MANSFIELD — Fall sports are starting to hit the home stretch of the regular season and tournament time is quickly approaching.
Golf and tennis postseason have begun with soccer and volleyball beginning in a couple of weeks and football in full sprint mode toward the playoffs.
Let’s take a trip back over the last week and catch all of the biggest highlights with this week’s NJ’s Top Performers List.
A MAJOR HONOR: Whippets honor late Chuck Ridenour with press box dedication, victory over River Valley
The Shelby volleyball team continued their winning ways in a 3-0 victory over Lucas by scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-9. Madison Henkel led the way with 10 kills while Lexi Mohn had eight and Baylie Hoffbauer and Alex Lay had five apiece. Kendra Walp and Eve Schwemley had four aces apiece while Mohn and Lay had five blocks apiece. Walp collected 14 digs while Schwemley had 11, Hoffbauer had eight and Lay added six. Hoffbauer handed out 22 assists in the victory.
The Plymouth volleyball team earned its second victory of the season with a 3-0 win over Crestline by scores of 25-15, 25-3 and 25-13. Kendyll Tolbert led the Big Red with five kills while Cailynn Bailey had four. Lily Cook served up nine aces while Bailey added eight digs and Tolbert had six. Mya Stine handed out 11 assists in the win.
In a 7-0 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference girls soccer win over Highland, Mel Blubaugh led the way with three goals while Brinley Barnett had two and Addie Blakey and Sabree Caudill had one apiece. Blubaugh and Barnett handed out three assists apiece while Mara Bieri had two and Ashtyn Wine had one. Faith Smith had two saves in goal to preserve the shutout.
In a convincing 5-2 nonconference girls soccer win over Liberty-Benton, Ontario’s Hattie Yugovich led the way with two goals while Rowan McManes, Eliana Seif and Jordyn Yeager had one apiece. Seif handed out two assists while Yugovich and McManes had one apiece. Leile Stevens collected four saves in goal for the win.
The Clear Fork boys soccer team also knocked off Highland, 4-0, as Owen Weikle led the way with two goals while AJ Swendal and Nick Martin had one apiece. Kade Beachy handed out two assists and Coy Bieri and Owen Born had one apiece. Sam Swendal had two saves in goal to preserve the shutout.
Mansfield St. Peter’s freshman Chae Yeon (Joy) Kim became the school’s first-ever female state golf qualifier after she fired an impressive 36-40-76 at Sycamore Springs Golf Course in the Division II district tournament earning the first individual qualifying spot.
Joey Walker scored the only goal the Madison Rams needed to pull off the 1-0 victory over Lexington clinching an undefeated run through the Ohio Cardinal Conference and the Rams’ first title since 2011.
The Ontario Warriors saw an offensive explosion in a 6-1 victory over Upper Sandusky. Xander Chitwood led the way with three goals while Ian Morrison, KJ Oden and Gavin Wagner had one goal apiece. Oden and Evan Ruhe had two assists apiece in the win.
The Mansfield Christian Flames girls soccer team advanced in the Mid-Buckeye Conference tournament with a 4-1 win over Loudonville. Natalie Ricker scored three goals while Marlea Rader had one. Brooklyn Rider handed out three assists while Grace Rader had one.
The Shelby Whippets cruised to an easy Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference volleyball win over Clear Fork by scores of 25-9, 25-11 and 25-13. Madison Henkel led the way with 15 kills while Lexi Mohn added 11. Eve Schwemley served up six aces while Mohn had five. Henkel blocked three shots and Mylee Shackle picked up 10 digs while Schwemley had eight to lead the defense. Baylie Hoffbauer handed out 33 assists in the victory.
Ava Brown was huge in Lexington’s 3-0 volleyball win over Ashland with 28 kills while Tatum Stover had seven. Savannah Wolf served up three aces while Kylie Thornton blocked three shots and Brown had two. Brown and Madeline Cramer picked up 13 digs apiece while Stover had 10, Wolf had seven and Addison Nicol had six. Wolf handed out 20 assists and Alexis Foster collected 13 in the win. Lady Lex won by scores of 25-20, 26-24 and 25-17.
The Madison Rams picked up a convincing 3-0 volleyball win over Mansfield Senior by scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-18. Addison Farris collected seven kills while Autumn Haynes had six. Paige Patton had nine aces while Farris had five. Aryana Rogers collected nine digs while Jillian Pennington and Farris had seven apiece. Pennington also handed out 15 assists in the win.
The Crestview Cougars boys and girls soccer teams swept Highland in nonconference action. The girls won 2-1 as Olivia Grant and Devon Hickey had one goal apiece while Lindsey Bright and Deryn Moore added one assist apiece. Mady Mack collected eight saves in goal for the victory. The boys won 4-1 while Colton Ernandes scored two goals while Drew Spoerr and Keith Abshire had one apiece. Brayden Parrigan handed out two assists and Ernandes had one. Ty Callahan picked up five saves in the victory.
The Shelby volleyball team set themselves up to play for a piece of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship with a 3-0 win over Ontario by scores of 25-4, 25-13 and 25-11. Lexi Mohn led the way with 13 kills while Alex Lay had nine and Eve Schwemley had five. Schwemley served up three aces while adding 19 digs with Kendra Walp collecting 18 digs herself. Baylie Hoffbauer handed out 30 assists in the win. Shelby heads to Pleasant on Tuesday with a chance to win a share of the league title.
The Madison Rams boys soccer team likely clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the district tournament with a 4-3 win over Ontario. Joey Walker led the Rams with three goals while Ashton Taylor had one. Taylor, Lucas Swagner, Nathan Evans and Randy Jamieson had one assist apiece in the win. Jerry Wertz made eight saves in goal. Ian Morrison had two goals for the Warriors while Hayden Them had one. Ayden Wagoner had five saves in goal.
The Mansfield Christian Flames won the Mid-Buckeye Conference girls soccer tournament championship beating Mapleton 6-3. Brooklyn Rider, Layna Chase, Zoey Leonard, Anna Tucker, Grace Them and Natalie Ricker all scored one goal apiece in the balanced effort. Grace Rader and Reese Bechler had one assist apiece. Makayla Smith collected four saves in goal while Haven Granter had two.
Shelby’s Brayden DeVito couldn’t have been better in the Whippets’ 55-21 win over River Valley. The junior quarterback accounted for seven touchdowns as he completes 18-of-22 passes for 279 yards and two scores and ran for 116 yards on 12 carries with five TDs. Marcus Gumbert added 130 yards on the ground on 18 touches and Nic Eyster caught seven passes for 92 yards with Brady Bowman adding four catches for 82 yards and a score.
Ontario’s Bodpegn Miller had the best passing game of the season in a 35-14 win over Pleasant. He was 21-for-28 for 273 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 169 yards on 13 carries with two more scores giving him 442 yards of total offense and four TDs all by himself. Mason Vantilburg had 50 rushing yards on eight attempts with a TD. Landon Foltz caught six passes for 116 yards with a score while James Mahon added five catches for 93 yards and a TD. Landon Sowards led a spirited defensive attack with 12 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
Lexington’s Joe Caudill was at it again in a 19-16 win over West Holmes that kept the Minutemen in the race for the Ohio Cardinal Conference football title. Caudill completed 13-of-22 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns while running for 20 yards on 11 carries and another score. Seven Allen was his favorite target catching three passes for 74 yards and two TDs while Brayden Fogle had seven catches for 40 yards. Markale Martin led Lex in rushing with 46 yards on nine carries. Lexington is now tied with Ashland atop the OCC standings.
Crestview’s Liam Kuhn had a breakout game at quarterback completing 10-of-13 passes for 129 yards while the Cougars ran for five touchdowns in a 34-0 win over Plymouth. Ayden Reymer had 91 yards on 12 carries with two TDs while Bransen Hider had six carries for 58 yards and a score and Gavin Barker added 46 yards on six touches with a TD. Barker also had an interception on defense to go with his four tackles.
Clear Fork’s defense was sensational in a 14-13 win over Marion Harding. It allowed just four rushing yards on 23 carries and 131 yards passing on 13 completions in an absolutely dominant performance. Offensively, Marcus Hoeflich completed seven passes for 99 yards and a touchdown to Devyn Oswalt who caught two passes for 23 yards. Porter Schmidt had 40 yards rushing with a TD while Mason Sansom had a 42-yard reception.
Uloedo Ezike brought a Division II girls tennis singles sectional championship home to Lexington. Ezike opened her day with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Ontario’s Lizzie Criss before knocking off Edison’s Ivy Kluding 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Edison’s Liz Campbell met Ezike in the semifinals with the Lexington star coming away with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory setting up a sectional championship match with Clear Fork’s Noel Cline where she won 6-1, 6-0 to earn the top seed at the Division II district tournament.
Shelby’s doubles team of Bella Carver and Annie Mahek took home the Division II sectional championship for the second straight year. After earning a first-round bye, the doubles team cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 in their first match before knocking off Galion’s Ashley Franks and Mya Roelle 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Carver and Mahek met Clear Fork’s McKenna Wuertz and Aly Brokaw in the semifinals and cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win to set up a title match with Lexington’s Malaina Wolf and Lily Thomas where they won 6-3, 6-0.
Lexington’s Latrell Hughes picked up the first career victory at the Marion Harding Cross Country Invitational. He ran a blistering 15:40.82 to take first overall.
Mansfield Christian’s Meagan Them earned first overall at the Marion Harding Cross Country Invitational with an 18:59.17 while teammate Riley Patrick took second with a 19:02.95. Shelby’s Anna Will finished fourth with a 19:09.10 for a new PR while Lucas’ Chloe Sturts took eighth with a 19:52.36. Shelby’s Emma Montgomery took 13th with a 20:45.16 as the only runners in the Top 25 from Richland County.
Lexington traveled to Michigan for the Portage Invitational and went up against some stiff competition. Katya Prykhodko led Lady Lex taking 19th overall with a 19:25.5 while Jenna Halfhill finished 34th with a 19:56.8, Brailey Slone took 47th with a 20:15.7, Brynn Bruner took 59th with a 20:54.0 and Hallie Durbin took 70th with a 21:09.2 to round out the scoring runners for Lex.
Lexington’s Chance Basilone won the Portage Invitational with a blistering, new school record time of 15:16.8 while Lincoln Rice took 26th with a 16:24.9, Gage Devaney took 29th with a 16:26.3, John Bartone finished 76th with a 17:17.0 and Finn Devaney took 112th with a 17:43.5 to round out the scoring runners for the Minutemen.
Plymouth’s Morgan Follett set a new school record for 2-mile cross country time with a 13:10.46 at the New London Dan Olien XC Invite.
Crestview’s Alina Durbin won the girls 5K race at the New London Dan Olien XC Invite with a time of 19:51.30 while teammate Audrey Wolford finished fourth with a 21:11.41, Laynie Kemp was right behind in fifth with a 21:11.71 and Leyna Gerich was behind Kemp in sixth with a 21:11.76.
Charlie Niese, Lynn Montgomery and Natalie Kennard scored one goal apiece while Niese, Ashley Montgomery and Kinsley Van Dine had one assist apiece. Braylee Sturts preserved the shutout win one save in goal in Shelby’s girls 3-0 girls soccer win over Loudonville.
Justin Crall led the way with three goals while Peyton Page had two and Syncere Long, Aiden Henry, Colton Oswalt, Grahm Stentz, Griffin DeBolt and Tremir Hammock had one goal apiece. Jameson DeBolt and Long collected two assists apiece while Crall, Oswalt, Griffin DeBolt and Henry all had one apiece. Jahzel McKinney collected two saves and Nash Nicholson had one to preserve the shutout in Mansfield Senior’s boys soccer win over Galion.
jfurr@gannett.com
740-244-9934
X: @JakeFurr11
