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The Times Bulletin • 1

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BY CHRIS HOWELLSports Editor

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MIDDLE POINT — The Lady Lancers golf team will look at the upcoming season as a time to capitalize on the experience they’ve gained.

Head Coach Brad Doidge will once again lead the way for what may be one of his most impressive teams to to date.

Doidge, who has been a long time coach at Lincolnview High School, will look to two of his most accomplished players to carry the team.

Shiann Kraft and Winter Boroff are both coming off successful 2018 seasons,

and are looking to take another step for-ward this year.

The Lancers will be running with the minimum of four players on their roster. This means that when they compete this season, every stroke will count.

Teams who have more than four play-ers are able to take their four best scores to make up their team scores.

Although the Lancers won’t have that luxury, the combination of Kraft and Bo-roff are complimented well by their two teammates Aryonna Hoghe and Adalee Purk.

The Lady Lancers will play their home matches at Hickory Sticks Golf Club, when the season gets under way in early August.

Lady Lancers have success on the horizon

Players pictured are Shiann Kraft, Winter Boroff, Adalee Purk, Aryonna Hoghe, and Head Coach Brad Doidge (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)


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ROCKFORD — Lone senior Brey-den Bruns will lead a young Panther golf team on the course this season.

After losing District qualifier Ma-son Baxter to graduation, Parkway will rely on a group comprising of mostly juniors and sophomores to compete.

Head Coach Joe Falk will enter his eighth season at the school, and will carry assistant coach Rick Hickman on his staff.

“We are fairly young, mostly sophomores and juniors,” Falk said. “We need to gain consistency and work on avoiding big numbers that

shoot ourselves out of competition.”The Panthers will return six letter

winners from last years team.Representing the junior class this

year will be Hunter Gibson, Adam Stephenson, and Kaden Boroff.

Returning letter winners from the sophomore class are Caden Slusher and Gabe Schaaf.

This group of key players will look to improve on their ninth place finish in the MAC last season.

Sophomores Hunter Bruns, Jace Armstrong, Camdyn Clay, and fresh-man Roman Leszinske will look to make their presence on the team known, as they could contribute to Varsity scoring at some point this season.

Falk leads young team into golf season

Players pictured are Jace Armstrong, Kaden Boroff, Breyden Bruns, Hunter Bruns, Camdyn Clay, Emily Clutter, Hunter Gibson, Jackson Kraner, Roman Leszinske, Aidan Morton, Gabriel Schaaf, Caden Slusher, Adam Stephenson, and Ashton Stephenson. Coaches pictured are Joe Falk and Rick Hickman. (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

BY JIM COXSports Correspondent

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VAN WERT — Since Van Wert’s last WBL golf championship in 2012, the Cou-gars have not finished higher than seventh in the league. With five letter winners back from 2018, this year’s team should be in good position to remedy that.

Van Wert returns senior Zane Fast, se-nior Gavin Flickinger, junior Evan Knittle, junior Cameron Terhark, and sophomore Jace Fast, all of whom have played key roles in the early going of 2019. Two freshmen, Blake Bohyer and Lochlen Purmort, are

also on the roster.“With the experience we have returning,

the Cougars are looking to be in the top four of the WBL,” said coach Kim Doidge. “They have been working hard in the off season to improve their games.”

St. Marys is the defending WBL champi-on, but no one team has been dominant. The WBL introduced boys golf in 1960. Bath, Shawnee, and Van Wert lead in champion-ships won or shared with 17, 12, and 10.

The Cougars won their titles in 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2007, and 2012. Van Wert qualified for the state tournament in 1983, 1985 (state runner up), 1986, 1988, 2003, 2004, and 2007.

Five letter winners boost Cougar golf hopes

Players pictured are Zane Fast, Gavin Flickinger, Evan Knittle, Cameron Terhark, Jace Fast, Blake Boyher, Lochlen Purmort, and Head Coach Kim Doidge (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)


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MIDDLE POINT — Gone via gradu-ation from the 2018 Lincolnview soccer team are five starters, including NWC first teamers Jared Pollock and Kyle Wallis. The cupboard is, however, far from bare. There are 20 players (two seniors, eight juniors,

six sophomores, four freshmen) on the cur-rent roster, including two juniors who won NWC honors — Clayton Leeth (second team) and Landon Moody (honorable men-tion).

Also back are eight other letter winners — senior Hannah Skaggs, senior Jerron Taylor, junior Dylan Schimmoeller, junior Justin Braun, junior Ariel Pruden, junior Fletcher Collins, junior Elizabeth Eaton,

and sophomore Ethan Crow.“We have a very large group of un-

derclassmen returning and will be a very young team,” said coach Anson Moody. “I see great potential of these young athletes. A good portion of them have played togeth-er for a long time and have that trust in one another, which is something that can be very hard to coach.”

Lincolnview was 1-3-1 (tied for 4th

among six teams) in the NWC in 2018 and 3-11-2 overall. That was the first Lancer team to ever win a playoff game.

NWC boys soccer started in 2015 and has been dominated by Bluffton, which has never lost a league match. Lincolnview’s best year was 2015 when the Lancers were 3-1-1 (tied for second) in the NWC and 5-8-4 overall.

Leeth, Moody lead Lancer soccer returning players

Players pictured are Jerron Taylor, Hanna Skaggs, Clayton Leeth, Landon Moody, Dylan Schimmoeller, Justin Braun, Ariel Pruden, Fletcher Collins, Cole Gorman, Spencer Richey, Elizabeth Eaton, Ethan Crow, Davis Schwarts, Tristan Taylor, Zach Vancleave, Addy Allen, Miah Miller, Corbin Evans, Cody Kittle, Jayce Schimmoeller, Caden Hanf and Head Coach Anson Moody. (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

Players pictured are Faye Morgan, Audrey Lichtensteiger, Breanna Hahn, and Kyle Leppard.Coaches pictured are Jeremy Best and Tim Hurst. (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

(From page 4)The Knights will enter

the season focusing on the development of their over-all game, and look at it as an opportunity to gain experi-ence when these four ladies return as seniors during the 2020-2021 school year.

Crestview will open the season on Aug. 26 as they travel to Ottoville to face the Big Green.

GIRLS GOLF

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MIDDLE POINT — The old saying goes, “There is always strength in num-bers.” This couldn’t be more true for the Lincolnview Cross Country Program where they don’t rebuild after key graduations but simply reload.

Last season the boys squad qualified for State for the sixth consecutive season but lost four runners to graduation. The boys return seniors Joe Sadowski and Devon Bill along with sophomore Daegan Hatfield. The trio all ran in the State meet last fall as team qualifiers and are currently leading the team so far with their times as well as experience. The Lancer boys also gain a strong fresh-man class that should challenge for varsity spots this season.

“The boys understand the talent that graduated and have done everything in their power to continue the legacy of success that we have worked so hard to achieve at Lincolnview,” explained head coach Matt Langdon. “I am very excited for this team, and although we are mostly sophomores and freshman, I think we have the potential to surprise some teams, especially as the sea-son moves forward and we get some race experience under us. It has been a joy to see these boys step up and become leaders. It has been a rewarding season already and I am proud of their fight and commitment to do the hard things.”

The Lancer girls also qualified for the State meet for the second consecutive sea-son last fall. The ladies were also hit hard by graduation, losing three varsity members from that group. But the good news for the Lady Lancers this year is that they return four of their top seven runners including

junior Madison Langdon who was also an individual State qualifier last fall. She is joined by Julia Stetler, Victoria Snyder, and Dylann Carey. Madison is currently the top runner for Lincolnview after the girls have had a very productive summer and cross country camp.

“The girls don’t have the depth of the boy’s team so they are going to have to re-ally work hard to find team success. Each girl has a specific role and they are going to need to be consistent as well as tough as the season progresses,” Langdon said. “There is great potential with the girl’s team, but one of our challenges will be staying healthy. If we can consistently work hard in practice and run with purpose, we can find some team success. There should also be some individual success near the top as well.” Lincolnview Boys Cross Country 2019

Seniors: Austin Agler, Devon Bill, Joe Sadowski, Brad Korte, Colton Trenkamp, Dillon Ellerbrock, and Logan Daegar.

Juniors: Isaiah Peterson, Camden Miller, Sam Wolford, and Louis Ulrey

Sophomores: Elijah Peterson, Jackson Robinson, Alex Wyatt, Daegan Hatfield, Kyle Hamilton, Connor Johnson, and Josh Haine.

Freshman: Parker McKenzie, Braxton Coil, Evan Hefner, Joel Bill, Brandon Ren-ner, Kohen Cox, Trey Evans, Keagan Farris, Tyler Ulrey, and Asher Hubble.

Lincolnview Girls 2019Senior: Victoria SnyderJuniors: Madison Langdon, Izzy Donnel-

ly, Dylann Carey, and Kenna Mason Soph-omores: Heather Beair, Julia Stetler, and Maddy Allen

Freshman: Grace SadowskiHead Coach: Matt LangdonAssistant Coaches: Cowan and Byrum

Lincolnview harriers look for another state run

Runners pictured are Victoria Snyder, Madison Langdon, Izzy Donnelly, Dylann Carey, Kenna Mason, Heather Beair, Julia Stetler, Maddy Allen, Grace Sadowski, and Head Coach Matt Langdon and Ben Cowan (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

Runners pictured are Austin Agler, Devon Bill, Joe Sadowski, Brad Korte, Colton Trenkamp, Dillon Ellerbrock, Logan Daegar, Isaiah Peterson, Camden Miller, Sam Wolfrum, Louis Ulrey, Elijah Peterson, Jackson Robinson, Alex Wyatt, Daegan Hatfield, Kyle Hamilton, Connor Johnson, Josh Haine, Parker McKenzie, Braxton Coil, Evan Hefner, Joel Bill, Brandon Renner, Kohen Cox, Trey Evans, Keagan Farris, Tyler Ulrey, Asher Hubble, and Head Coach Matt Langdon and Ben Cowan (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

Juniors dominte girls golf rosterBY CHRIS HOWELL

Sports [email protected]

CONVOY — Head Coach Jeremy Best and assistant Tim Hurst will lead the Lady Knights on to the course this season as they try to revive the program.

The pair of coaches will face a unique set of circumstances as they try to gain ground in the NWC with one of the small-est sports teams in the area.

The entirety of the roster is made up of four players. This means that when Crest-view plays a match this season, every play-er’s score will contribute to the team’s over-all score.

In cases where teams have more players than the minimum, they are able to take their four best scorers of the match to count towards the team score.

In other words, when the Knights take the course this season, every stroke will count.

One thing that really makes the roster stand out is that it is made up entirely of underclassmen.

Faye Morgan, Audrey Lichtensteiger, Breanna Hahn, and Kayla Leppard will all be entering the 2019 season as members of the junior class.

GIRLS GOLF / 5


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CONVOY — After a season in which the team went 3-14-1, the Lady Knights are looking to build toward more wins.

Although they lost four seniors, Crestview will re-turn 10 players, seven of whom were large contribu-tors to last year’s team.

Madalyn Ward, Salax Overmyer, Chloee Case, and Mckenna Thompson all started last season and will represent the team’s group of seniors along with Lou-isa Hoppe.

“They have been great examples for the incoming freshmen,” said Head Coach John Dowler. “Teams need leaders, and our team is no different.”

Crestview will enter the season with six freshman on the roster, proving that growth and development will be a big part of this season.

The incoming freshman class will be highlighted

by Macy Kulwicki, Katelyn Castle, Micaela Lugabilhl, and Addyson Dowler. This group of newcomers will be counted on immediately to contribute to the team’s suc-cess on the field.

Juniors Jade Sheaffer and Lindsey Schumm will be a pair of players that will be counted on to lead and contribute between the lines as well.

On the field, Crestview’s main goal this season is to maintain a high level of de-fensive intensity while add-ing more scoring.

The coaching staff hopes to push toughness in prac-tice in order to be a faster, well-balanced team.

“Our team motto this season is, ‘Practice like you never won, perform like you never lost.’ We are embrac-ing this philosophy whole-heartedly in our preparation for the upcoming season,” said Coach Dowler. “Our players are going to play hard and be physical against every team we play this year.”

Crestview soccer looks to gain wins

Players pictured are Madalyn Ward, Salex Overmyer, Mckenna Thompson, Chloee Case, Louisa Hoppe, Lindsey Schumm, Jade Sheaffer, Hope Loyer, Hannah Dickson, Aliya Clouser, Emily Brower, Addyson Dowler, Katelyn Castle, Micaela Lugabihl, Haley Owsley, Macy Kulwicki, and Chloe Black. Coaches pictured are John Dowler, Kylee Agler, and Meagan Fokker. (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)


[email protected] — After graduating only

two seniors from last year’s team, the Lady Knights will look to have another strong season with a team that’s packed with veterans.

Crestview will enter the season re-turning nine players from last year’s team.

The Knights will rely on a plethora of experience to succeed after coming off last year’s record of 17-7 overall, and 7-1 in the NWC.

Five seniors will lead the charge in 2019 for Head Coach Tammy Grego-ry’s squad. A group that includes setter Maddy Lamb, middle hitter/outside hit-ter Kaylee Wolford, outside hitter Lexi Gregory, outside hitter Lauryn Black,

and middle hitter/outside hitter Laney Jones will play a huge part in the team’s success this season.

The full roster will carry only one freshman and one sophomore out of the gate. Freshman Laci McCoy is the lone rookie on the team, and Lexi Parrish will represent the sophomore class.

The rest of the team is comprised of five juniors, four of whom are returning from last year’s team.

Crestview will look for large contri-butions from the likes of defensive spe-cialist Lindsey Barnes, setter/outside hitter Lexi Dull, outside hitter/middle hitter Raegan Hammons, defensive spe-cialist Kali Small, and libero Bailey Gregory.

The Knights will enter the 2019 sea-son looking to defend their regular sea-son NWC title.

Knights volleyball loaded with retuning players

Players pictured are Kaylee Wolford, Lexi Gregory, Laci McCoy, Lindsey Barnes, Lexi Dull, Lexi Parrish, Raegan Hammons, Lauryn Black, Maddy Lamb, Kali Small, Bailey Gregory, and Laney Jones. Coaches pictured are Tammy Gregory and Rachel Alvarez. Managers pictured are Kaci Gregory and Haley McCoy. (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

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MIDDLE POINT — Coming off a wild-ly successful 2018 season, the Lancer vol-leyball team is looking to take another step forward and make some serious noise in the NWC.

After finishing third in the conference a season ago, the Lancers lost only three play-ers to graduation in Morgan Miller, Carly Wendel, and Lakin Brant.

Wendel was statistically the team’s third best hitter as she tallied 186 kills in the 82 sets she spent on the floor

Head Coach JaNahn Evans is confident that she has the right set of players to step in and fill the holes created by the outgoing class.

Her team will feature four seniors. Lana Carey, Tori Boyd, Kerstin Davis, and Jordan

Decker are her fourth year leaders that the team will lean on throughout the season.

Junior Madison Williams is a budding star, and will be featured as the team biggest threat on the attacking side of the ball. She dominated the front lines last season when she put up 249 kills, second only to soph-omore Kendall Bollenbacher’s total of 293.

The junior class may be where many of the Lancers’ strength lies, as the team will feature Williams, as well as Briannna Ebel, Sami Sellers, and Elaina O’Neil

Incoming freshman McKayla Blanke-meyer is a key newcomer to the team who will see her fair share of game action.

With an incredible amount of balance in age on the roster, the Lancers will reload for this season, rather than rebuild.

This team has all the makings of a con-tender, and with the NWC up for grabs this year, the Lancers will be a team to watch from start to finish.

Lancer volleyball ready to turn heads

Players pictured are Brianna Ebel, Lana Carey, Tori Boyd, Madison Williams, Kendall Klausing, Breck Evans, Kerstin Davis, Sami Sellers, Carsyn Looser, Kendall Bollenbacher, Jordan Decker, McKayla Blankemeyer, Elaina O’ Neill, Madysen Glossett, and Zadria King. Coaches pictured are JaNahn Evans, Tracy Keber, Taylor Evans, and Ryanne Bollenbacher (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)



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CONVOY — By any standard, 2018 was a good year for Crestview girls cross coun-try. The Lady Knights were 91-73 overall and advanced all the way to state. However, 2019 could be even better.

Five of the seven Knights who ran at state are back, including the top three, se-nior Ragen Harting, sophomore Emily Greulach, and sophomore Lauren Walls. Junior Adalynn Longstreth and senior Lyd-ia Saylor were on that team as well. Also on this year’s roster are sophomore Kiara An-derson, sophomore Jenessa Sparks, fresh-man Kate Leeth, freshman Baylee Miller, and freshman Megan Mosier.

Harting has been a bulwark of Crestview girls cross country since her freshman year. She’s been in the top five in the NWC meet as a freshman (5th), sophomore (2nd), and junior (3rd). As a sophomore she advanced all the way to the state meet as an individu-al. She’s an academic all-Ohioan.

In 2018 and so far this year, Greulach and

Walls have consistently been the Knights’ second and third runners. The performance of runners 3-7 will be key to Crestview’s success in 2019.

“We are looking forward to how each one of us can contribute something every day to make our team better,” said coach Jeff Bagley. “Our focus will be on the pro-cess of being committed to our teammates.”

The 2018 NWC meet was hotly contested among Columbus Grove (36), Lincolnview (44), and Crestview (49). Spencerville had dominated the NWC for many years but has fallen upon hard times recently. The Lady Bearcats have 11 titles, followed by Crest-view, Columbus Grove, and Lincolnview with 5, 5, and 4. Crestview’s championships came in five consecutive years, 1993-1997. The Lady Knights ran at the state meet in 1992, 1993, 1995, and 2018.

“The NWC had three teams (Columbus Grove, Lincolnview and Crestview) qualify for the state meet in 2018,” added Bagley. “This season looks to be extremely com-petitive. Our conference provides a great opportunity to improve by racing against some excellent programs.”

Crestview girls cross country team is loaded again

Runners pictured are Ragen Harting, Lydia Saylor, Adalynn Longstreth, Dustiny Tice, Kiara Anderson, Emily Greulach, Jenessa Sparks, Makenna Tice, Lauren Walls, Kate Leeth, Baylee Miller, and Megan Mosier. Coaches pictured are Jeff Bagley and Randy Grandstaff. (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)


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CONVOY — The good news for Crest-view boys cross country is that 10 letter win-ners return. More good news is that they’re joined by an excellent freshman.

Senior Wyatt Richardson, by far the Knight’s best runner in 2018, is back. Rich-ardson finished 4th in the NWC meet, then advanced all the way to regionals as an in-dividual.

Also returning are senior Jacob Forwer-ck, senior Danil Lichtensteiger, senior Cam-eron Cearns, junior Dayton Schuerman, junior Brian Myers, sophomore Hayden Tomlinson, sophomore Jayden Renner, and sophomore Aiden Ankney. Freshman Isaiah Watts completes the roster and is the only newcomer

In 2018 Crestview was 3rd in the NWC meet (behind Columbus Grove and Lincoln-

view) and 5th at the Ottawa district (top four teams qualify for regionals).

“Positive competition in our practice at-mosphere will help us develop a culture of toughness and grit,” says Knight coach Jeff Bagley. “Our focus will be on the process of being committed to our teammates.”

In recent years the NWC meet has been a three-way battle among Columbus Grove, Lincolnview, and Crestview. In fact, the last team to break into that elite group was Spencerville in 2010 (third place).

In the history of NWC boys cross coun-try, which began in 1972, Grove has the most titles (14), followed by Crestview (8), Spencerville (6), and Lincolnview (6). The Knights’ championships came in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1996, and 1997.

The Crestview boys had an amazing run from 1986 to 2000 — 13 trips to state in 15 years. The Knights were state runners-up in 1986.

Plenty of experience returns for Knight boys

cross country

Runners pictured are Cameron Cearns, Danil Lichtensteiger, Wyatt Richardson, Jacob Forwerck, Brian Myers, Dayton Schuerman, Aiden Ankney, Jayden Renner, Hayden Tomlinson, and Isaiah Watts. Coaches pictured are Jeff Bagley and Randy Grandstaff (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)


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CONVOY — The Knights will enter the 2019 season with high expectations and under a possi-ble cloud of uncertainty.

Coming off of another double digit win season, more of the same results will be expected of this year’s team, no matter what the circumstances are.

Kaden Short, Crestview’s captain and senior quarterback, came down with an injury in a pre-season scrimmage against Van Wert that could mean a possible multi-game absence from the field.

Although nothing on that front has been con-firmed, it will force Head Coach Jared Owens to evaluate his alternative options at quarterback.

Sophomore Jaden Ward expected to enter the season as the backup quarterback, but now may be called upon as a two-way player. Ward also plays linebacker.

Freshman Carson Hunter may also be an op-tion if Kaden Short is unable to take the field.

As the old saying goes, the Knights may have to rely on the “next man up.”

Whoever steps into that role will have some big shoes to fill.

Short, along with Caylib Pruett, Colby Swa-ger, and Isaiah LaTurner will represent the senior class this year. Having only four seniors is a far cry from last year when the Knights carried more than 10 on the 2018 roster.

A handful of those graduating players will es-pecially be missed this year, but the loss of Wade Sheets may loom the largest.

Sheets, a 6’3” wide receiver and free safety with big play ability, will join the ranks of college football this season after enjoying a fantastic ca-reer wearing the red, white and blue.

While experience may not be the Knights’ biggest strength this year, they will have an abun-dance of young and talented underclassmen to show off.

Versatile wide receiver and defensive back Jor-dan Thomas will be counted on to ramp up his production and fill the play-making void left by some of the outgoing seniors on last year’s team.

Knights fans will remember the crucial role Thomas played as a sophomore in last season’s 39-34 win over Hicksville. With Crestview trail-ing 33-34 and less than a minute on the clock, Thomas rushed for a 15-yard touchdown to finish off an incredible performance, and get the win.

Strong performances for the underclassmen will be a must if this team wants to get back in the playoffs, but if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that the Crestview football program breeds winners.

We also know that the winning tradition is alive and well in Convoy, and the hype around the program is as loud as it has ever been entering the 2019 season.

The Knights opened the season the road against Parkway on Aug. 30.

Crestview football looks for continued success

Players pictured are Kaden Short, Jordan Thomas, Payton Helstad, Christian Case, Hunter Rothgeb, Carson Hunter, Parker Speith, Nick Helt, Caylib Pruett, Ayden Lichtensteiger, Rontae Jackson, Kaygen Bogle, Jayden Ward, Mason Speith, Dalton Castle, Kaden Kreischer, Austin Taylor, Brody Brecht, Logan Gerardot, Holden Thornell, Brayden Moellering, Trevon Barton, Preston Eberle, Noah Riggenbach, Mason Penix, Carson Kreischer, Tanner Short, Colby Swager, Dylan Barricklow, and Isaiah LaTurner. Coaches pictured are Jared Owens, James Lautzenheiser, Matt Holden, Ben Schamp, Shaun Balliet, and Kory Lichtensteiger. (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

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BY KEVIN WANNEMACHERSports Correspondent

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HAVILAND - The 2019 season will bring out a lot of new faces for the Wayne Trace football team as the Raiders bring back six offensive and only two defensive starters from a year ago.

The red, white and blue, which finished 5-5 overall last season and 4-3 in the Green Meadows Conference, will look to reload un-der the direction of fourth-year head coach Mike Speice.

Speice, who is 14-17 overall, is excited about the coming season for Wayne Trace, which boasts a roster of eight seniors, nine juniors, six sophomores and 11 freshmen.

“I am very pleased with the way we have progressed so far,” noted the Raider head coach. “I really didn’t know what to expect at the start of the year but this group of seniors has gotten along very well and worked very hard. They have been tremendous leaders for us.”

Wayne Trace’s strength is expected to be its offense, which averaged 369 yards and 30 points per game a year ago.

The Raiders return several key players from that unit, led by junior and third-year starter Trevor Speice.

Speice (6-0, 170) completed 174 of 328 passes as a sophomore for 2,566 yards and 29 touchdowns.

“He is much improved from last season,” added head coach Mike Speice of his son. “He is stronger and understands things much better so we will be able to do some things we haven’t done in the past. We are looking forward to seeing what the offense can do this year.”

One of the top targets for Wayne Trace is expected to be senior wide receiver Nathan Gerber (6-6, 190), who hauled in 32 recep-tions for 366 yards and seven scores last sea-son. Gerber is also going to be the backup quarterback for the Raiders.

Gerber and senior Alex Reinhart (6-4, 170) are going to be the split ends while junior Owen Manz (6-1, 175), senior Reid Zartman (6-1, 190), junior Gabe Sutton (5-4, 120), junior Cameron Cox (6-0, 175) and junior Gage Tinlin (5-8, 140) will see time at the slot.

“We feel that we have good depth at the receiver positions,” added the Raider mentor. “We’ve got several kids who we think can contribute and help us out there.”

With seniors Nate Showalter (6-0, 212) and Kameron Bevis (5-10, 170) handling the running back duties, it will be the offensive line who will be challenged to open up holes and protect the quarterback this season.

“There are several guys battling for play-ing time up front,” continued the elder Spe-ice. “It may come down to a rotation where we keep guys fresh and get them off the field at different times.”

Juniors Joseph Munger (6-2, 250) and Ja-

cob Stouffer (5-11, 240) are looking to be the left tackle and left guard, respectively, while senior Drew Forrer (5-11, 190) and junior Carter Baksa (6-1, 220) both could get play-ing time at center.

On the right side, sophomore Nate Sinn (6-0, 240) will be the right guard while sophomore Landyn Whitman (6-4, 240) is expected to the right tackle. Nate Wilhelm (5-11, 240) is battling for playing time on the offensive line as well.

“We have been pleased with the play of the line so far,” Speice said. “But, they know and we know they still have work to do to get better as well.”

Taking care of the ball is always a priority offensively and that is something that Wayne Trace will look to improve in.

“Turnovers are always a big key to any game and we know that we must make good decisions offensively,” added the Wayne Trace head coach. “That is an area that we have discussed as well as just being smart and making good decisions. Both areas are critical and the guys knows that we need to do a good job in those areas.”

On the defensive side, Wayne Trace will try to improve from last season after the Raiders allowed 347 yards and 30 points per game.

“We have changed up some things and will look to do a better job this season,” com-mented Mike Speice.

The Raiders will try to do so despite hav-ing only a pair of starters back in 2019.

“Inexperience is a concern but we will see how they respond once they get in a varsity game,” Speice added. “We want to improve each night in practice and on Friday nights as well. That is our primary focus. We want to take it one day at a time.”

Baksa and Zartman are expected to be the defensive guards with Stouffer and Wilhelm hoping to hold down the tackle slots.

Showalter, Forrer and Bevis will look to be the linebackers with Manz and Tinlin serving as the cornerbacks.

Speice looks to be the strong safety while Sutton, sophomore Joel Reinhart (6-1, 170) and Cox all see time at the other safety slot.

“The guys get along really well and work well together,” commented Mike Speice. “We know that we are going to have to make some adjustments as we go but we are pleased with where we are as a whole.”

As far as the league goes, the Raider head coach says Fairview is the team to beat.

“They should be very good,” Speice com-mented of the Apaches. “They have a lot of kids back and I am sure they are looking to have a great season after making a run in the playoffs last year. Edgerton will be very solid as well and I think there are several other teams who will be very competitive in the league. Each of the seven weeks will be a challenge and you have to take them one game at a time.”

Wayne Trace opened the season on Fri-day, Aug. 30, against the Paulding County rival Panthers of Paulding High School.

New faces headline Raider football team

Players pictured are Nate Showalter, Tyler Davis, Gabe Sutton, Jared Pierce, Lane Moorehead, Allen Mink, Race Price, Cameron Cox, Nate Gerber, Martin Alejo, Kyle Slade, Trevor Speice, Nate Shepherd, Riley Stoller, Kameron Blevis, Derrek Dangler, Joel Reinhart, Gage Tinlin, Reed Zartman, Owen Manz, Ryan Rupp, Elliot Boroff, Carter Baksa, Blake Stoller, Dakota, Merritt, Drew Forrer, Joseph Munger, Brayson Parrish, Landyn Whitman, Nate Sinn, Kaden Woolbright, Jacob Stouffer, Nate Wilhelm, and Alex Reinhart. Coaches pictured are Mike Speice, Kenny Speice, Doug Etzler, Austin Speice, Tyler Iwinski, Colby Speice, and Tyler Showalter (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)


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HAVILAND - Despite a lack of numbers that leads to a lack of depth, the Wayne Trace boys and girls cross country teams are working hard in preparation of the upcoming 2019 season.

The Raider boys have seven members while the girls come up just short of a full team with four runners.

On the boys side, the red, white and blue returns five letter winners from a year ago.

First year head coach Terry Campbell is looking forward to watching the Raiders develop, especially with a group of top five run-ners that he hopes forms a tight pack.

“I think we have a group that is very close to each other and they will be a good pack for us,” noted the Raider head coach. “Proba-bly our biggest concern is a lack of overall depth but the guys have put in a lot of time and I look forward to seeing how they progress.”

A pair of seniors lead the way for Wayne Trace in three year letterman Jace Vining along with two year letterman Tyce Homier.

The Raiders also bring back a trio of sophomores who lettered last season in Alan Keysor, Noah Schisler and Austin Lyons.

“We have five guys who

have varsity experience so that is a positive for us,” continued Campbell.

Two others out for the squad are juniors Carson Rupp and Ethan Moore. Both are looking to contrib-ute this season as well.

“With seven guys over-all, it is nice to have the numbers to compete as a team,” Campbell added. “We will have to stay away from injuries but the guys will compete against each other and as a team. All I can ask is that they give it their best and continue to get better.”

For the Lady Raiders, four athletes are out for the squad including one junior, one sophomore and a pair of freshmen.

Junior Kassidy Campbell returns after claiming first team Green Meadows Con-ference honors last season.

“We are short of a full team but the girls have worked very hard as well,” stated the Raider head coach.

Sophomore Faith Meraz also returns after lettering a season ago.

Freshmen Makenna El-liott and Kiara Bahena are running for Wayne Trace as well.

“A lack of numbers doesn’t allow us to compete as a team but the girls will still compete as individu-als,” Campbell commented. “We will challenge them in different ways and they will have individual goals to

achieve.”Despite numbers being

tight at the high school lev-el, Campbell hopes that the Raiders can alleviate that issue in the future. Wayne Trace has eight boys and eight girls at the junior high level this season.

Junior high boys in the program are eighth grad-ers Brooks Laukhuf and Caden Tumblin along with seventh graders Jarrett Jew-ell, Corbin Kimmel, Tyson Gerber, Aiden Lee, Kayson Ross and Preston Schnepp.

For the junior high girls, the roster includes eighth graders Libby Meraz, Bren-na Thomas and Caitlyn Thomas as well as seventh grade members Anna Mer-az, Cheyenne Goings, Mor-gan Elliott, Mackenzie Si-lance and Alexa Cruz.

“Hopefully, we are able to benefit from those num-bers and keep them in the program next year,” Camp-bell said.

As far as the Green Meadows Conference meet, Campbell feels that both the Fairview boys and girls will be very competitive as well as the Ayersville girls and Tinora boys.

“Those are probably the favorites but there are sever-al schools who could chal-lenge depending on how numbers work out,” con-cluded the first year Raider head coach. “We just want to work on getting better and then doing our best in October.”

Lack of depth, numbers challenge Raider squads

Runners pictured are Tyce Homier, Jace Vining, Ethan Moore, Carson Rupp, Alan Keysor, Austin Lyons, Noah Schisler, Kassidy Campbell, Faith Meraz, Kiara Bahena, Makenna Elliot. Coaches pictured are Terry Campbell and Joe Shouse (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)


[email protected]

ROCKFORD - Coming off a dismal 2018 season, a clean rebuild is in order

for the football program at Parkway.Last year’s 1-9 record is in the rear

view mirror and this season is a clean slate.

“Our team continually worked hard during the off season,” said Parkway

Head Coach Joel Henkle. “We need to make sure we are following our core be-liefs, and push each other to get better every day.”

Coach Henkle has emphasized throughout the preseason that it’s im-portant for his team to “buy in” to the system he is trying to implement for them. Through scrimmage play, he seems to be pleased with the way his team has responded.

The hope from the entire staff is that the players carry the momentum they’ve gained into week one against Crestview, and keep it going throughout the season.

The Panthers lost five key players from last years team. Nick Riley, Noah Riley, Lance Weirrick, Preston Stober, and John Cunningham all graduated, and that’s the bad news.

The good news is that Parkway will return eight starters this year, including their entire backfield.

Quarterback Eli Rich will be counted on as the lead signal caller, and to make his job easier, his two backfield running mates will be there to support him.

Nick Hawk and Jason Luth will form a two headed monster in the ground and pound attack that will propel the Pan-thers offense.

“We hope to have a good running game this season with Eli, Nick and Ja-son,” Coach Henkle said. “Our offensive line is bigger this year, so hopefully the extra pounds will help us block for our runners.”

Parkways beefed-up offensive line will feature three promising newcomers in Brody Dorsten, Graham Farmer, and Zach Hawk.

The Panthers will need some big per-formances from their underclassmen, to go along with some leadership and guid-ance from players who played last year, if they want to succeed.

Mason Landers, Gavin Stober, Corey Walls, Caleb Kinney, and Anthony Heck will also be coming back for the Pan-thers. All of the team’s returning start-ers were two-way players last season.

Parkway opened at home with Crest-view on Aug. 30th.

Panthers look to rebuild winning programPlayers pictured are: Corbin Rich, Justin Felver, Gavin Stober, Caleb Kinney, Elijah Rich, Ryan Hesse, Liam Ferroggiaro, Grant Bollenbacher, Caden Heindel, Eddie Nichols, Parker Mihm, Thad Feippel, Kendall Roof, Jordan Feldes, Corey Walls, Jason Luth, Tyler Tinkham, Nick Hawk, Michael Swallow, Hutch Ridenour, Brendan Etzcorn, Austin Curry, Seth Heindel, Hayden Ridenour, Zach Hawk, Gavin Dicke, Graham Farmer, Bryce Mihm , Anthony Heck, Brody Dorsten, Corbin Cox, and Mason LandersCoaches pictured are: Joe Henkle, Chad Bruns, Aaron Temple, Jason Kinney, Gary Fox, Dan Cairns, Matt Fisher, Bill SteineckerManagers pictured are: Brady McKee, Justin Miller, Gavin Fisher, Tyson Twigg, Rowan Yoder, Jacoby Triplett (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

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VAN WERT — Over the years since WBL volleyball was introduced in 1976, Van Wert volleyball has been a roller-coaster ride — plenty of good years, plenty of not-so-good years. One of the good ones was 2018 when the Lady Cou-gars were 19-9 overall, 6-3 (tied for 4th) in the WBL, and advanced all the way to the district semifinals. There are, how-ever, big shoes to fill in 2019.

Gone via graduation, among others, is 1st team all-WBL libero Adrianna Grothause and honorable mention all-WBL outside hitter Reagan Priest.

Returning letterwinners are senior middle hitter Jamison Clouse, senior setter Katie Coplin, senior outside hit-ter Cassie Priest, junior outside hitter Jaylyn Rickard, and junior libero Izzy Carr. Newcomers to the varsity are se-nior outside hitter Jill Gemmer, junior middle hitter Rylee Dunn, sophomore

outside hitter Mariana Ickes, and fresh-man setter Finley Foster.

Clouse was 2nd team all-WBL and led the team in kills and blocks. Coplin was the team’s top assister.

“These (returning) girls played im-portant roles for our team last season, so they understand the speed of varsity volleyball and can help our newcomers,” says coach Jeff Marbaugh. “A lot of the girls’ positions and roles have changed a bit, so we are a work in progress learn-ing some new roles. We are working hard to improve each day.”

Throughout the years, Celina has dominated WBL volleyball — 26 titles — while Ottawa-Glandorf is a distant second with nine. However, the Lady Titans have won or shared six of the last seven. No team other than O-G and Celina has finished in the top two since 2008 when Van Wert and Shawnee tied O-G for second place behind Celina.

Van Wert is 175-212 all-time in the WBL. The Cougars have never won a title.

Cougar volleyball looks for another good year

Players pictured are Mariana Ickes, Izzy Carr, Finley Foster, Katie Coplin, Rylee Dunn, Jaylyn Rickard, Jamison Clouse, Cassie Priest, Kayla Krites, Carlee Young, Jill Gemmer, and Head Coach Jeff Marbaugh (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)BY JIM COX


VAN WERT — By any mea-sure, 2018 was a banner year for Van Wert football. The Cougars were 7-2 (third) in the WBL, 9-3 overall, and advanced to the Division IV regional semifinal before having their season end at the hands of St. Marys. That senior class was loaded with tal-ent. Their names are scattered throughout the WBL stat leader listings on offense, defense, and special teams. Several of them are now playing at the next level. There is, however, plenty coming back in 2019, including 12 letter-winners, nine of whom started.

“We have good speed and ath-leticism at our skill positions,” said head coach Keith Recker, who is in his eighth year at Van Wert. “Our skill guys are very ex-perienced, specifically at running back and wide receiver. Owen Treece will take over at quarter-back and is a very smart, tough, and knowledgeable football play-er. We have a veteran group of skill guys returning, and the lead-er in that group is Jake Hilleary who was second team all-WBL last season at running back. We

have 13 seniors and seven juniors. Because of that, we will lean on more sophomores this year than we have had to before.”

Returning letterwinners are seniors Tanner Barnhart (WR/DB), Kolby Barnhart (WR/LB), Parker Conrad (OL/LB), Kea-gon Hammons (OL/DL), Hil-leary (RB/LB), Colin Place (OL/DL), Ryan Pratt (OL/LB), and TJ Reynolds (RB/LB). Other letter-winners are junior Dru Johnson (WR/DB), junior Treece (QB/DB), sophomore Nate Jackson (WR/DB), and sophomore Turner Witten (OL/DB). Conrad, Ham-mons, Hilleary, Place, Reynolds, Johnson, Treece, Witten, and Tanner Barnhart were starters. Promising newcomers include sophomores Cullen Dunn (OL/DL) and Connor Pratt (WR/DB).

The current 49-player roster in-cludes 13 seniors, seven juniors, 14 sophomores, and 15 freshmen.

“Our league has typically been very balanced,” added Recker. “I see that being the case again this year. St. Mary’s and Wapak both lost good senior classes,

but I would expect them to re-load and be back at the top. Eli-da, Ottawa-Glandorf, and Kenton should all be much improved and compete for the championship as well. If our offensive and defen-sive lines continue to improve, we should be able to compete well against the other teams in the league.”

Recker’s assistant coaches are Cole Harting, Steve Sealscott, Jo-siah Poletta, Bryce Crea, Demond Johnson, Tristen Wehner, and Jordon Danylchuk. Middle school coaches are Charlie Witten, Seth Baer, Chris Heath, Nathan Mur-phy, and Brandon Lintermoot.

The Cougs opened the sea-son on Aug. 30 at Bryan, then

begin WBL play at Defiance on Sept. 6.

“It sounds cliche, but we are not worried about our first game, or our fifth game, or our last game,” said Recker. “This group has bought into concerning them-selves with the only thing they have control of, which is their effort and focus today. If we con-tinue to take care of what we can control, we will be competitive against the teams in our league. We lost a very good group of se-niors last season, but this group is motivated to push our football program to a higher level this sea-son.”

St. Marys and Wapakoneta shared the 2018 WBL champion-ship with 8-1 league records. The Roughriders top the WBL with 25 championships (18 solo, seven shared). Van Wert is second with 18 titles (14 solo, four shared), the last one coming in 1987 (shared with Kenton and St. Mary’s). The WBL started up in 1937.

The Riders also lead in play-off appearances with 18, followed by Ottawa-Glandorf (13), Kenton (11), and Wapakoneta (10). The Cougars have been there four times — 1985, 1986, 2000 (the state runnerup year), and 2018. Playoffs began in Ohio in 1972.

Cougar football team looks for another good yearPlayers pictured are: Kolby Barnhart, Connor Pratt, Luke Wessell, Ian Cowan, Ian Place, Owen Treece, Kaiden Bates, Trey Laudick, Garrett Gunter, Tanner Barnhart, TJ Reynolds, Ashton Baer, Holden Reichert, Aidan Pratt, Jake Hilleary, Carter Miller, Nate Jackson, Dru Johnson, Ty Jackson, Damon McCracken, Levi Newell, Maddix Crutchfield, Jacob Place, Kaleb Flory, Dakota Ousley, Sam Cassidy, Jacob Fuerst, Rylan Burnett, Jake Wasson, Travis Francis, Logan Dotson, Colin Place, Parker Conrad, Jackson Jones, Ashton Oberlin, Xavier Okuly, Cullen Dunn, Peyton McAlpine, Cooper Adams, Jacob Geething, Keagon Hammons Andrew Gallagher, Spencer Blue, Ryan Pratt, Eli Kline, Ethan Sheckels, Spencer Adams, Turner Witten, and Caleb Shobe.Coaches pictured are: Keith Recker, Cole Harting, Steve Sealscott, Josiah Poletta, Bryce Crea, Demond Johnson, Tristen Wehner, and Jodan Danylchuk (Photo courtesy of Gibby’s)

16 • Fall Sports 2019

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