LORAIN - Things didn't start off very well for Southview Friday night, in its 65-46 win against John Marshall.

The Saints turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter, and had to overcome a 10-0 deficit to start the game.

Southview eventually gathered themselves and took control of the game in the third quarter.

The Saints turned the ball over just once compared to eight by John Marshall, and they outscored the Lawyers 20-7 to take a commanding 50-30 lead after three.

Tanitra Smith scored eight points in the quarter, while Danielle Montanez, Shanique Ogle, Marisol Torres and Breanna Fortney all got involved in the scoring in the third quarter.

The Saints finished with 18 turnovers for the game, but only had three in the second half. The Lawyers finished the game 29 turnovers.

The Admiral King wrestling program works out at Masson Elementary more than a mile away from Admiral King.

“I think the run here to practice is good conditioning,” sophomore Demetrius Harris said. “The school is really not that far away. It is not a problem running here.”

Admiral King senior captain Brandon Medina enjoys having the wrestling room off campus.

“It gets us away from my school and our peers and allows us to focus on wrestling than trying to look good and clean up for our student peers,” he said.

Medina is one of only two wrestlers that predate coach Black.

“Coach Black has brought experience,” Medina said. “Coach went to Arizona before he had to stop. He knows what he is talking about. He is good for the program especially all the lightweights that can look to his experience and knowledge. He is a great coach.”

Fellow senior Caleb Borden agrees.

“Coach has us doing a lot of good things. It is always a hard practice, we work really hard."Admiral King is hard working team. The young wrestlers have stepped up this season. All 15 weight classes have done well. Brandon is a great captain. Everyone has come together as a team.”

Bishop Overton said Coach Black has been a huge influence.
“He has brought more coaches to us, he has brought more techniques to us,” Overton said. “He have brought more conditioning to us. When I first came here I didn’t know a lot. He has taught me a lot.”

Sophomore Johnnie Spinkston has seen the pride in the program grow.
“When I was in 8th grade we came here and practiced with the high schoolers and you didn’t hear much coming from the high school,” he said. “Starting last year we have been picking it up a lot more like winning conference and coach is teaching us to be more explosive and we are becoming a tougher program.”

Former Admiral King wrestler and current assistant coach Cliff Dowell is pleased with how Coach Black has built up the program.

“Last year with the team winning Admiral King’s first ever wrestling conference championship, it was obviously a big accomplishment,” Dowell said. “The kids worked hard and earned it. We won by a point or two in a squeaker against Bedford. This year it will be another barn burner. The kids are coming along. We have lost some numbers but the kids that are here are our core. We are looking to improve on last year’s team.

If this is the last year of the program, Dowell is proud of how it is going out.
“Considering where the program has been in the past, you can say we are going out on top. King has never been known for wrestling. So to have the wrestling program possibly finishing out with back to back conference titles, I would have to stay we have finished out on top.”

Heading into Friday night, the Avon boys basketball team was sitting at .500 and staring at back-to-back road games against Bay and North Ridgeville, considered by many as the top two teams in West Shore conference.

The Eagles responded with two huge wins. On Friday night Avon beat Bay 78-70 thanks to 31 points from R.J. Kauffman. Avon would score 26 first quarter points and then survive a late Rocket run to hand Bay their first WSC loss.

On Tuesday night, Avon defeated North Ridgeville 54-43. Kauffman was again the hero. He scored 24 points and was 11 of 12 from the line. Sophomore Claude Gray supported him with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

The Eagles are now 8-6 but more importantly 6-2 in the WSC, only one game behind Bay.

Despite being outsized down low, Southview played tough against Elyria and held off a last-second three-point attempt to win 59-56.

6-foot-6 Will Rudolph and 6-foot-5 Chase Farris combined for 29 points for the Pioneers, but a scrappy Saints defense didn't make things easy for them.

Farris could have had more points had more putbacks under the basket fallen in.

Mike Divila of Southview led all scorers with 16 points, uncluding two three-pointers in the fourth quarter. The Saints made seven three pointers in the game.

Charles Fletcher hit two free throws with less than 30 seconds left in the game to put Southview up the three points the team would ultimately win by. This might be the final game between the two teams, as Southview will most likely combine with Admiral King by next season.

Southview improved its record to 7-5, while the Pioneers fell to 6-6.

Shanique Ogle stuffed the stat sheet in Southview's 57-44 victory against Warrensville Heights on Saturday.

Ogle finished with game-highs of 23 points, 21 rebounds and five blocks.

After the Tigers held Ogle to 12 through three quarters, she exploded for 11 in the final quarter.

Warrensville Heights coach Eric Mitchell was at a lost for words when describing Ogle's performance.

"I mean you can hope to contain her at best," Mitchell said of Ogle. "She an outstanding player."

Southview coach Scott Plzak said is wasn't Ogle's stats that impressed him, but a play she made towards the end of the game.

With the Saints comfortably ahead, Olge stole a pass and had a clear cut path to the basket. Instead of laying the ball up to her 25 points for the game she passed the ball to Tanitra Smith who scored.

"That play at the end of the game really epitomized what type of an all-around player she is," Plzak said.

In 1979-1980, Firelands went 20-0 in the regular season. They defeated Brookside and Elyria West in the AA sectionals. And still the team was lacking respect from some circles.

“They said we didn’t play anyone,” Dave Muschitz said.

Waiting for them in the District semi-final was Elyria Catholic.
“Elyria Catholic was the team to beat,” Dan Muschitz said. “They beat us every year. They had Billy Joe Williams, who later played professionally in Europe.”

The game was held at Elyria High School. Despite being a large gym, the tickets sold out in record time.

“It was a frenzy,” Dan Muschitz said. “Our followers couldn’t get tickets. They sold out too fast.”

The game was back and forth. Dan Muschitz will forever be remembered as the hero. But he recounted how not once but twice he almost became the goat.

“I had a one and one with just over a minute to go,” Dan Muschitz said. “We were down two. I hit both of them. It went back and forth. Now all this happened in a minute. We were up one. Kenny hit the first one then missed the second one. Bobby Warren was right behind me, he was a great leaper and he went over the top of me. He didn’t foul me and tipped it in. Now they were up two.

“We went back down and passed it around. I shot a 20-footer and missed it. I will never forget this. We all ran up to get the ball and a foul was called. To this day, we don’t know who they fouled. We were looking around and thinking who is going to the line? I will never forget this and I feel bad but I left Doug Carrico at the line and walked away. He looked at me like what are you doing? And the ref handed him the basketball.

Carrico was just a sophomore and he wasn’t the Falcon best suited for the situation, down two with three seconds left.

“First all of was the worst free throw shooter on the team so that played into the thinking a little bit,” Carrico said. “I guess I was too young and naïve to really think about the circumstance of what was going on. Luckily I drained them.”

The game was tied again. Elyria Catholic threw away the inbounds pass out of bounds. Firelands got the ball back.

“Carrico hit them both,” Dan Muschitz said. “He misses one and the game is over. They tried to hurry to get the ball down the court and didn’t. The rest is history. Everyone knows who is getting the ball. Bill Szabo had 43 points so we are going to him but he was covered. So they passed it to me at half court. And it wasn’t even a jumpshot, it was one of those oh well its overtime but it was the cleanest bank you have ever seen. My mind was overtime until it went p-poom p-poom. I wasn’t trying to bank. I didn’t call it. Bobby Warren just fell to his knees. It was such an exhausting game. It just took the wind out of them.

“Before they signalled it. Coach Sooy was holding everyone back until they signaled it good. They used to hold up those ropes to keep the crowd off. It didn’t quite hold back the people. They just took the ropes out and that began the celebration.

“Bill had 43 points. Elyria Catholic had three guys with 20 points. How often do you see a team with three 20 point scorers and lose a ball game.

“It was the sweetest win. If I had to pick any game in my career to make that shot, it would be against Elyria Catholic. They used to beat us every year.”

Head coach Keith Sooy said he didn’t know about the free throw switch until after the game.
“I didn’t know they had done that until after the game,” Sooy said. “Doug put them both in and they threw the ball away and we got the inbounds play and he banked them in. It was a great moment. It was a very special season .That year they were the best team in Lorain County and there were some really good teams.”

Passing on history
Before the game, current head coach Steve Lias invited the 79-80 team to talk to his team.
“I told them basketball is played from the heart,” Szabo said. “You play hard and you make more shots, you get more rebounds, you get more steals and you win more games. That’s how you win.”

Great to be back
Jim Nida, who got the ball rolling on the reunion with email to Firelands AD Leo Spagnola, said the reunion was everything he expected.
“It is absolutely what I expected especially when I got the replies back on how excited everyone was to come back,” Nida said. “Like Bill said in the locker room, it is Firelands basketball - you play hard and you play as a team and 30 years later, it stands true. To see everybody words cannot describe. I think we are still in awe of seeing each other. The memories are indescribable.”
The team was touched by the reception from the community. The gym was packed. People were standing in the hallway because there were not enough seats.
“They remember,” Szabo said. “There were about 50 people out there that came to our games and they still come to games. Firelands has a faithful crowd.”

Lots of points
The team averaged over 80 points a game without a three point line. South Amherst tried to slow down the attack with a four corners offense.
“South Amherst did the four corners and stalled against us,” Dave Muschitz said. “We still beat them 63-21 and they stalled.”
Once Firelands had 24-0 lead over an opponent.
“It was 24-0 and coach called us over and he tell us, ‘We have to give someone a layup.’”
“Danny Heister was a great friend of ours,” Dave Muschitz said. “So we let Danny come through the lane and all of sudden we just stood there. He scored and we started playing again.”

Tyler Williams scored 24 points grabbed 18 rebounds as First Baptist beat Christian Community 56-44 on Thursday. The Sabres led 20-11 after the first quarter and 40-29 after three. Isiah Board added 13 points in the non-conference matchup. CC was led by Matt Gross' 20 points.

Firelands held on to defeat Brookside 60-58 in a non-conference boys match-up on Tuesday. The Falcons were led by Brandon Proy's 25 points and 10 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for Firelands were Kyle Smith with 11 and Preston Rathge with 10 . Firelands were hot as a team as they made 22 of 43 shots for 51 percent. The Falcons limited Brookside to 38 percent shooting, 25 of 65.
Firelands led 16-11 after one quarter and 31-25 at the half. Brookside rallied in the second half behind Nick Jackman's 18 points. Jackman had three of the Cardinals seven three-pointers. Hunter Skolnicki added 14 for Brookside. The Cardinals actually out rebounded the Falcons 34 to 32. Kyle Stump had nine boards for Brookside.

Monclova Christian 56, First Baptist 34: The Sabres fell to 6-3 on the season with the loss to Monclova. First Baptist led 9-6 after one but were out scored 50-25 the rest of the game. The Sabres were led by Tyler Williams 16 points.

It was a historic night at Southview on Friday night. The Saints celebrated Senior Night with a 48-21 win over North Ridgeville and two wrestlers senior Uland Ralston and junior Cisco Inchaurregui picked up their 100th wins.
The Southview coaching staff wore t-shirts commemorating the 40 years of the Southview program. Before the dual against North Ridgeville, longtime coaches Dan and Tom Ternes were recognized as was assistant coach Pepe Ruiz who has been around since the beginning in 1969.
It was fitting that the opponent was North Ridgeville as head coach Buzz Haller goes way back with the Ternes.
"I went to college at Bowling Green with Danny and Tommy where we wrestled," Haller said. "We go back to the Elyria Shore days."
Haller said he enjoys wrestling Southview.
"We like wrestle each other," he said. "There are good wrestlers here and it helps us. This will help at conference."
Ralston lost on Wednesday to fellow state qualifier Davion Caston.
“Wednesday night was tough," Ralston said. "I watched the match a few times on video.There were a few things I need to work on and a there were a few calls that didn’t go my way and I allowed that to frustrate me. So in practice I refocused on the technical things that could help me win and prepare mentally. If calls don’t go my way I have to wrestle smart. If I would have kept my head in the game, I know it would have gone different. It was a learning experience.
Ralston said it was surreal to think he was wrestling on his Senior Night. He has been with some of his teammates for a long time.
"I have known everyone since eighth grade," he said. "A lot of us started wrestling in the third grade. I started in wrestling in kindergarten and been with some of these guys since the bitty program. We have known each other since birth. Our parents went high school together. My dad coached us all the way up. For it to be finally over it sort of surreal. I still know next year when it comes to practice the kids who graduate this year will still be there at practice. This is my senior night and it is surreal."
Inchaurregui was impressed with the rest of his team.
"You can see the improvement," he said. "We didn’t give up a lot of pins. We put the match out of reach early."
A key match was Joseph "Poohie" Charlton winning 3-2 over Brandon Mundell at 152.
"That kid had beat him twice before," head coach Billy Kopp said. "We knew it would be a tough match. Poohie made a couple mistakes in the losses previously. He corrected those mistakes. Give him credit he is a tough kid."
The night started with Dominic Diaz getting six takedowns and earning a technical fall 19-3.
"He is starting to come along well," Diaz said. "He is only a second year wrestler. He is picking it up at the right time."

The Southview-Sandusky dual was a lot of fun. In a tradition going back 25 years, Sandusky once a year hosts Odyessy night. They turn off the main gym lights, get some spot lights and hire a DJ to create a unique atmosphere. It draws a huge crowd that really gets into the match.
Southview really enjoyed being a part of it. And the wrestling was good. The match was decided at 135 pounds. The score was 33-27 but Southview had a forfeit pending at 140. Everything for the Saints was resting on sophomore Antoine Edwards.
Edwards put his team through an emotional rollercoaster. Edwards nearly pinned his opponent at the first period but Justin Ritchie held on. In the second Edwards got caught and it looked like for a moment, he would get pinned. Then in the third period Edwards got a takedown but Ritchie reversed and again it looked like Edwards was in trouble. But Edwards got another takedown and got the pin for the win.
"A couple of times he scared us but he came out with a pin," senior Narcisco Incharregui said. "As a sophomore he has come into the lineup and done real good for himself."
Incharregui remained undefeated (21-0) with a pin 58 seconds into his match against Quinn Emminger.
"It was great going against a rival like Sandusky," Incharregui said. "We needed that win."
Incharregui likes how his team is coming along.
"It is getting a lot better," he said. "We are starting perform better as a team."
Uland Ralston suffered his first loss of the year against fellow state qualifier Davion Coston.
"Calls could have went a couple of different ways," head coach Billy Kopp said. "I wasn’t happy with the calls. But we have to finish a takedown. The name of the game is takedowns and we didn’t get any. Close match until the end when he got a couple of back points but we aren’t worried about that. We will see him in two weeks."

The Monroeville wrestling team feature four world class wrestlers who have won a combine nine state titles in nine attempts. This season a fifth Eagle attempts to win a state title. Here are some links with some recent stories about the Monroeville wrestling program. The first is a national cover story about the Stieber brothers, the second Morning Journal Exclusive about Logan Stieber setting a Ohio high school record and a EDGE feature story on the team.

ESPN RISE Magazine article on Stieber brothers

Logan Stieber breaks Ohio record for consecutive wins

Morning Journal EDGE feature story on Monroeville wrestling

Open Door raised their record to 6-2 with an impressive 53-49 win at Oberlin. Head coach Jason Penley is in his third year at Open Door and he has three juniors in Abe Valentine, Nick Terry and Eric Mann who have started since freshman. When a reporter asked Penley if the win over Oberlin was a signature win, Penley politely disagreed.
"We are not looking for signature wins," Penley said. "We are breaking it down into four game stretches and taking one game at a time. I respect Coach Russell. He has a great program here and I know they are always going to be ready. But a signature win? Our guys believed they could win tonight. If you want to call it a signature win thats fine but our guys came in expecting to win and they would have been disappointed in anything less."
Count Oberlin coach Kurt Russell as a believer.
"The Valentine kid and Terry kid are tough players," Russell said. "I was telling the coach before the game that they are one of the better teams in the area even though they are a Christian school, we have this stereotype that they are not talented. But clearly they are more talented than us and it showed tonight."
The Patriots travel next to Brookside on Friday. The Cardinals had a "signature" win of their own tonight win a 55-51 win over Keystone. The Cardinals led by eight to start the fourth quarter and then found themselves trailing by one late in the game. It is the type of game that in the past, Brookside would have lost. But the Cardinals regained their composure and won 55-51.
"We have been working towards being competitive," Brookside coach Brent Schremp said. "We also have been learning how to close out games by doing the little things. This is a great win for our program. This was a total team effort. I am so proud of them."
The J.V. game tips off at 6 p.m. at Brookside with the varsity to follow.