ThisWeek Community Newspapers Worthington
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February 24, 2011
Hockey
Losses don’t dampen mood for Wolves, Cards By SCOTT HENNEN ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Tom Erlenbusch realized his Worthington Kilbourne High School hockey team faced a major obstacle in thirdseeded Dublin Coffman during the second round of the district tournament. But the fourth-year coach believed his team played well in a 7-1 loss to the Shamrocks on Feb. 20 at The Dispatch Ice Haus, finishing the season 621-1 overall. “The last time we played them (Jan. 29), they run-ruled us 10-0 in the second period,” Erlenbusch said. “Our (junior) goalie Joe Fischer had the game of his life (with 51 saves) and our team came out and played well to trail only 1-0 after one (period). One of our seniors, Joey Jacob, got the goal, so that also was great.” The Wolves beat Kettering Alter 91 in their opening-round district game on Feb. 19 at Chiller Dublin. Jacob scored three goals and sophomore center Austin Taylor had two. Senior defenseman Matt Agner, sophomore left wing/center Patrick Roman, sophomore right wing Davis Wolff and freshman defenseman/right wing Noah Veccia
all scored once. “It was really good to end the season on a positive note,” Erlenbusch said. “Our two seniors meant everything to us and next year we’ll have some big shoes to fill.” Roman finished with 22 goals and 11 assists and Jacob had 17 goals and 17 assists. Agner had 10 goals with one assist and Taylor had eight goals with seven assists. Other juniors expected to return are defenseman Perry Dilley and goaltender Jim Day. The sophomores include right wing Andrew Dowler, right wing Garren Erlenbusch (3 goals, 7 assists), defenseman Nick Marinelli, right wing Reid Sampson and defenseman Nathan Walters. Freshmen included defenseman Tucker Haas, right wing Scott Humes (4 goals), right wing Cody Mathess and left wing Ben Piecenski (4 goals). “We should have everyone back except for the two seniors,” Erlenbusch said. “We only have five freshmen coming in, so it would be better to have more of them, but that’s all that I know of.” The Wolves went 2-11 (4 points) in the CHC to finish 12th of 14 teams.
At a glance KILBOURNE •Record: 6-21-1 overall, 2-11 (12th, 4 points) in CHC •Seniors lost: Matt Agner and Joey Jacob •Key returnees: Perry Dilley, Garren Erlenbusch, Joe Fischer, Patrick Roman, Austin Taylor and Nathan Walters THOMAS •Record: 14-13-2 overall, 5-7-1 (9th, 11 points) in CHC •Seniors lost: Jimmy Danko, Hilton Dellinger and Shane Hartlaub •Key returnees: Will Byars, Harrison Cohan, Kyle Gratz, Jonathan Highley, Nicholas Highley, Brett McCarthy and Tommy Pischel
Dublin Jerome and Olentangy Liberty tied for the title at 12-1 (24 points) with Cincinnati Moeller in third at 11-2 (22) and Coffman in fourth at 10-2-1 (21). St. Charles (7-4-2) and Upper Arlington (7-4-1-1) tied for fifth with 16 points followed by Olentangy Orange (6-43, 15), Olentangy (7-6, 14), Thomas Worthington (5-7-1, 11), Gahanna (49, 8), DeSales (3-9-0-1, 7), Kilbourne, Dublin Scioto (1-12, 2) and Watterson (0-13, 0). •Thomas finished 14-13-2 overall with a 5-2 loss to Orange in the open-
ing round of the district tournament on Feb. 19 at Chiller Dublin. Junior defenseman Kyle Gratz and freshman forward Tommy Pischel scored. “Losing the way we did to Orange with bad breaks and some defensive mistakes, the kids might not realize just how well they played this season,” firstyear coach Don Harper said. “We broke .500 for the season and with the young team we had. I don’t know if anyone thought we would do that well.” The Cardinals had three seniors in forward Jimmy Danko (12 goals, 2 assists), goaltender Hilton Dellinger (3.11 goals-against average in nine games) and senior forward Shane Hartlaub (15 goals, 31 assists). “I think the seniors meant a lot this year,” Harper said. “They gave us solid leadership and Shane, who was our captain, led by example and gave everything he had.” The Cardinals expect to return their leading scorer in sophomore forward Will Byars (21 goals, 24 assists). Other scoring threats expected back are junior defenseman Kyle Gratz (17, 13), junior forward Harrison Cohan (10, 19), sophomore defenseman Brett McCarthy (8, 12), freshman forward
Tommy Pischel (8, 10), junior forward Graham Nadler (8, 3), sophomore defenseman Nick Highley (6, 9) and freshman forward Riley Mahoney (6, 7). Sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Highley had a 2.52 goals-against average in 21 games, and freshman goalie Sean Lima had a 1.62 average in eight games. Also expected back are junior forward Jacob Brumfield (1, 1) and junior forward Andrew Wallace (2 assists), as well as sophomore forward Sam Bachmann and sophomore defenseman Quintin Schomaker. Other freshmen included forward Kevin Hill, defenseman Liam Martin and defenseman Kevin Sholes. “Everyone added something to the team and we had a number of young fellas contributing,” said Harper, whose team won the Blue Jackets Cup consolation tournament for a second consecutive season. “We were pretty much a freshmansophomore team. I think we have a solid foundation for next year and that comes from their hard work.” shennen@thisweeknews.com www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
GIRLS
WRESTLING
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top goals for next season. Kilbourne nearly doubled the number of wins it had the previous two seasons when it finished 3-18 overall in both 200809 and last year. For the first time in Palmer’s four-year tenure, the Wolves defeated Hilliard Darby (39-23 on Dec. 7) and Central Crossing (36-23 on Jan. 3 and 43-41 on Feb. 8). Kilbourne tied Central Crossing for fifth in OCC-Central Division with a 5-9 record. Upper Arlington (13-1) won the league for the second consecutive year, followed by Dublin Coffman (11-3), Hilliard Davidson (10-4), Thomas Worthington (9-5), Kilbourne and Central Crossing, Darby (3-11) and Westland (0-14). “I think we’ve turned a corner, but we won’t get to know that until Oct. 30 next year,” Palmer said. “We have kids who want to play because they have a heart and passion for the game. Anytime you have that, that’s what turns programs around.” Zimmerman averaged eight points a game and made 19 of 61 3-pointers (31.1 percent) and 25 of 36 free throws (69.4 percent). Senior guard Sarah Bechtel averaged six points, made 25 of 107 3-pointers (23.3 percent) and 12 of 16 free throws (75 percent). Senior post player Darby McMullen missed most of the season after sustaining a concussion in a 53-38 loss to Thomas Worthington on Dec. 3 and injuring her right ankle over winter break. “The toughest thing is walking in that locker room and knowing Sarah, Olivia and Darby aren’t going to be there (next
trict alternate. The Wolves were missing a returning district qualifier when Nico Shaut was unable to compete at 112 because of the lingering effects of a concussion. Freshman Austin Oberly, who had competed at 103 for much of the season, took Nico Shaut spot and finished 0-2. Lucky Shaut’s emergence at 103 had pushed Oberly out of that weight class. “Austin came to me and said he wanted to give 112 a try at the sectional,” Chism said. “He’s maybe 95 pounds soaking wet, so he was really at a disadvantage. He wasn’t happy just being there, though. He wanted to win, and that’s the attitude we’re trying to cultivate.” The top four in each weight class at district advance to state March 3-5 at Ohio State. •Thomas advanced sectional runners-up Make Coleman (135) and Andrew Shackelford (171) to district. Coleman, who was not seeded after he missed much of the season with a shoulder injury, got pinned by Mount Vernon’s Collin Riley in the final. He is 14-9 entering a first-round district match against Central Crossing’s Dez Hauber. To qualify, he defeated kadams@thisweeknews.com third-seeded Patrick O’Neill of www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
By Rebecca Padula/ThisWeek
Thomas’ Erica Morris (left) and Kilbourne’s Mary Frances Gardner battle for control of the ball on Jan. 14. The Cardinals opened Division I district tournament play on Feb. 23 against Newark. The Wolves lost their first-round game to Olentangy Liberty 39-26 on Feb. 17.
Gardner averaged 7.5 points and 7.6 rebounds and had 27 blocks. erville North in final, 1 p.m. March 5. Elliott averaged 6.3 points and Of note: The Cardinals were 13-7 overhad 36 steals, while Pack averall before Feb. 23. aged 5.8 points and made 44 of KILBOURNE 69 free throws. Record: 10-11 overall, 5-9 (tied for “We only had three seniors, fifth) in OCC-Central but we wanted to make a differSeniors lost: Sarah Bechtel, Darby McMullen and Olivia Zimmerman ence,” Zimmerman said. “EveryKey returnees: Marissa Elliott, Mary one has sort of a negative conFrancis Gardner and Kayla Pack notation when they think about Worthington Kilbourne girls bassa Elliott (guard), sophomores ketball. We wanted to change Maria Calvert (post player), Bre- everyone’s mind.” onna Brown (post player) and Lauren Barnhart (guard) and pbatterson@thisweeknews.com freshman Kayla Pack (guard). www.ThisWeekSPORTS.com
At a glance Below is the schedule for the Thomas girls basketball team: Feb. 23 — Played eighth-seeded Newark in second round of Division I district tournament. Winner plays seventh-seeded Gahanna or Westerville Central in district semifinal, 8 p.m. Feb. 28 at Olentangy Liberty. That winner plays second-seeded Northland, Dublin Coffman, Marysville or West-
year),” Palmer said. Palmer expects contributions next year from juniors Mary Frances Gardner (post player), Brie Roberts (guard) and Maris-
Area high schools announce coaching vacancies The following schools are seeking coaches: Delaware — Football. Send résumé to athletics director Clint Fetty at fettycl@dcs.k12.oh.us. Hamilton Township — Assistant softball, middle school
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baseball. Send résumé to athletics director Mark Beggrow at mbeggrow@hamiltonlocal.k12.oh.us. Hilliard Darby — Girls golf, assistant junior varsity boys soccer. Send résumé to Chad Schulte,
athletics director, Hilliard Darby High School, 4200 Leppert Road, Hilliard, 43026 or e-mail chad_schulte@hboe.org. Johnstown-Monroe — Track, junior varsity baseball. Contact athletics director Mike Carter at
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At a glance Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the Thomas Worthington and Worthington Kilbourne wrestling teams: THOMAS Feb. 19 — Finished eighth (67.5) at 13-team Division I sectional at Marysville behind champion Hilliard Davidson (239.5). District qualifiers were Mark Coleman (135, 2-1, second) and Andrew Shackelford (171, 2-1, second). Also competing were Kasey Ackley (112, 0-2), Robert Campbell (152, 02), Will Coleman (103, 1-2), Brooks Gilmore (215, 0-2), Alex Good (130, 3-2), Ben Hoyt (125, 0-2), Max King (189, 2-2, fifth), Noah Messerall (119, 2-3), Alex Randolph (285, 0-2), Ethan Shillington (160, 0-2) and Austin Washburn (145, 0-2). Feb. 25-26 — District tournament at Hilliard Darby. The top four in each
weight class advance to state March 3-5 at Ohio State. KILBOURNE *Feb. 19 — Finished fifth (125.5) at 13-team Division I sectional at Westland behind champion Lancaster (180). District qualifiers were Jedidiah Bressman (189, 2-1, second), James Gundling (130, 4-1, third), Mike Mayberry (171, 3-1, second), Lucky Shaut (103, 2-2, fourth), Nick Varazashvili (125, 3-1, third) and Connor Wolfe (140, 3-1, third). Bressman will not compete because of a shoulder injury. Also competing were Austin Oberly (112, 0-2), Zach Badowi (119, 2-2), Kyle Wahl (135, 2-1) and Josh Jenkins (160, 0-2). Feb. 25-26 — District tournament at Darby. The top four in each weight class advance to state March 3-5 at Ohio State.
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(740) 967-2721 or wmcarter@johnstown.k12.oh.us. Wellington — Middle school assistant baseball and softball. Send résumé to athletics director Elizabeth Clapacs at clapacs@wellington.org.
Upper Arlington 8-6 and fourthseeded Chris Suozzi of St. Charles 14-7. Shackelford, who got pinned in a final by Mount Vernon’s Jordan Montgomery, is 25-12 heading into his opening district match against Olentangy Liberty’s Ken Hamre. Shackelford reached a sectional final by winning his first two matches by a combined three points. He battled Montgomery to a 5-all tie with 30 seconds remaining before getting caught trying an upper-body throw. “We had an awfully tough sectional with (Hilliard) Davidson and Mount Vernon and Marysville in the field,” coach Mark Gundling said. “For being such a young team, we hung in there and did a good job. Both our finalists lost, but it was nice getting there.” Three other Cardinals, including district alternates Alex Good (130, fifth) and Max King (189, fifth), also placed. Noah Messerall finished sixth at 119. “We’re going to practice some (this) week with Kilbourne’s kids,” coach Gundling said. “Hopefully, we’ll get a few good workouts in and then go to Darby and see where things fall.”
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From Feb. 14 through Feb. 28, you can nominate a deserving mother you know for Columbus Parent magazine’s 2011 Mom of the Year. Tell us about her at columbusparent.com/momoftheyear. Voting will take place online March 1-31. The winner, to be announced in the May issue of Columbus Parent, will win a prize package that rewards her for excelling at the greatest — and most challenging — job in the world.