Marysville’s Taleb Rahmani celebrates his state wrestling championship. Rahmani was one of several local grapplers who won state titles during the past decade. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
With a new decade just a day old, the Journal-Tribune sports department decided to look back at what are considered among the top local stories of the 2010s.
The stories are not ranked in any particular order and some that people felt were important were probably overlooked.
It is difficult to compartmentalize 10 years of stories into one article.
However, these are considered among the most noteworthy stories involving local athletes and teams from the past 10 years.
The decade began and ended with Jonathan Alder diamond squads winning state championships.
The Pioneer baseball team, under the direction of first-year head coach Craig Kyle, won the Division II state championship in 2010.
The game was played on a Sunday evening at Huntington Park, the home of the Columbus Clippers.
The contest had been scheduled for the previous day, but rain forced its postponement.
The Pioneers won the state title with a 3-2 victory over Walsh Jesuit.
After several trips to the state Final Four, the Lady Pioneer softball squad brought home a D-II state title in 2019.
JA claimed its first-ever state softball crown by beating Hebron Lakewood, 4-2.
A number of other sports saw local teams and/or athletes achieve much success.
A breakdown, by sport, is as follows:
Wrestling
The mat sport has long been one of the stronger winter activities in the area.
The decade just past produced several local state champions.
Marysville’s Noah Forrider won a state Division I title in 2013.
Union County followed that up with a trio of state champs in 2014.
Austin Pfarr and Hayden Lee brought home gold medals for Marysville, while Troy Caldwell did likewise for Jonathan Alder.
The 2015 state tournament saw Caldwell win his second consecutive crown.
Taleb Rahmani won a state title that year for Marysville.
Track and field
Jonathan Alder’s Aziza Ayoub won back-to-back state track and field titles.
She claimed the D-II 800 meter run crown in 2016 with a time of 2:09.76 and followed that in 2017 with a career-best time of 2:09.11 to win the same event.
The year of 2015 produced a state track and field champion for North Union.
Mitchell Soviak claimed top honors in the Division III boys shot put.
Golf
Fairbanks’ girls made their first state tournament appearance in 2015. It marked the first of three consecutive state tournament berths for the Lady Panthers.
The Fairbanks boys golfers had a stellar season in 2019. They posted a win-loss record of 79-2 en route to Ohio Heritage Conference titles (regular season and tournament) and a runner-up finish in the Central District.
Soccer
Marysville’s girls team won Division I district titles in 2013 and 2019.
The Lady Monarchs hosted a tournament game on the school’s new turf field.
Volleyball
Jonathan Alder’s girls spikers placed second in the Division II state tournament in 2015.
The Lady Pioneers fell in the state title match to Notre Dame Cathedral Latin, 3-1.
It was the only loss of the season for a team that posted a record of 28-1.
North Union fielded the first-ever boys volleyball teams for two years during the past decade. The team was formed as a result of a business-type project in coach Peg Curts’ classroom.
Curts later went on to coach North Union’s girls team before stepping down within the past month.
Basketball
The FHS boys basketball team underwent a strange set of circumstances on the first day of pre-season practice in 2015-16.
Head coach Brad Gmerek resigned shortly before the start of practice.
Junior varsity coach Justin George was elevated to the top position and remains the Panthers’ head coach.
Hadley LeVan of Triad became the school’s all-time leading boys basketball scorer in 2018. He finished with more than 1,000 points for his career.
Jonathan Alder’s girls became the first local team in recent memory to score 100 or more points in a game.
The Lady Pioneers beat Fairbanks, 102-30, in January of 2019.
The boys teams from North Union and Fairbanks traveled to Indiana in late December of 2019 to play in the Hoosiers Gym.
The facility was made famous by the 1980s-era movie “Hoosiers.”
The Wildcats beat the Panthers, 52-31.
Baseball
Triad finished as state runner-up in 2016. The Cardinals fell to Newark Catholic, 5-4, at Huntington Park.
Softball
North Union and Jonathan Alder both advanced to the 2018 state softball semifinals.
Both fell during the state semifinals. NU lost to Warren Champion 2-1, while JA dropped a 5-4 verdict to Beloit West Branch.
Triad’s softball team finished as state runner-up in 2015. The Lady Cardinals fell to Shadyside, 1-0, in eight innings.
Football
Marysville advanced to the Division I state playoffs in 2013 and 2019, losing games in the opening round.
Jonathan Alder continued its post-season success, earning playoff berths several times during the decade.
The 2019 Alder team finished as regional runner-up to Columbus Bishop Hartley in Division III.
New York Giants linebacker, Chase Blackburn and team scout Steve Devine, both Marysville natives, were honored in February of 2012 after the team’s Super Bowl championship victory over the New England Patriots. Blackburn intercepted a late-game pass from Tom Brady to secure the win.
Bowling
Jonathan Alder’s boys and girls teams had quite a bit of success over the past decade.
Both won district titles and each finished as state runners-up in 2019.
Audrey Brackenridge of Fairbanks watches the flight of her golf ball. The Lady Panthers advanced to three state tournaments during the past decade. (Journal-Tribune photos by Tim Miller)
Aziza Ayoub of Jonathan Alder is pictured winning the state 800 meter championship. Ayoub won back-to-back state titles in the event during the past decade. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Triad’s Madison Dolby rips a base hit. The Lady Cardinals finished as state runners-up once during the previous decade. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
North Union’s Mitchell Soviak stands atop the state track and field awards stand at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Soviak won a state shot put title during the decade of the 2010s. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
In the above photo, Jonathan Alder infielder Nate Squires (right) begins to celebrate the team’s 2010 state baseball championsip with pitcher Zach Maynard (10). In the bottom photo, members of the Lady Pioneer softball squad do the same after their 2019 state title victory. (Journal-Tribune photos by Tim Miller and Sam Dillon)