|
Pictured, back row, left to right: Alec Livada, Joel Turner, Seung Kwon;
front row: Matt Werst, Brian Graeser.
Having a solid core of senior leaders is important to any team and the Oakwood wrestling program certainly received their fair share again this year. Coaches Gary Kesler and Paul Seim recognized that fact by naming three seniors as co-captains: Matt Werst, Joel Turner, and Brian Graeser. The best part is they're coming through and along with two other seniors, Alec Livada and Seung Kwon, are leading the team to a very respectable season. Coach Kesler gives his thoughts on the seniors who added their insights into wrestling's impact - which for many can be life long.
Matt Werst is having an outstanding year by any measure. He is recognized in the Dayton Daily's wrestling honor roll with a 19-3 record, including 13 pins. Coach Kesler understands the high expectations Matt has for himself. "This is his final run at an elusive bid for state. No one has put more pressure on themselves to obtain a top four spot at the District Tournament and I believe he will finish what he's started!" Matt is experienced, having wrestled the past 6 years and feels he gained a great deal from the sport. "I've learned a sense of dedication and responsibility and really enjoy the physical conditioning. Wrestling requires a lot of time and effort, both physical and mental". He is involved in football and the track sportsmanlike committee with future plans of going into medicine.
Joel Turner is also excelling this year, getting on Dayton Daily's wrestling honor roll with a 16-6 record, six of them pins. Coach Kesler has this to say about his co-captain: "I had high hopes for this second year captain as he has been able to overcome many obstacles on his way to a run at state. He's a captain that has been able to lead on and off the mat". For Joel, he knows the value wrestling has had for him and set tough goals. "Being a captain the last 2 years is a lot of weight and responsibility and showed me how important being a leader is. Wrestling taught me an incredible work ethic that I intend to carry with me throughout my life. My goal is to leave the Oakwood Wrestling Program with state-wide respectÉ.not be taken lightly by any team in Ohio. We may not be the strongest or the most athletic group, but we drill and condition hard, have outstanding coaching, and most importantly; we have heart." Joel plans on going to either Ohio University or University of Arizona to major in Business Management.
Brian Graeser is the third co-captain. Although going he's going through a tough year in the victory column, his greatest contribution may be the gritty effort he gives every week in practice and at the meets. "Brian is an absolute work horse!" according to Coach Kesler. "He does everything you ask as hard as he can, and is the perfect student athlete". Brian has wrestled the past 6 years and enjoys being part of this team. "I felt like in wrestling you could take pride in individual accomplishments. I've learned a lot of self-discipline and courage". He is also involved in football, the academic decathalon, and Spanish Club with plans to go into chemical engineering at Virginia Tech.
The fourth senior is Alec Livada who just picked up wrestling in high school. He has medaled several times this year and always gives his best effort. From Coach Kesler's perspective, "Alec's perseverance and yearly improvements have placed him on the podium many times already this season. I can't wait to see what happens next!" Alec is another with strong opinions of wrestling's positive impact on his life. "It has given me a sense of pride and understanding of teamwork even though there's a great deal of individuality in the sport. If you lose, it's your fault, not the teams". He also plays coronet in the Band and plans on going into the military either through an Academy program or ROTC and study bio-medical engineering.
The final senior on the team is Seung Kwon, an exchange student from South Korea. He has been a great team player and gained valuable experience through the practices and junior varsity matches. Coach Kesler's thoughts on Seung - "For a first year wrestler as a senior, he's amazing! Not many are willing to put themselves through a sport such as wrestling as a first year senior."
Oakwood's seniors have led the way this year and will be instrumental to our chances for success at Sectionals next month. We appreciate their wrestling abilities, dedication, and setting a great example for the underclassmen. Please take the opportunity to come by and wish them luck as they continue on their journey.
OHS varsity swim team at Beavercreek YMCA.
The Oakwood Swim team participated in the nation's largest swim meet Jan. 13 - 14 at the Southwest District Classic held at the Beavercreek YMCA. Over 2,600 swimmers from 110 schools in SW Ohio swim in preliminary events held at seven pools with the fastest 16 swimmers competing in the evening at Keating Natatorium in Cincinnati. Since the high schools are not broken up by divisions, swimmers from small schools are competing against very large schools, and thus the competition is fierce. Despite a very early start (6:30 a.m. warm-ups!) on a rainy Saturday and Sunday morning, our team showed strength, stamina, and loads of character in the face of their toughest competition yet! The Jacks 400 Free Relay team of David Ireland, Chase Doman, Dan Schmitz, and Michael Cobb were the only group of our swimmers to earn a trip to Cincinnati for the evening finals. They finished 14th out of 16 relay teams with a time of 3:27.65. Congratulations to those men for holding their own against the huge competitiion from some very large Cincinnati teams!
Below are the results of the many top finishers who swam at the Beavercreek Y preliminaries:
JACKS: 200 and 400 Medley Relay team of Chase Doman, Brent Turner, David Ireland, and Dan Schmitz - 3rd place 200 and 400 Free Relay team of Ireland, Doman, Schmitz, and Michael Cobb - 3rd place
David Ireland - 200 Breast - 1st, 200 IM - 6th, 100 Breast - 2nd, 100 Fly -6th, Michael Cobb - 100 Fly - 4th, Chase Doman - 100 Free - 5th, 200 Back - 4th, 500 Free - 1st place with a time of 5:11.11, Colin Pohlman - 50 Breast - 2nd, 100 Breast - 5th
Brent Turner - 200 Breast - 2nd, 100, Tony Lamb - 50 Back - 1st
JILLS: 200 Free Relay team of Kristen Cobb, Gracie Sherk, Lauren Amongero, and Ellen Viereckl - 5th place. The same relay team finished Sarah Wilhoit - 1650 Free - 4th place
Hilary Beyer - 50 Fly - 5th
Alexandra Harmony - 200 Fly - 4th
The Oakwood Diving Team competed at Trotwood Madison for their preliminary meet. They were led by Elizabeth Schweizer with a 6th place finish and Peter Martin with 7th place. Congratulations to all swimmers and divers for their hard work and good results!
Pictured left to right: Jameson Kordik, Kevin Lee, Alex Kooser, Will LeBouef,
Coach Joe Kendig, Eric Fisher, Andrew Raichle, Dan Pohlman
Oakwood hosted a six team invitational dual tournament Saturday in the pit with cheers and support of parents (who staffed and supplied the hospitality room for all coaches and refs), students, faculty and the varsity wrestling team and coaches who also helped setup and work during the all day event. Oakwood started the day with a great win over a larger Northmont team only to lose the final match and the head to head competition to a tough Carlisle squad. After lunch, the Jacks bounced back to beat Milton Union before losing a tight battle with eventual champion Tecumseh. The boys ended the day by beating Bellbrook for their third place finish.
The team was paced by first place finishers Kevin Lee, Will Lebouef, and 2-time Oakwood Invitational Champion Alex Kooser.
Dan Pohlman and Eric Fisher defeated three and four foes on their way to a second place finish while Jameson Kordik and Andrew Raichle came home with third place. Other match winners who placed outside the top three were Thomas Bustillo, Ian McEvoy, Buck Powell, Noah Roberts, and Kyle Hagan, who had an outstanding day by winning three out of five matches but finished fourth on a tie breaker.
The Oakwood Swim Team was victorious against the Alter Knights in a hard fought battle at the Beavercreek YMCA Sat. Jan. 20th. This time it was the Jills who dominated the scoring with 181 points to Alter's 133. The Jacks garnered 144 points for a combined score of Oakwood 325 - Alter 292. Senior swimmers from both schools were recognized during "halftime." Lots of pictures and video were taken by proud parents of our 11 senior girls and 4 senior boys (Mitch Jones was absent from the meet and is not pictured).
Top finishers for the Jills included the 200 Medley Relay team of Hillary Beyer, Kristen Cobb, Ellen Viereckl, and Liz Whalen - 1st place, as well as the Relay team of Alexandra Harmony, Kira Mikityanskaya, Ashley Warwar, and Sarah Wilhoit who finished 3rd. Hillary Beyer had a great individual effort winning 1st place in the 100 Fly and 2nd place in the 200 IM, as did Freshman Ellen Viereckl winning both the 50 and 100 Freestyle events. Another standout Freshman, Sarah Wilhoit, finished second in both the 500 and 200 Freestyle. Haley Pohlman was 1st in the 100 Breast. Alexandra Harmony took 3rd place in the 100 Fly and 4th in the 500 Free. Juniors Lauren Amongero and Tory Danis added points in the 50 Free, finishing 4th and 5th respectively. Danis took 3rd in the 100 Free while Amongero finished 4th. Senior strength came from Kristen Cobb and Gracie Sherk with Cobb taking 2nd in the 100 Free and 100 Back, and Sherk placing 2nd in the 50 Free and 3rd in the 100 Back. Liz Whalen was 2nd in the 100 Breast, Ashley Warwar took 4th in the 200 IM, and Mary Coughlin was 4th in the 100 Breast.
The following relay teams finished in the top 3 of their respective events: 200 Free Relay - 1st place : Amongero, Danis, Pohlman, Sherk. Coughlin, Elysse Carpenter, Lizzy Johnsen, Whalen - 3rd place. 400 Free Relays: Cobb, Beyer, Sherk, and Viereckl - 2nd. Danis, Pohlman, Amongero, and Wilhoit - 3rd.
For the Jacks, Senior Michael Cobb took 3rd place in the 200 Free and 100 Back while Colin Pohlman took 2nd in the 100 Breast and 3rd in the 100 Free. Michael Neal was 4th in the 200 IM and 5th in the 100 Back. Chase Doman was strong with a 2nd place in the 200 Free and 100 Back as was Andrew Carpenter who finished 2nd in the 100 Free and 1st in the 50 Free with an impressive time of 23.92. Freshman David Ireland was 2nd in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 100 Fly. Dan Schmitz won the 500 Free and was 4th in the 200 Free. Sean Mooney was 2nd in the 500 Free and 5th in the 200 Free. Max Olavarria was 3rd in the 500 Free and 6th in the 100 Fly. Brent Turner took 4th place in the 100 Breast and 100 Free.
Top relay finishers were: 200 Medley- 2nd place: Doman, Ireland, Cobb, Schmitz. 200 Free - 2nd place: Carpenter, Pohlman, Turner, and Peter Martin. 3rd place: Mooney, Neal, A.J. Montesano, and Tony Lamb. 400 Free - 2nd Place: Doman, Schmitz, Ireland, Cobb. 3rd place: Carpenter, Neal, Pohlman, Turner.
The swimmers weren't our only success stories! The dive team also added points to the victory with a first place finish by Peter Martin (164.70), and a 4th and 5th place by Peter Schweizer and Will Reese. Stephanie Williams and Elissa Mosman earned 4th and 5th place against a very tough Alter team! Congratulations to all of our swimmers and divers who continue to work hard and improve every week!
Members from the Oakwood High School Diving team competed in the second annual Feet First Fest hosted by Fairmont High School. Divers for Oakwood included Elissa Mosman, Stephanie Williams, Will Reese, and Peter Schweizer. The meet took place on Sunday, January 21st at the Beavercreek YMCA. Pictured above is Peter Schweizer doing his diving routine.
top of page |
