North Union and Fairbanks competed at Ridgedale in the Division III Central District sectional wrestling tournament. The Wildcats will be sending four grapplers into the district tournament this week at Heath. Trace Williams (113-pound division) and Gabe Hansen-Jackson (126) each finished second. Brody Wilson (215) was third and Shan Swank (190) finished in fourth place. The top four in each weight class qualify for district competition. Williams won his first two matches, both by pin, but lost to Cowin Becker of Northmor in the championship final. Hansen-Jackson followed the same path with two wins by pin before losing the title…
Author: Bob Putman
North Union girls hoop coach Bre Jackson, left, congratulates Hope Hall during a game from the 2021-22 season. Jackson was named the Central District coach of the year for Division III. (Photo submitted) Jonathan Alder’s Mary Ferrito goes up for a basket in this file photo. Ferrito was named to the Division II Central District first team. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) Bre Jackson has proven coming back home is not a bad thing. Jackson, then known as Bre Nauman, graduated from North Union in 2013. After four years as a player at Tiffin University, she returned to become head…
North Union’s Zach Vernon (left) looks to drive to the basket in this file photo. Vernon tallied his 1,000th career point during a tournament victory over Northmor. (Photo submitted) North Union was facing an opponent (Northmor) it had just seen nine days earlier and Wildcat head coach Brian Terrill was a little nervous seeing an opponent again so soon after playing them. His fears, however, were quickly dispensed with as fourth-seeded North Union rolled to a 67-40 victory over the No. 15 Knights during the boys Division III Central District sectional final at North Union. The Wildcats won the first…
Owen Davis of North Union takes the ball up against opposition from Mt. Gilead. The Wildcats breezed to a victory during their first-round Division III post-season contest. (Photo submitted) If there was a nervous feeling when the North Union boys basketball team took to the floor in the first tournament game, it quickly disappeared. Zach Vernon controlled the opening tip right to Aaron Krebehenne, who then took the ball to the basket for a layup just five seconds into the contest That was the start of five straight possessions that recorded points. From that point on, the Wildcats were on…
Mary Ferrito of Jonathan Alder goes up for a shot during a game against London. Ferrito has been named the top girls hoopster in the CBC’s Kenton Trail Division. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) North Union’s Zach Vernon (center) goes up for a basket during a game from the 2021-22 season. Vernon has been honored as the co-player of the year in the Central Buckeye Conference’s Mad River Division. (Photo submitted) Jonathan Alder senior forward Mary Ferrito was named as the girls player of the year for the Kenton Trail Division of the Central Buckeye Conference. Ferrito averaged a league-leading…
Mary Ferrito of Jonathan Alder goes up for a shot during a game against London. Ferrito has been named the top girls hoopster in the CBC’s Kenton Trail Division. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller) — North Union’s Zach Vernon (center) goes up for a basket during a game from the 2021-22 season. Vernon has been honored as the co-player of the year in the Central Buckeye Conference’s Mad River Division. (Photo submitted) — Jonathan Alder senior forward Mary Ferrito was named as the girls player of the year for the Kenton Trail Division of the Central Buckeye Conference. Ferrito averaged…
The North Union girls bowling team was able to reach the district level of the Central District Division II tournament. The Lady Cats finished 11th overall in the sectional tournament at HP Lanes in Columbus. The top 12 teams advanced to the district. In the individual portion of the sectional, North Union finished with a count of 1920. It followed with an 831 total in the six-game baker games. Lily Leavitt was the top individual for the Lady Cats, finishing with a three-game set of 412. Other scorers were Lexi Bahan (393). Rachel Anderson (375), Montana Donohue (256, two games).…
NU’s Abbey Price goes up for a basket. The Lady Cats’ season ended with a tournament loss to Pleasant. (Photo submitted) From beginning to end, the North Union girls basketball team struggled to find its rhythm and get shots to fall through the net. As a result, the Lady Cats’ outstanding season came to end with a 55-43 loss to Pleasant during Division III sectional final tournament play at North Union. It was only the third loss of the season for North Union, which was on the plus side 21 times this year. “We didn’t execute our offense.” NU head…
North Union’s Zach Vernon goes up for a basket during a victory over Northmor. (Photo submitted) When everything played its way out, North Union was able to look back on a very busy end-of-the-regular season schedule in pretty good shape. Playing five games in 10 days, including three over a four-day span, the Wildcats finished with a 4-1 record during that stretch. North Union (18-4) capped off the regular season with a 53-36 victory over Northmor. Coach Brian Terrill is giving the players a little time off as he scheduled just one practice through Monday. “They will be enjoying the…
North Union sophomore Zoe Wedding sifts through two Lady Viking defenders eventually finding an open teammate. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — A nearly two-week period between the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason was probably a contributing factor in North Union’s first-half play against Columbus Academy. The Lady Cats, however, rebounded from a sluggish first half and went on to a 48-40 win over the Vikings in Central District Div. III sectional play at North Union. North Union closed out the regular season on Feb. 5 with a win over London. “We needed to…
Jonathan Alder wrestler Owen Crabtree has his arm raised in victory after a 2021-22 match. Crabtree was one of several area athletes to earn Central Buckeye Conference honors. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — With the high school wrestling season racing toward the post-season, the Central Buckeye Conference has released its All-Conference honorees after the conclusion of its tournament. In the Mad River Division of the CBC, three North Union Wildcats were awarded all-conference recognition for their production on the mat this season. North Union’s 113-pounder Trace Williams and 190-pounder Shan Swank earned Second Team All-CBC honors. North Union’s Gabe…
Owen Davis of North Union grimaces while going up for a basket. Davis tallied 12 points during a win over Elgin. (Photo submitted) — North Union boys basketball coach Brian Terrill was somewhat critical of how his team played at Elgin. But he was more than pleased with the bottom line, a 46-33 victory over the Comets. “We played sloppy at the end,” Terrill said. “We played a good team on the road and we had a lot of positives. But the coach is not happy.” The Wildcats, 17-4, scored just three points over the final five minutes and committed…
The Krebehenne boys, Aaron (22) and Tyler (21) encounter a pair of Indian Lake players going for the ball. The Wildcats topped the Lakers, 58-53. (Photo submitted) — North Union’s Zach Vernon is jostled by an Indian Lake opponent while going to the basket. Vernon hit key free throws to help NU to victory. (Photo submitted) — The ability to make free throws has not been much of a concern this season for the North Union boys basketball team. NU, though, found it difficult to find the range from the charity stripe against Indian Lake. But when crunch time arrived…
Zach Vernon (2) of North Union goes up for a basket. The Wildcats have earned the fourth seed for the Division III post-season. (Photo submitted) — North Union boys basketball head coach Brian Terrill was not that surprised when the Wildcats earned the fourth seed in Division III. “We figured we’d be in that mix and not any higher,” he said. The Wildcats will open with a first-round contest at home against Mount Gilead, which was seeded 20th. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. A win against the Indians will pit North Union against Northmor,…
North Union’s Owen Davis (13) goes up against a Shawnee defender. The Wildcats fell to the Springfield-area school. (Journal-Tribune photo by Bob Putman) — North Union had trouble all night finding an offensive pace and in the end that led to 51-47 loss to Springfield Shawnee. “We didn’t have any patience,” NU coach Brian Terrill said. “When we didn’t have anybody open we were trying to force the basketball.” That lack of patience led to numerous turnovers, sometimes without even getting a shot. “When you try to force stuff, bad things will happen,” Terrill said. Another factor that played to…