BARBERTON — The Heartland Christian Lions knew the challenge of the situation they were facing. And they knew the opponent well. But unfortunately, the Hillsdale Falcons used a strong shooting performance and solid defense to dramatically sneak past the Lions, 58-57, in a Division VII ...
By MICHAEL S. BURICH Assistant Sports Editor COLUMBUS — Six area Div. II wrestlers won their opening-round matches on Friday during the first day of the state boys wrestling tournament at the Schottenstein Center. Beaver Local freshman Jordan Bates, East Liverpool junior Kyle Ingram, Beaver Local senior Bobby Buchheit, West Branch senior Beau Nezbeth, Beaver Local sophomore Jake Hughes and Beaver Local junior Evan Ours all won to advance to the championship quarterfinals. Bates, ranked first at 106 pounds by DubStat, bested Streetsboro’s John Bollinger with a pin in 2:30. ...
By MICHAEL S. BURICH Assistant Sports Editor COLUMBUS — Columbiana County’s top girls contenders took care of business on Friday on the first day of the girls state wrestling tournament at the Schottenstein Center. East Liverpool junior Paige Cowan, United senior Auston Brown and Salem senior Paige Menough all won their first matches to advance to the championship quarterfinals. Cowan opened the tournament with a 20-0 win over Definace’s Isabela Jordan at 106 pounds. Cowan, ranked fifth in the state by DubStat, is slated to take on second ranked Kendleigh Dowalter in the ...
West Branch and Salem are out of luck ... for now. The Northeast 8 announced on Friday that it will not be seeking any more members. The Warriors and Quakers were seeking a conference new home after Minerva, Carrollton and Marlington decided to leave the Eastern Buckeye Conference for the new Northeast Senate League. The Northeast 8 will remain at seven members including Struthers, Poland, South Range, Girard, Niles, Lakeview and Hubbard. “The Board of Directors of the Northeast 8 Athletic Conference met regarding its current vacancy and unanimously, after lengthy ...
Laurel captures first state title DAYTON — The Shaker Heights Laurel girls basketball team beat a pair of state champions on the way to its first state championship. The Gators won the Division IV state title Friday by topping defending champion Bellevue, 60-58, at University of Dayton Arena, a day after beating defending Division III state champion Cincinnati Purcell Marian, 56-54, in overtime in the semifinals. Laurel junior and UNVL commit Tristan Williams made two free throws with four seconds left to give the Gators the victory after being state runners-up in 2024. Williams ...
By MICHAEL S. BURICH Assistant Sports Editor The road to the state tournament for area wrestlers isn’t always a smooth one. Adversity of all kinds can pop up. This season a snowstorm on Jan. 24 into Jan. 25 produced more than a foot of snow for many places in the area. That meant ...
