ASHLAND BOYS

Coach — Dan Priest (fourth year)

Last year's league finish — First in OCC

Returning letter winners — Seniors Kamden Mowry, Wyatt Mohrman, Keslar Bates

Promising newcomers — Junior CJ Cox; freshmen Ryan Eiberling, Reed Emmons

Letter winners lost — Three

Team differences between this season and last — “We’ve got a mix of seniors and freshmen. It’s going to be one of those years that I’m not entirely sure about. I think the kids are pretty talented. If we can get them to chip and putt a little bit better, I think they’re going to be pretty decent. It’s going to be kind of a rebuilding year, I think.” - Priest

Team strengths — “Kamden Mowry is going to be the No. 1 man, and Wyatt Mohrman is going to be No. 2. If those two play well in our events, I think it makes our chances a lot better. We obviously have to get a couple other guys to come in and score but, if those guys go low like we’re expecting them to do here and there, I think it makes it a little bit easier for the team to compete.” - Priest

Team weaknesses — “Our weakness from what I’ve seen during the tryouts and during the qualifying was putting. I think they just need to get adjusted a little bit more to the greens and the speed of the golf course, especially when they go and play at other places. They’re all going to be different. We’ll see how they adjust to that, but I think that’s going to be their biggest challenge.” - Priest

League prediction — “We’ve won the Ohio Cardinal Conference three years in a row. I think it’s going to be a little bit challenging. I think we’re going to compete. I think there’s a chance that we could win it again. I would say we're going to be in the top three in the OCC. If we’re in the top three, we’re going to compete for first.” - Priest

ASHLAND GIRLS

Coach — Mason Berry (first year)

Last year's league finish — Second in OCC

Returning letter winners — Senior Emma Packard; junior Lydia Wells; sophomores Makaree Chapman, Kyah Huckleberry, Laney McNamara

Promising newcomers — Freshmen Elleni Miller, Maddie Little

Letter winners lost — One

Team differences between this season and last — “We are still a young team, but this year we have a lot of returning players with experience playing varsity golf.” - Berry

Team strengths — “Our team is strong in smart play. The girls have a good sense on how to recover from a bad shot in order to save a par or work to make bogey at worst.” - Berry

Team weaknesses — “Our weaknesses come within 50 yards of the hole. We need to work on getting the ball close to the hole from that distance to allow ourselves a one- or two-putt.” - Berry

League prediction — “It is hard to tell as I am a new coach and do not have much information about the other teams in [the Ohio Cardinal Conference] at this time. With that being said, I hope to finish no worse than we did last year (second) and look for several of the girls to get all-league honors.” - Berry

BLACK RIVER

Coach — Rodney Wayne (first year)

Last year's record — 0-18, 0-9

Returning letter winners — Juniors Lenny Ramirez, Nick Kostecki, Nicholas Jackson

Promising newcomers — Junior Austin Foster; sophomore Charlotte Falsone

Letter winners lost — Three

Team differences between this season and last — “We will be using this season as a learning experience. It will be a chance to focus on our mechanics and fundamentals, which will eventually translate into better performances on the course. We don’t have any seniors, so everyone participating this year should return next year.” - Wayne

Team strengths — “I have a lot of coachable players that are eager and willing to learn. I haven’t had a single player thus far refuse any coaching or backtalk. Everyone has taken my advice, and they are already starting to show some improvement.” - Wayne

Team weaknesses — “Inexperience and bad habits. Some of my experienced players have learned to play their slice rather than to correct it. Others are new to golf and learning the very basics of the swing.” - Wayne

League prediction — “Our realistic expectation is to finish fourth or fifth out of the five schools that have a golf team in [the Lorain County 8]. I am hearing that Keystone has a pretty good program, but I do not know the other programs well enough to make a prediction.” - Wayne

CRESTVIEW BOYS

Coach — Rick Belcher (eighth year)

Last year's record and league finish — 6-4 (third in FC)

Returning letter winners — Juniors Aaron Spencer, Dylan Bruner

Promising newcomers — Juniors Matthew Volz, Brennan Fulk

Letter winners lost — Three

Team differences between this season and last — “We did lose some experience, but I am extremely confident in the group we have playing this year. I am looking for our two returning lettermen to become strong leaders this season.” - Belcher

Team strengths — “Our team has a very competitive nature and a drive to get better. They are very passionate about the game of golf.” - Belcher

Team weaknesses — “Our team needs to be more consistent. We are working hard on our short games this season. We also need to have better course management.” - Belcher

League prediction — “I think we can finish in the top three this year in [the Firelands Conference].” - Belcher

CRESTVIEW GIRLS

Coach — Brock Kelley (first year)

Returning letter winners — Junior Kennedy Snyder; sophomores Elyse Belcher, Samantha Metz

Promising newcomers — Junior Natalya Metzger; sophomores Kalee Hamman, Kendall Hill

Letter winners lost — Two

Team differences between this season and last — “Our team lost a good leader in Averi Dunivan. Also, me being a new coach and trying to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each player.” - Kelley

Team strengths — “Having our three returning players with some experience be able to work [with] the three newcomers.” - Kelley

Team weaknesses — “We need to build our confidence and be more consistent.” - Kelley

HILLSDALE

Coach — Mark Colter (fourth year)

Last year's record — 1-10, 1-7

Returning letter winners — Byron Bickel, Ty Lantz, Dallie Meek, Vincent Scalesi, Kambin Smith

Promising newcomers — Ryan Nalley, Blake Schwan, Cade Hawley, A.J. Brown, Landon Timms

Letter winners lost — Two

Team goals — “Our team goals are [to] compete at a high level, develop confidence, win [the Wayne County Athletic League and] advance in [the] postseason tournament.” - Colter

LOUDONVILLE

Coach — Jim Conley (eighth year)

Last year's record and league finish — 8-6, 2-0 (first in MBC)

Returning letter winners — Seniors Isaac Gessner, Chandeler Gribble, Gabe Gerhart; junior Brendon Hess; sophomore Judah Layton

Letter winners lost — One

Team differences between this season and last — "We only lost one senior from last year, so we should be a solid team this season. Our fifth and sixth spots will be played by committee, but our starting group are all previous letter winners." - Conley

Team strengths — "Experience and a love of the game." - Conley

Team weaknesses — "Depth. This team is one experienced player away from being very good. I'm hoping we can have a few players step up and fill that role this season." - Conley

League prediction — "The Mid-Buckeye Conference doesn't have enough teams to have a league, so without competition we can't win the MBC for the fourth straight year." - Conley

NEW LONDON

Coach — Zack Parr (14^th year)

Last year's record and league finish — 1-10, 1-9 (sixth in FC)

Returning letter winners — Seniors Carter Eibel, Jayson Schaffer; sophomores Tate Landis, Kendyl Moffit, Max Smith, Kory Smith

Promising newcomers — Freshmen Brody Sword, Grady Heileman

Letter winners lost — One

Team differences between this season and last — “Last season, we were very inexperienced and young. This year, we are still pretty young, but we have more experienced players coming into the season. This summer has been great in terms of how the team has been preparing. As a team, we were disappointed in last year record-wise, even though I feel we improved greatly throughout the season. We set some goals that we didn’t achieve [both individually and as a team] and are looking to right the ship this year.” - Parr

Team strengths — “The first strength is the leader of our team in Carter Eibel. Carter had an amazing sophomore year two years ago and ended up placing 24th out of 109 golfers at the district tournament. Last year, he played great again but came up short at sectionals and did not advance to districts. So, this year I am happy that he gets another chance at it for his senior year. The second strength for our team is their willingness to put in the time and effort to improve their golf game. I am so thankful for all of their work and time they have put in this summer, whether it be with me or on their own. They have done everything asked of them, and I hope it pays off once the season starts.” - Parr

Team weaknesses — “We are still a fairly young team and, as of right now, I will have two freshmen playing in my top five. I think they have all the abilities to excel and do well but, with being so young, they both have things to learn and will definitely have ups and downs throughout the season. Hopefully, they are patient and understand the best way to learn is from experiencing some bad days.” - Parr

League prediction — “Mapleton had a fantastic season last year, winning the Firelands Conference, and I imagine they will be looking to do that again this year since they do return a decent amount of players. Plymouth had a really good team as well with a second-place finish, and I believe they will return everyone, so they will be a tough team to beat. Crestview returns some players that were young last year but really started playing well towards the end of the season. It should be a pretty exciting year, and I hope we are able to be competitive with a chance at being near the top at the end of the season.” - Parr

NORTHWESTERN

Coach — Scott St. Clair (ninth year)

Last year's record and league finish — 10-5, 9-5 (third in WCAL)

Returning letter winners — Seniors Joe Buchholz, Kylee Purdy; juniors Easton Thomas, Luke Walton

Promising newcomers — Freshmen Jason Diehl, Carson Seabolt

Letter winners lost — One

Team differences between this season and last — “We’ve lost some depth due to graduation and other situations.” - St. Clair

Team strengths — “We are returning our top four golfers from last season. They have all been working hard on their games and playing tournaments during the summer.” - St. Clair

Team weaknesses — “Depth.” - St. Clair

League prediction — “As it always is, our goal is to be playing our best golf at tournament time. It will be my job to make sure that we peak at the right time and, if that happens, we should be right near the top of the [Wayne County Athletic League].” - St. Clair

NOTE: Mapleton did not submit any information

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Season previews of area high school golf teams