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It was quite a year in athletics for Oak Harbor High School.
The school saw its share of athletes qualify for the state meet in their respective sports, several earn All-Ohio recognition, one team finish in third-place in the state and another complete a thrilling run through the postseason that nearly ended with a spot in the Final Four.
In the Sandusky Bay Conference, which is comprised of eight schools ranging from Oak Harbor to Huron, the girls finished second in the All-Sports Standings, a compilation of scores that combines the places of each team in every sport in the conference to determine the overall winner.
The Oak Harbor boys fared well themselves, finishing third in the All-Sports Standings.
On the girls side, both the soccer and track and field teams won the conference for the second consecutive season, while the cross country team finished second in league play; both the tennis and swimming teams fared well, each of them finishing third in the SBC.
For the boys, the soccer and wrestling teams were both conference champions, the football team finished second in the SBC and the cross country, track and field and swimming teams each finished third in conference play.
The most successful program at the school this season was, to no one’s surprise, the wrestling team.
Once again, head coach George Bergman’s wrestling team stream rolled through the regular season as it won the SBC for the fifth year in a row before finishing off another successful campaign by coming in third at the Division II State Meet.
The wrestling squad, which saw all 12 of its starters qualify for the district meet, completed arguably its best season in school history, setting school state-tournament records for points (96.5) and placers (five). Four Rocket wrestlers advanced to the state final in their respective weight class, with Tyler Hackworth, who finished 38-2 on the season, winning the championship at 125 pounds. Ian Miller (152), Konner Witt (160) and Jake Cramer (171) each finished second in their respective weight classes, Alex Bergman came in sixth at 140 pounds and Sean McGee qualified at 189.
While the wrestling team certainly cemented its place in school history, the baseball team did just the same, embarking on an incredible run that saw the Rockets advance to the Division II Regional Finals before falling to Parma Heights Holy Name, 9-4.
During their remarkable run through the postseason, the Rockets won five games, including the last four in dramatic fashion, doing so in the team’s final at-bat. In three of those victories, Oak Harbor trailed late before rallying to win.
As far as individual accolades are concerned, there were plenty to go around as well.
In boys soccer, Phil Weirich, who is set to compete at Defiance College this coming fall, was the first boy in the program’s history to be named to the Division II All-Ohio First Team. The school’s all-time leading scorer, Weirich was also the District Player of the Year and was named the SBC’s Most Outstanding Performer in each of the last two seasons.
His head coach, Rob Schimmoeller, who also helped lead the baseball team on its incredible run, was named the Division II State Coach of the Year for his accomplishments.
In track and field, Morgan Turnow finished sixth at state in the discus with a throw of 126 feet.
Kia Frank, who was the SBC champion in cross country in each of the last two seasons, qualified for the state meet and finished in 48th-place with a time of 19:35.7.
Tennis player Ashley LaFountain advanced to the state tournament for the second year in a row. She also won the SBC championship and the sectional championship for the second year in a row as well, quite a feat for a sophomore.
LaFountain’s brother, Greg, who set the boys school record for singles victories with 88 and finished 28-6 on the season, came within one match of advancing to the state tournament in tennis himself, losing a hard-fought, 7-6 (4), 6-3 match at districts.
Swimmer Danielle Franck made it to the state meet for the second time, qualifying in the 100 breaststroke this season. The senior was also part of the 200 medley relay team which included Bethany McNutt, Marlee Carpenter and Allie Dombrowsky that also qualified for state.
And finally, the football team, which experienced a resurgence this season finishing 7-3 and narrowly missing out on a spot in the playoffs, had two standout performers. Running back Jake Scott and offensive tackle Jake Grzymkowski, both All-District First-Team performers, were named to the Division III All-Ohio Honorable Mention list.
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