Marysville’s Desi Lee gets her hand raised following a first period pin over Harrison’s Jessica Edwards Friday night. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — Several area athletes were among the participants on Friday for the first day of the Ohio High School Athletic Association state wrestling tournament at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. Triad’s Awesom Mitchell got things started the right way with a win over Bryce Wickline of Westfall in the Division III 175-pound match. After taking a 5-0 lead after one period, Mitchell increased the lead to 6-0 in the second period. Late in the first period Mtichell…
Author: Bob Putman
North Union’s Addison Wedding (left) drives toward the basket against Granville. The Lady Cats fell in the Division II district title game. (Photo submitted) — North Union girls basketball coach Bre Jackson pretty much summed up how the Lady Cats played during their Central District final against top-seeded Granville. “We did some good things in moments and we had some not as good things in other moments,” Jackson said. Unfortunately, the not-so-good moments outnumbered the good as North Union, which was the sixth seed, battled hard but suffered a 55-49 loss to the Blue Aces. One of the not-so-good moments…
JoJo Eberhart of Marysville earned first team Central District honors for the 2023-243 season. (Journal-Tribune photos by Tim Miller) — Jonathan Alder senior Peyton Heiss led a group of area athletes that were selected on the Ohio Prep Sportwriters Association Central District boys and girls basketball teams. Heiss, who averages 21.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Pioneers, was named Player of the Year in boys Division II in voting done by area sportswriters. Heiss was one of five players from the area who earned first-team honors. Marysville senior JoJo Eberhart was among the first-team selections…
Tyler Krebehenne (22) of North Union drives toward the basket in this file photo. The Wildcats concluded their season with a tournament loss on Friday. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) — North Union was not able to rebound from a first-quarter scoring blitz as the Wildcats lost 76-43 on Friday in a Division III Central District sectional final at North Union. The Nubians (13-9) made all eight of their field goal attempts during the first four minutes in jumping out to a 19-0 lead. They posted 51 first-half points, finishing 20-of-37 from the field. “We did not handle their press…
North Union’s Kennedy Harrah (left) drives toward the basket against Heath. The Lady Cats won the Division II district semifinal contest that was played at Sparta Highland High School. (Photo submitted) — For a second straight year, North Union is one step away from reaching the top rung of the Division II Central District tournament. The Lady Cats earned the return trip on Wednesday with a 54-41 victory over Heath at Highland High School. It got a little rugged at times because of turnovers, but when the offense was clicking head coach Bre Jackson was able to see what her…
North Union’s Max Parish (3) delivers a two-handed slam following a fastbreak during the second half of action. The senior tallied 31 points in the team’s win over the visiting Indians. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — There is always some mystery involved during the tournament basketball season. Coaches worry about first-game jitters or teams with nothing to lose that step up to pull off an upset. North Union was able to avoid the latter on Tuesday during the opening round of the Central District Division III tournament. Sparked by an opening salvo of three-point goals, Mount Gilead, the 20th…
North Union wrestler Heath Ferguson has his arm raised in victory in this file photo. Ferguson won the Division III sectional championship in the 150-pound weight category. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — North Union sophomore Heath Ferguson won a Division III sectional wrestling championship during the Central District tournament at Amanda Clearcreek. Ferguson (19-6) finished off three straight wins in the 150-pound division. He notched a late pin during the third period of his title match against Joey Wright of Westfall. After getting a first-round bye, Ferguson opened with a victory over Josh Kean of West Jefferson in a…
North Union’s Addison Wedding goes up for the center jump at Columbus Centennial. The Lady Cats won the Division II tournament game on a late basket. (Journal-Tribune photo by Bob Putman) — North Union went though some pretty rough moments on Saturday in its Division II Central District sectional tournament hoop final at No. 3 Columbus Centennial. While some of the numbers were not on the plus side for the sixth-seeded Lady Cats, the only number that mattered overshadowed anything else that happened during the game. Kennedy Harrah’s scoop of a loose ball under the North Union basket ended with…
North Union’s Miles Hall (white) drives to the basket during a regular season home game against Jonathan Alder earlier this season. The Wildcat tallied 23 points in the team’s win over Elgin. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — There was some good and bad to how North Union played in the first half of Wednesday’s regular-season finale at Elgin. The good news for the Wildcats was the offense produced 42 points. But on the other end of the spectrum, NU Head Coach Ryan Grose was not particularly happy with how the defense played in allowing the Comets to score 30…
Fairbanks senior Reese Poling (4) goes up for a shot against Pleasant. The Lady Panthers saw their season end with a tournament loss. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — The point differential at the end did not really match how well the Fairbanks girls basketball team played during a upset bid of Pleasant. When the final seconds ticked off, the Marion County team earned a 45-34 victory in the opening round of the Division III sectional tournament on Tuesday at Pleasant. The Lady Panthers, though, were right with the Lady Spartans until the final two minutes when they were forced…
Fairbanks and North Union each had teams competing in the Division II Central District bowling tournament at HP Lanes on Tuesday. The Lady Panthers finished sixth overall, while the Lady Cats were eighth. Fairbanks finished ninth in the boys tournament. The top two teams advanced to the state tournament. Jasmine Wampler had the top series for Fairbanks with a three-game mark of 513. Emma Milleson had high game at 179 on her way to a 481 series. Lily Vollrath totaled 434 and was followed by Amelia Nicol (395) and Bella Nichols (375). Ryleigh Rasey led the Lady Cats with a…
With North Union head coach Ryan Grose looking on in the background, Max Parish shoots a free throw that put him at the 1,000-point milestone for his career. The Wildcats, however, fell to Indian Lake. (Journal-Tribune photo by Bob Putman) — The ending was not what North Union senior Max Parish would have liked, but he still had a big accomplishment to be remembered. Midway through the first quarter of Friday’s home Central Buckeye Conference basketball against Indian Lake, Parish swished a free throw for his 1,000th career point. “I actually thought it would be an air ball,” Parish said…
Fairbanks and North Union each had teams qualify for the Division III district bowling tournament. North Union finished second overall in the girls sectional tournament on Saturday at HP Lanes with a total count of 3373. Mechanicsburg earned the first-place slot at 3734 while Fairbanks was seventh at 2968. The top 12 teams advance to district. The Lady Cats were led by Lexi Bahan, who had a three-game series of 558. She finished fifth overall individually. Ryleigh Rasey counted 505 in her series and was followed by Montana Donohue (478) and Alyssa Frisco (433). Emma McCaul had a two-game series…
NU’s Max Parish drives toward the basket against River Valley. Parish scored 25 points. (Photo submitted) — North Union struggled with execution on both ends of the court. That inconsistency led to a 64-52 non-league loss to River Valley on Tuesday. It was a battle between two of the top teams in the Central District. North Union earned a second seed in Division III for post-season play, while River Valley is slotted the same in Division II. The Wildcats led just once, holding an 18-16 edge early in the second quarter. The Vikings put together several scoring runs, helped by…
Fairbanks’ Jameson Rausch cuts down a portion of the net after the Panthers secured a tie for the Ohio Heritage Conference North Division championship. Boys hoop squads will soon enter tournament competition. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) — Ryan Grose’s second year as the North Union head boys basketball coach has shown great improvement against his first season. The Wildcats are 16-5 through Tuesday’s game and were rewarded with a second seed for the Division III Central District tournament. This year was the first time seedings were decided by the MaxPreps Ratings Percentage Index. The concept of using RPI to…