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Leah Henninger competed in the Ohio Swimming and Diving State Championships on Saturday at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. In the 100 Freestyle, Leah placed third with a time of 53.40. In the 100 Backstroke, she placed 11th with a time of 1:01.77. Leah is a four-time state qualifier in both events and was the 2005 State Champion in the 100 Freestyle.
Close season with 18-4 record
The Oakwood boys basketball season came to a close at the University of Dayton Arena Sunday afternoon, as the number-three-seeded Lumberjacks fell to the Stivers Tigers 43 to 40. It was a hard-fought game which saw the Tigers deliberate offense and defensive quickness give the Lumberjacks problems. Stivers jumped out to a quick 8 to 2 lead, but the Jacks, while not playing their best ball, hung tough and cut the Tigers lead to 22 to 20 at halftime.
Oakwood came out strong to start the third quarter, and midway through the fourth quarter had built a 6 point lead, 35 to 29. Stivers came back, however, and tied the score at 40-all. The Jacks attempted to get the ball into 6’6” sophomore Jake Mays, who led the scoring with nine points, but Stivers made a key steal with a minute and a half left, and elected to hold the ball for a last shot. Stiver’s leading scorer, Ian Harrell, took the shot and missed, but followed his shot and put in the game winner with four seconds left. An Oakwood turnover and a Tiger free throw accounted for the final score.
It was a disappointing finish for Coach Paul Stone’s men, but they can look back with pride at a season in which they won 18 times and lost only four, while battling a tough and busy whooping-cough-induced schedule.
Tuesday night Oakwood had made the short trip south to Fairmont’s James Trent Arena to take on Miami East in a first round Division III Sectional game. The Lumberjacks found the new arena to their liking, besting the Vikings by a score of 64 to 39. The Jacks led 15 to 9 at the end of the first quarter, 32 to 22 at the half, extended the lead to 20, 49 to 29 at the end of three, and coasted home to the victory. Chris Luther led the scoring with 18 points, followed by Alex Botello and Chris Hardy with 11 apiece. Matt Bacso scored 8, Scott Casebere 7, Jake Mays and Drew Sawyer 4 each, and John Richardson 1.
Close season with 17-5 record
The Oakwood Jills lost to the Greenville Wave, 51-44, in a second-round thriller at Springboro last Thursday night. From the opening tip-off, Oakwood seemed to execute their game plan very well – play solid defense and keep the pressure on the Wave’s offensive threat.
After an early Greenville 4-2 lead, the Jills controlled the pace and closed the first quarter, 14-13. In the second quarter, Oakwood held the Wave in check, kept them off-balance and only allowed four points in the quarter. The Jills did their job and kept the primary threat to 13 points in the first half, and allowed only two other players to score in the first half.
First-year head coach Aaron Oakes took his Jills into the locker room with a respectable 23-17 lead. In his mid-game locker room talk, Coach Oakes spoke words of praise and encouragement for a well-played half. More critically, Coach Oakes forewarned his team that Greenville “was going to make a run at it” in the second half.
With about five minutes left in the third, Junior Tiffany Taylor converted one of two free throws to give the Jills what seemed a comfortable 29-19 lead. Then the wave turned into a Tsunami. Greenville erupted for four big three pointers (two from a reserve player) and two other baskets, while Oakwood answered only with a clutch drive by Sophomore Brooke Klopsch. At the end of three quarters, the tide had turned in the Wave’s favor, 35-31.
The lead see-sawed to open the fourth period, with both teams elevating the intensity. The Jills took the lead one more time at 39-37 with a Taylor basket at about the 4:20 mark left in the game, but could not finish on other critical opportunities the rest of the way. The Jills gave it all offensively on the court. Taylor led Oakwood’s scoring with 11 points, followed by Jandel and freshman Cathryn Hardy with 9 points apiece. Sophomore Brittany Moore added 6, while Senior Krista Rieger, Klopsch and Junior Liz Garner contributed 4, 3, and 2, respectively.
The Jills loss closes the season with an impressive 17-5 record. Coach Oakes commented after the game, “17-5 is a very good season; it was fun and we had a good ride on our first year.” Along with Coach Oakes and the strong supporting coaching cast in coaches Andy Keating and Kelly Colson, Senior Co-Captains Jandel and Rieger provided strong leadership both on and off the court for this dramatically improved Jills team. Emma and Krista — you’ve left your mark in the Pit and other venues across the Dayton area, and you’ve made the Jills the pride of the Oakwood community!
Junior Matt Werst stands at far left of awards podium.
Six Oakwood wrestlers participated in the District tournament last weekend, but none were able to extend their season by placing in the top four in their weight class to advance to the State tournament in Columbus. 152-pound Junior Matt Werst came the closest, reaching the semifinals and eventually finishing sixth. Freshman Paul Hochwalt picked up two wins in the 103-pound class, and Senior heavyweight Mike Curry advanced to the quarterfinals before bowing out. Freshmen Brandon Bustillo and Nolan Kronbergs wrestled well but fell short, as did Senior Josh Johnson, who finished his career as a District qualifier.
Matt Werst made the most of his first trip to the District level. In his opening match, he scored a solid 4-1 victory. The highlight of the tournament came in the second round. Facing a Sectional champion with a record of 42-6, Werst fought to a 4-4 tie late in the final period. Then, with less than five seconds remaining in the match, Werst scored a takedown to earn a 6-4 victory.
In the semifinal match, Werst stayed even for most of the contest, but his opponent from Coldwater pulled away in the third period for 13-7 decision. Moving into the consolation bracket, Werst had one more chance to wrestle for third or fourth
place, but was unable to do so against a fine wrestler from Delphos St. John. Werst concluded his junior season with a record of 25-16 and a lot to look forward to next year.
Paul Hochwalt opened strong by pinning his first round opponent. A loss in the second round put him in the consolation bracket, where he fought back from a deficit against a 32-9 wrestler from Allen-East to win by pin in the third period. His season ended in the next match, two wins short of a trip to State. Nevertheless, for Hochwalt, the District tournament was an excellent conclusion to a highly successful freshman season.
As a Sectional champion, Mike Curry entered the District tournament with high hopes for a State berth. He started well by pinning his opponent in the opening match. In the second round, Curry faced a familiar foe – a wrestler from Preble Shawnee who Curry defeated two weeks earlier in the SWBL tournament. This time, however, the Shawnee wrestler prevailed and Curry’s momentum was thrown off track. Wrestling in the consolation bracket, Curry’s season came to an end in heartbreaking fashion, an overtime loss that Curry nearly won by pin in regulation. Though the loss was disappointing, Curry had an outstanding senior season, leading the Jacks with 19 pins and an overall record of 23-8.
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