teams: Lima Family YMCA, Harden County YMCA, Van Wert YMCA and Tiffin County YMCA, with a total of 120 swimmers competing.  Van Wert was the smallest team competing with only nine swimmers making the trip, but the Marlins made their presence known by scoring 133 points for a very respectable finish. 

Overall, Coach Schumm was pleased by the performance. Every swimmer contributed to the team score and several improved their personal best times. One item of note: Emma Pollock swept first place in all four of the 6 and Under Girls events.

The Marlins will be in action next on Saturday, October 24, when Hardin County visits the Van Wert YMCA for a home meet. Following is a summary of Saturday’s results:

10/12
 

Saturday Sports Roundup

Volleyball

Delphos St. John’s 3, Crestview 2 (17-25, 22-25; 25-22, 25-22, 15-11)

Crestview falls to 13-8 on the season, 7-0 in the NWC.

St. John's improves to 8-10 on the year and is 1-6 in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

CROSS COUNTRY

The Parkway boys cross country team finished eighth overall (200 points) at the Antwerp Invitational on Saturday. The girls’ team did not qualify for team placement with fewer than five runners participating on the day.

For the boys, Cameron Strunk led the way with an 18th place finish in 18:55. Following Strunk were Adam Schlemmer (20th, 19:04), Phillip Schlemmer (42nd, 20:00), Landon Brehm (44th, 20:04), Ralph Oberlitner (93rd, 22:46), and Austin Eschbach (95th, 22:50).

Running for the girls team were Ramona Hess (34th, 25:09), Morgan Fisher (47th, 27:07), and Becca Baker (61st, 30:03).

BOYS SOCCER

The Van Wert Cougars soccer team fell to Bryan on Saturday by a score of 4-0. The Cougars fall to 2-11-1 overall, and 1-6-1 in the WBL with the setback. Van Wert wraps up its regular season this week with a home game versus Continental tonight, and then on the road at Shawnee on Thursday and at Ottawa-Glandorf on Saturday.

The Cougars drew Napoleon in a Defiance sectional match to be played at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21.

GIRLS SOCCER

LCC 4, DSJ 2
Kelly Ahman led Lima Central Catholic to a 4-2 victory over Delphos St. John’s on Saturday at Lima Stadium in a girls soccer match. Ahman scored her 20th goal of the season and had 2 assists for the TBirds (7-6-3). Emily Hawley, Morgan Greeley and Kelly Weichart added a goal apiece. Hawley also had an assist. Delphos St. John’s fell to 3-8-4 on the season.
 

Delphos Jefferson 3, Lima Senior 1
Megan Moreo scored three goals for Delphos Jefferson in the non-league win at Lima Stadium. Jennifer Kemper scored for the Spartans.

VOLLEYBALL

Delphos Jefferson wins tri-match
Delphos Jefferson knocked off Elwood 25-16, 25-8 and host Leipsic 25-12, 22-25, 25-18 in a tri-match. Jenna Miller finished with 33 assists while Mallorie Wilson had 19 kills against Leipsic for the Wildcats (17-1). Stacey Blockberger had 13 digs against Leipsic.
10/12
 

From Saturday

Cougars destroy Wapakoneta
Van Wert compiles 554 yards of offense; eight TDs

By DAVE MOSIER

Van Wert independent Editor

The Van Wert Cougars showed their resiliency Friday, bouncing back from last week’s demoralizing loss at Defiance to administer a 55-6 thrashing to the Wapakoneta Redskins in a Western Buckeye League match-up in Eggerss Stadium.

In the past weeks, the Cougars have shown they could put some pretty big offensive numbers on the board and Friday was no exception. Van Wert amassed a total of 554 yards of offense, 426 of those on the ground, while the Cougar defense limited Wapak to just 136 yards of offense – less than Van Wert quarterback Corey Clifton had in rushing offense on just eight carries. The Cougars had 28 first downs, to just 6 for Wapakoneta.

One telling game statistic was the number of punts. The Redskins punted seven times for an average of 34 yards a kick, while Van Wert never punted once in the contest. One statistic Coach Bob Priest was likely not happy with was the three fumbles the Cougars had on the night, but at least his team was able to cover the ball each time, losing none of the fumbles to Wapak. The Redskins coughed the ball up four times, but also was able to recover all of the fumbles.

The junior tandem of Clifton and Connor Massillo each had 100-plus yards of rushing on the night, with Clifton running for 142 yards on eight carries and three touchdowns, while the junior running back had 125 yards on 20 carries and two TDs.

Austin Fleming also ran for big yardage for Van Wert, rushing five times for 88 yards and a touchdown, while Tony Schaffner ran 15 times for 50 yards.

Connor Pickens was the Redskins’ top rusher with 38 yards on nine carries, while Brandon Wilson carried the ball eight times for 34 yards.

Clifton completed 7 of 15 pass attempts for 118 yards and a touchdown, while Redskin quarterback Jordan Martin was 4 of 10 for 59 yards, a TD and one interception.

Fleming caught three passes for 66 yards for a total of 154 yards of total offense, while Evan Hammons had two receptions for 42 yards, a touchdown and also caught a two-point PAT pass from Clifton.

Van Wert set the tone right off the bat when Massillo ran the opening kickoff 85 yards for the Cougars’ first score with just 15 ticks off the clock. Gyer Blackmore’s kick was no good, but it was a harbinger of bad things to come for the beleaguered Wapakoneta defense.

Following Van Wert’s stop of the Redskins on their opening possession, the Cougars went right back to work, with Clifton breaking loose for a 44-yard TD run with 7:14 left in the quarter. He also passed to Hammons for a two-point PAT that made the score 14-0, Van Wert.

The second quarter brought on a veritable flood of scoring with a total of 34 points scored in that quarter alone, including Wapak’s lone score and four TDs for the Cougars.

Van Wert hit paydirt first in the stanza when Clifton ran it in from 23 yards out at the 10:36 mark. Blackmore hit the PAT kick to make it 21-0, Cougars.

Five minutes later, Massillo bulled it in from a yard out to make it 27-0, while Blackmore’s kick went wide on the PAT attempt.

The Redskins then scored their lone touchdown of the night on a 39-yd pass from Martin to Alex Parker. The PAT attempt failed and Van Wert led 27-6.

The Cougars would score twice more, though, before the first half ended. Clifton ran 25 yards for the first score and also passed to Nate Williams for the PAT to make the score 35-6 at the 1:38 mark. A minute and a half later, the junior quarterback found Hammons on a 9-yard scoring strike with just 4 seconds on the clock. Blackmore kicked the PAT and Van Wert had a commanding 42-6 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

The last two quarters were mostly a defensive slog on the wet and muddy Eggerss field, with the Cougars scoring once in each stanza.

Van Wert’s third-quarter TD came at 3:29 when Massillo again ran the ball in from the 1-yard line. Blackmore again split the uprights and it was 49-6, Cougars.

In the final stanza, Fleming scored his lone touchdown on a 16-yard scamper with 9:54 remaining in the game.

With the win, Van Wert finds itself in a tie for third place in the league with Defiance, a 20-0 loser to Shawnee, along with Shawnee and Ottawa-Glandorf, which lost 21-13 to St. Marys, all at 4-2 on the season. The Cougars are also 4-3 overall.

In second place in the WBL are the Roughriders at 5-1, a team the Cougars will face this coming Friday at Skip Baughman Field in St. Marys, while Kenton remains undefeated at 6-0 with a 38-0 win over Celina.
The Van Wert offense swarms over a Wapakoneta ball carrier during Friday night's WBL match-up with the Redskins won by the Cougars 55-6. Photos by Jan Dunlap/Van Wert independent (reprints available; email snapshotjan@embarqmail.com)