EDITORIAL: Crop of Champions

Mar. 24—HERE in Mercer County, farming is part of the culture.

But we don't grow just corn and soybeans in these parts. We grow champions.

And the 2022-23 scholastic winter sports season yielded another bumper crop.

Kennedy Catholic girls basketball team leads this season's roll of honor by winning the PIAA state Class 2A title, 65-45, Thursday over Homer-Center. But as is often the case with state championships, victory wasn't built in a day.

The Golden Eagles' state title quest began 364 days earlier, when they lost to Northumberland Christian in the 2022 PIAA championship game. This year, Kennedy Catholic set out to make that final step with a difficult early-season schedule.

After starting out the season 0-3 and 2-4 against nationally regarded powerhouses, the Golden Eagles went on to win 24 games in a row, culminating in Thursday's title-game triumph.

Hickory's competitive spirit team missed joining Kennedy Catholic atop the award podium by the barest of margins. After the state competitive spirit championships' preliminary round, the Hornets' cheerleading team stood in first place after performing a flawless routine.

The Hornets turned in an error-free final round performance, but Neshannock matched Hickory's standard and accumulated enough points to claim the state title. Hickory earned its place in the state championships by winning its fifth consecutive District 10 title.

Winter sports season includes wrestling and swimming, which means Mercer County athletes had the chance to claim individual honors.

Wrestling

— The Hohman brothers of Grove City both brought medals home from the Class 2A state wrestling championships, with junior Hunter bagging second place at 160 pounds, and freshman Hudson in fourth place at 121 pounds. Hunter won District 10 and section championships, and Hudson won a section title and finished second in the District 10 tournament.

— Reynolds' Jalen Wagner and Hickory's Connor Saylor, both seniors, capped outstanding high school athletic careers with sixth-place finishes at the state wrestling tournament.

Wagner, a running back for the Raiders who set school football records for single-season rushing yards in 2022, joined the storied Reynolds wrestling history by medaling in Hershey.

Saylor qualified for the state tournament for the fourth time in four years, even after Hickory moved up a classification from 2A to 3A, which included the state's largest schools. As the first Hornets' wrestler to reach the state meet four times, Saylor — who finished with 144 victories — took his place among the top grapplers in school history.

— Commodore Perry junior Wyatt Lazzar finished seventh at 139 pounds after finishing first in the District 10 and section tournaments.

— Junior Chase Bell, a 133-pounder from Reynolds, finished eighth in the state tournament and second in District 10. Grove City's Cody Hamilton, a sophomore, took eighth at 145 in the state tournament after winning District 10 and PIAA regional tounaments. Sharpsville's Caullin Summers wrapped up his junior season by finishing eighth at 152 pounds in Class 2A, took third place in the District 10 tournament and won a section championship.

— Sharon senior Mike Mazurek bagged first-place finishes at 285 pounds in both the District 10 and sectional tournaments.

— The remaining District 10 wrestling Class 2A place-winners were: Angelo Lomonte of Reynolds (second, 107), Rudy Gentile of Greenville (second, 139), Tino Gentile of Reynolds (second 145), Caullin of Sharpsville (third, 152), Waylon Waite of Reynolds (third, 114), Alex Rueberger of Sharpsville (third, 127), Hunter Geibel of Commodore Perry (fourth, 114), Jonathan Bissell of Sharpsville (fourth, 133), Josh Divens of Sharpsville (fourth, 172) and Brayden McCluskey of Reynolds (fourth, 189).

— After being bumped up to Class 3A, Hickory's wrestling team turned in a creditable performance, advancing to the District 10 team dual meet semifinals and getting almost all of its wrestlers in the top four places at the district individual tournament: Brody Bishop (first, 107), Connor Saylor (first, 139), Ty Holland (first, 189), Dylan O'Brien (second, 121), Mike Reardon (second, 127), Logan Kent (third, 133), Adam Myers (third, 160), Brendan Gioan (third, 215), Logan Rodgers (fourth, 145), Landon Lee (fourth, 152) and Baylee Morse (fourth, 172)

— Greenville's Teage Calvin won a section championship.

Swimming

— Sharon's Mark Cattron, a District 10 champion last year, climbed the podium again, winning first place district titles in the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle. Cattron took sixth at the state meet in the 200 freestyle and ninth in the 100 freestyle. As a junior, the Tigers' standout will have one more opportunity to bring home medals from the PIAA swimming meet.

— Mollie Massella of Slippery Rock had a standout sophomore season, winning District 10 championships in the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and swam a leg on the Rockets' second-place 200 medley relay team, which went on to finish 12th at the state meet.

— Ann-Katherine Burns also swam with Massella, Natalie Double and Grace Olshanski on Slippery Rock's 200 medley relay team and finished first at the District 10 meet and 12th in the state in the 100 breaststroke. Burns, a sophomore, was fifth in the 50 freestyle and swam a leg on the Rockets' 200 freestyle relay team that finished third in District 10 and sixth in the state. Season Grant, Double and Olshanski also were on the team.

— Sharon junior Logan Wilson finished first in the girls 500 freestyle at the District 10 meet and was ninth at the state championships. She also finished fifth in the 200 freestyle.

— Sharon freshman Nate Dorsch established himself as a swimmer to watch in the future by finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle and second in the 500 freestyle at the District 10 event, and 11th in the state for the 500 freestyle.

— District 10 competitors from the county with top-five finishes were: Chloe Cox, Greenville (third, 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle); Grace Olshanski, Slippery Rock (second, 100 freestyle and third, 50 freestyle); Ella Stillwagon, Grove City (third, 100 butterfly); Natalie Double, Slippery Rock (third, 100 backstroke and fourth, 100 freestyle); Madelyn Vernam, Grove City (fourth, 200 freestyle); Grove City's fourth-place 200 freestyle relay team of Maxim Ellis, Alex Smith, Lucas McCreadie and Mack Messer; Grove City's fifth-place 200 medley relay team Lucas McCreadie, Maxim Ellis, Mac Messer, Alex Smith; Mac Messer, Grove City (fifth, 100 butterfly)

Basketball

— Kennedy Catholic was among four county basketball teams to win District 10 championships this year. The local teams adding to their trophy cases this year were Farrell boys, Grove City boys and Jamestown girls.

— Commodore Perry girls, Hickory boys, Mercer boys and Wilmington girls all earned District 10 runner-up basketball titles. Lakeview girls basketball finished third in District 10.

Everyone here at the Herald offers our congratulations to every Mercer County athlete who represented their high schools in basketball, cheerleading, swimming and wrestling this year.

All of you contributed to this season's crop of champions.