Top sports events of 2011

The Press puts the blame on former Cardinal Stritch and Genoa football coach Bill Hrabak — a great guy who did not intend to cause a media frenzy over league realignments.

Hrabak, coach at Fostoria St. Wendelin, where gridiron numbers are dwindling, and his school wanted to pull out of the Midland Athletic League for football. After doing so, the MAL invited Lakota to fill the void.

Lakota left the SLL to join the MAL, which started a domino effect that may not be over with yet. Rumors continue to fly about more changes in the foreseeable future.

To get to the chase, St. Wendelin and Lakota’s actions ultimately resulted in league realignments affecting nine of 10 local schools. The only school not affected is Oak Harbor, which left the SLL years ago to rejoin the Sandusky Bay Conference.

The Northern Buckeye Conference formed out of the ashes of the SLL. Gibsonburg left the SLL to join Cardinal Stritch and Northwood in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference.

Clay was considered to fill a spot in the Northern Lakes League after Rossford joined the NBC. Clay, however, was left in the cold by the western suburban schools that form the NLL. One Sylvania administrator was heard to comment, “Why should we go to the east side?”, and so the NLL chose Napoleon over Clay.

Clay eventually found a home in the newly-formed Three Rivers Athletic Conference, leaving Waite and five other Toledo Public Schools to remain as the only surviving members of the Toledo City Athletic League.

As for Hrabak, he acknowledges what his football program’s actions led to. Last year, the Libertarian Party asked him to run for state representative, but he lost. He remains a teacher and coach at St. Wendelin.

As for the leagues, the dominos would have fallen eventually. All they needed was a little push.

Top local sports news of 2011 includes —
1. The beginning of play in new leagues began last fall, which has made more press than any other local sports item in Northwest Ohio media.

2. Eastwood (11-1) football halts Genoa’s (10-2) 48-game regular season win streak, propelling the Eagles to the inaugural NBC championship. The Eagles and Comets are both state-ranked, losing to the state’s No. 1 (Kenton) and No. 2-ranked (Columbus Bishop Hartley) teams in the Division IV regional semifinals.

3. The Pendletons. Carly Pendleton (Woodmore) wins the D-III state discus title, adding state title No. 7 to the family medal count. Carly announces she will throw at Ohio State, even though older sisters and prior state champions Erin and Emily are throwing at the University of Michigan. Erin qualifies to the NCAA D-I national championships, but did not place.

4. Oak Harbor senior Tyler Hackworth wins his school’s 21st state wrestling championship and four Rockets (runners-up Ian Miller, Konner Witt, Jake Cramer) reach the D-II state finals. Genoa junior Felipe Martinez wins his third straight state championship.

5. Brad Szypka (Genoa) wins the D-II state shot put championship. Szypka also won an indoor state track championship last winter and is now throwing for the University of Kentucky.

6. Ohio State University president Gordon Gee comes to Sacred Heart Home in Oregon to be forgiven for his statement, “We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor.” Press photographer Ken Grosjean attends and Grosjean’s photo is reprinted in the New York Times.

7. Woodmore sophomore Kathy Reynolds is selected to be a member of the USA Karate National Team. She competes at the Junior World Karate Championships in Malaysia after winning the Bronze Medal at the Pan American Championships in Brazil.

8. Under Coach Denny Meyer, the Lake girls’ basketball completes its second straight 20-0 regular season and wins a third straight league title.

9. University of Michigan starting safety Jordan Kovacs (Clay) enjoys the resurgence of Michigan football, topped off with a Sugar Bowl win over Virginia Tech Tuesday night. Kovacs is awarded honorable mention All-Big Ten by media and gets national recognition by being named to the Lott Impact Trophy pre-season watch list.

10.Against the odds golf feats — Kyle Brossia (Eastwood) records three straight eagles at the Ohio Amateur while Alyssa Shimel (Eastwood) finishes second at the Ohio Women’s Amateur. During the Eagle’s Landing club championship in Oregon, Harold “Red” Stanley, age 72, carded two holes-in-one on consecutive back nine par 3s.

11.Northwood football continues its dominance of the TAAC. The Rangers have won eight championships in 11 years – since they joined the conference in 2000. Northwood went unbeaten in the TAAC again this year and finished 9-2.

12.A movie about the Gibsonburg “Bad News Bears” 2005 D-IV state championship baseball team begins production as filming takes place in the Sandusky County village. The 14-17 Golden Bears remain the only baseball team in Ohio to finish the season under .500 and win a state championship.

13.Running back Blair Skilliter’s (Genoa) Mount Union Purple Raiders play in the Stagg Bowl for the NCAA D-III national championship, finishing as runner-up. Skilliter is the team’s second leading rusher with 547 yards on 80 carries.

14.Local softball talent leads Owens Community College to a 44-12 season and the NJCAA D-II national runner-up trophy. Infielder Alaina Haubert (Gibsonburg) is chosen third team NJCAA All-American. Other local players are Annie DeTray (Oak Harbor), Elizabeth Weber (Oak Harbor), Courtney Mowery (Genoa), Matea Rice (Clay), Hallie Thompson (Clay), Kristen Roznoski (Cardinal Stritch), and Kasey Graham (Clay).

15.Northwood resident Matthew Oblinger scores the winning goal as St. Francis DeSales defeats Lakewood St. Edward, 2-1, to give the Knight’s their first state hockey title.

16.Family ownership of Hidden Hills Golf Course comes to an end as the Pierce family sells. The course on County Road 16, Woodville, was family-owned for 44 years. Hidden Hills was built by the late Oral Devell Pierce and wife Edith Elizabeth Pierce, 92, and opened in 1968.

17.Head basketball coach Jim Welling (Eastwood) and his assistant, Don Christie (Oak Harbor), take Central Catholic to the D-I state final four. Welling had previously led Owens CC to two national championships and Christie played for a Class AA state runner-up Oak Harbor team and coached Woodmore to the D-III regional tournament.

18.Woodmore golfer Makayla Baer finishes fourth at the D-II state tournament, shooting a 155 over four days in windy conditions at Ohio State University’s Gray Course.

19.Oak Harbor junior tennis player Ashley LaFountain qualifies for the state meet for the third straight time.

20.The Clay gymnastics team reach the state tournament with all underclassmen. Kylee Ault, a two-time state qualifier, finishes 14th. Joining Ault at the state meet were Clay freshmen Jody Demeo, Amethyst Floyd, Erin Gyurke, Sydney McGath and Emilie Roman.

21.In December, Oregon resident Dylan Szegedi (St. Francis DeSales/Wayne State) qualifies for the upcoming D-II NCAA diving championships after finishing fourth at the D-I state high school meet last March.

22.Clay sophomore Erin Gyurke finishes 16th at the D-I state cross country meet. Her time of 18:36.79 was just over 32 seconds behind state champion Claudia Saunders (Cincinnati Princeton).

23.Former Woodmore wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter Johnny Bedford gets a role on the reality television series The Ultimate Fighter.

24.Clay power lifter Tyler Rowland sets a state meet record for his weight class in the bench press with a lift of 290 pounds. Smith won the 155-pound division state championship with a three-lift total of 1,170 pounds at the Kenton meet.

25.Florida State starting forward Natasha Howard (Waite) is named to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman Team and is the nationally ranked Seminole’s fourth leading scorer (10.6 points) and second leading rebounder (6.6). Howard is invited to the USA Basketball Team Trials during the offseason.

26.Former Clay athlete Austin Petroff sets International Powerlifting Association records for the age 18-19 raw amateur division in the squat (445 pounds), deadlift (505), and total (1,250) at 165 pounds and squat (465) and total (1,300) at the 181 class.

27.Gibsonburg native Jon Diebler, who finished his high school basketball career at Upper Sandusky before a college career at Ohio State, is drafted in the NBA’s second round. He contracted during the recent NBA lockout to play in Greece this year, but is expected to join the NBA next year.

28.Matt Wortham, a 2005 Waite grad, caddies for 53-year-old Vern Spurlock of Fort Worth, Texas at the U.S. Senior Open held at Toledo’s Inverness Club. Cardinal Stritch grad Torey Brummett gets to caddy during the practice round.

29.Former Woodmore state wrestling qualifier Matt Garber earns a bronze medal at the blue belt adult ultra heavyweight division in jui-jitsu at the IBJJF World Championships in Long Beach, Calif.

30.East Toledo football gets $100,000 from Cleveland Browns for drainage and turf improvements to historic Mollenkopf Stadium. The Browns also present $20,000 for Lake sports facilities after an EF-4 tornado caused destruction in June 2010.

31.Indianapolis Indians Class AAA pitcher Justin Thomas (Clay/Youngstown State) looks for a shot to get back to the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates. A.J. Achter (Clay/Michigan State) and Chris Bassitt (Genoa/Akron) begin pro baseball careers.

32.Twelve local football players earn All-Ohio status — Kris Hayward (Eastwood) and Tyler Pickard (Genoa) are first team.

33.Nick Purdue (Genoa/Ohio University) and C.J. Magrum (Oak Harbor/Ohio State) qualify for NCAA wrestling championships.

34.Clay junior center fielder Kim Crawford is named first team All-Ohio in D-I by the Ohio High School Softball Coaches Association. Amanda Sinay (Cardinal Stritch) a four-year starter for the Cardinals, earns honorable mention All-Ohio honors in D-III.

35.After 25 years, it is announced harness racing will be shut down at Ottawa County Fair. Two weeks ago, organizers change their plans, announcing it will be brought back for one night of racing next summer.

36.Oak Harbor and Lake girls’ soccer both win their four straight league championship. The Rockets win in the SBC and Lake wins the final three in the SLL before taking the inaugural NBC title last fall.

37.Oak Harbor and Eastwood Cinderella baseball teams, both regional qualifiers, come close to reaching D-II state final four.

38.Alexis Donnelly (Clay) thrives as a college soccer player for Sienna Heights (Mich.), despite living with Guillain-Barre syndrome.

39.The Lake equestrian team wins its second straight state title, taking the D-3 championship by scoring 86 points to outdistance Springfield (27) and McComb (15) at Swanton’s WB Ranch.

40.Local runner Matt Wolfe (Clay) wins the boys 16-19 age division at the Glass City Marathon, running the 26.2 miles in a time of 3 hours, 17 minutes and 19 seconds, good enough for 65th overall out of 4,000 runners.

41.Former Bowling Green State University record-setting guard Kate Achter (Clay) takes a basketball assistant coaching job at St. Bonaventure University.

42.Gibsonburg sprint car driver Stuart Brubaker wins his second track championship at Fremont Speedway and Dan Roepke Jr., Woodville, is dirt truck racer Rookie of the Year.