Year in Review: Marion-area brings home trophies and titles

According to the Chinese calendar, 2022 was the year of the tiger.

In the Marion-area, it was more like the year of the trophy.

State champions, state runners-up, regional titles, regional berths and more highlighted 2022 for the area's 10 high schools.

Here's a list of the area's top 10 achievements over the last year:

1. Mount Gilead wins state cross country title

Over the previous four seasons, the Mount Gilead boys cross country team finished fifth, second, third and second at the state championships, but this year the Indians broke through with a dominating performance to bring home the gold trophy on an unseasonably hot morning.

Mount Gilead came into the race ranked No. 1 in the state in Division III as it and Ottawa Hills shared the top two spots all season long. On race day, the Indians proved it was no fluke, scoring just 82 points to easily win the meet. Second-place Ottawa Hills had 151 points followed by 157 from Cincinnati Summit Country Day, 167 from Botkins and 188 from Maplewood. Northmor finished 20th.

As expected, the Indians had three racers end with All-Ohio podium honors as Will Baker was 10th in 16:16, Parker Bartlett 13th in 16:20 and Reed Supplee 14th in 16:24. Crucial to the championship were Mount Gilead's other two scorers as Aaron Gannon was 37th in 16:47 and Owen Hershner 73rd in 17:21. Nathan Smith and Gage Baker also competed for MG.

In the same race, Ryan Lehman of Northmor claimed the final All-Ohio spot by taking 30th in 16:39 to lead his teammates. Running individually at state in Division III girls were Pleasant's Casey Kimball, Mount Gilead's Kimberly Staley and Cardington's Magi and Loey Hallabrin.

2. Carter Chase earns wrestling state championship

Projected to finish fourth in his final try at a state wrestling championship, Pleasant senior Carter Chase pulled off a stunning victory on the biggest stage in what turned out to be one of the best finishes to a match the whole weekend.

Competing on the raised floor in Ohio State's Schottenstein Center, Chase faced off with undefeated Shadrick Slone of Willard, the projected champ for the Division III 165-pound weight class. The Spartan found himself trailing 4-2 and then with 10 seconds left, Chase hooked a little-used snap cradle and scored five points to win the state championship 7-4 and end his season with a 49-1 record.

Chase is the seventh state champion from Pleasant and the 12th from Marion County. He is the first from the county to win a wrestling state title since Pleasant's Jedd Moore went back-to-back in 2007 and 2008.

Pleasant senior C.J. Smith also competed for a state title at 175, but lost to Troy Christian's Connor Havill 6-2 and brought up a state runner-up medal.

Five other area wrestlers also placed at state. Highland's Cody Matthews was fourth in Division II at 157 to become the school's highest placer ever and the only two-time state placer from Highland. Northmor's Niko Christo was fifth at 157 in D-III to become the fourth four-time state placer at the school. Daxton Chase of Pleasant was sixth at 132, Northmor's Cowin Becker seventh at 113, and North Union's Gabe Hansen eighth at 126 in D-III.

3. Marion Harding brings home state trophy

Marion Harding made a fifth straight trip to Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl to compete in the Division I boys bowling state tournament, and the Presidents were coming off a best-ever third-place finish at last year's state event.

To get to the finals, the Presidents won the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament for a fifth time in a row, won the Division I sectional and took the district tourney for a second consecutive year. Harding wasn't as sharp as it had been all season, but it still managed to qualify for the finals as the No. 4 seed out of eight teams.

Playing the best-of-five Baker games in the bracketed finals, the Presidents eliminated Parma Padua 3-0 and top-seeded Nordonia 3-1 to make it to the finals against Centerville. Harding fell to the Elks 3-1, but the decisive game was a shot-for-shot classic with Centerville prevailing 260-245.

Caden Millisor finished 15th to get the final All-Ohio spot for honorable mention, rolling games of 241, 179 and 213 for a 635 series. Defending individual state champ Jayden Combs was 40th with a 575, Jordan Hensley 45th with a 568, Gage Warren 52nd at 552 and Cameron Rayner 58th at 537.

4. Juliette Laracuente dominates at state long jump

Highland junior Juliette Laracuente repeated her state championship at the Division II state track and field championships, dominating the event with a leap of 19-5.75. She won the title by a foot-and-a-half, and it was the best measure posted in any girls long jump in the state that weekend. Three times she went over 19 feet to blow away the competition. Rounding out the weekend, Laracuente was third in the high jump and third in the 100-meter hurdles.

Elgin senior sprinter Cy Starcher also had a big weekend at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. He was a Division III boys state runner-up in the 100 with a 10.98, five-thousands of a second from a win, and he was third in the 200 in 21.83.

Mount Gilead senior Michaela McGill was a D-III state runner-up in the girls 3200 with a 10:57.18. Other podium finishers were MG's Michael Snopik who was seventh in the boys 1600 in 4:23.68, the MG boys 4x800 relay of Snopik, Gannon, Ethan Honzo and Seamus Walsh in eighth, and River Valley freshman pole vaulter Eva Moran who was seventh in D-II at 11-0.

5. Cardington softball returns to Final Four

The Pirates were again the top team in the area in terms of softball. Cardington won a sixth straight district championship, having won 18 sectional and district games in that stretch. The last time Cardington lost a district game, last spring's seniors were fifth graders and the freshmen were in second grade.

The Pirates went to their fifth regional final in a row, winning it for the fourth time in the span. Beaten in the Elite Eight in 2021 by eventual state champ Sherwood Fairview, Cardington returned to dominate the regional tournament at Elida, outscoring Tinora and Van Buren 43-8 in the two regional games.

Matched up with top-ranked Wheelersburg in Division III, second-ranked Cardington fell 5-2 to the eventual champs in the state semifinal at Akron's Firestone Stadium.

6. Pleasant turns around boys bowling program

In 2021, the Spartans finished last in the MOAC. A year later, they ended their season at the Division II boys bowling state tournament at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. Pleasant just missed the cut during the qualifying games, finishing ninth, 142 pins from making the cut into the top eight bracketed finals. Freshman Nolan Ludwig led the squad by finishing 20th with a 587. Elgin's Keaton Hall also competed at state and shot a 518 for 48th.

The Northmor girls made their third consecutive state trip in D-II, finishing 10th in the qualifying rounds and missing the cut by just 61 pins. Junior Kourtney Rinehart was honorable mention All-Ohio with a 190-187-191 568 series series, while Cardington junior Payton Goodman was second-team All-Ohio by finishing sixth with a 232-156-198 586 series.

7. Autumn Fitzgerald gets two All-Ohio finishes in gymnastics

Injured in 2021 but still making it to state as a freshman, Autumn Fitzgerald showed her stuff when she's healthy by qualifying for the state gymnastics meet again as a sophomore for Marion Harding.

She earned All-Ohio honors by finishing seventh on the vault with a 9.4 and by finishing tied for eighth on the balance beam at 9.2. She also competed in the floor exercise and the uneven bars, taking 23rd in the all-around competition with score of 35.5.

Elgin senior Tiffany Hix was another two-time state participant, who earned a spot in the vault. She posted an 8.9 to end 29th.

8. Cardington, Highland return to volleyball's Sweet 16

Cardington had never been to a regional volleyball tournament until last season. It didn't take long for the Pirates to earn a return trip, as they beat Pleasant 3-1 to win the Division III district title in 2022. Competing in the regional semifinal at Kettering's Trent Arena against state power Versailles, the Pirates lost 3-0.

Highland saw its conference winning streak snapped after 10 years (the second longest streak in the state's volleyball history), but that didn't stop the Scots from winning a five-set district final classic against Bloom-Carroll to capture another district crown like ones earned in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019 and last year. It was the ninth time in 10 years that the Scots played in the district final. At the Vandalia regional, Highland lost to second-ranked Hamilton Badin 3-1.

9. Spartans enjoy Cinderella run to regionals

Seventh seeded Pleasant upset higher seeds in its girls basketball tournament run, knocking off No. 4 North Union 55-43 and No. 6 Amanda-Clearcreek 40-36 to earn a berth into the Division III district final at Ohio Dominican. The Spartans dominated the second half to beat No. 10 Johnstown 45-29 and make their first regional appearance since going to the state finals in 2016. Pleasant played East Clinton in the Sweet 16 at Springfield High School, but fell in overtime 50-46.

10. Trio earn highest honors in high school football

Two players and a coach from the Marion-area earned highest honors in football this season from the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association.

Highland junior running back Dane Nauman ran for 2,380 yards on 295 carries and scored 28 rushing touchdowns, plus made 10 catches for 114 yards to be named Ohio's Division V Offensive Player of the Year. North Union senior linebacker Owen Davis, who will play at Purdue next season, was the state's Division V Defensive Player of the Year after recording 87 tackles, 68 solo tackles, 14 tackles for loss, five sacks, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception. Mount Gilead second-year head coach Mike Reid was the Division VI Co-Coach of the Year in Ohio after leading the Indians to their first winning season since 2004 and their first-ever playoff berth.

Honorable Mentions

∎ Marion's Diana Morgan, who has been involved with every Ohio Junior Girls Championship contested at Marion Country Club since the state tournament's inception in the 1970s, was given the Betty Kerby Peppard Award for distinguished service to female golf by the Women's Ohio State Golf Association.

∎ Pleasant's Jenna Hollenbaugh qualified for the Division II girls state swimming championships in Canton for the first time and finished 22nd in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:09.66. Mount Gilead's Joel Conrad qualified for a second straight year in the D-II boys state field and finished 24th in the 100 butterfly in 54.31.

∎ Laracuente won three state indoor track and field championships at the SPIRE Institute in northeast Ohio. She went 5-6 in the girls high jump, 38-0 in the triple jump and set the indoor state meet record in the long jump at 18-4. She is a six-time state indoor champ in these events. Also finishing in the top 10 from the area were McGill in the 3200 who was sixth in 11:26 and River Valley's Megan Diven in the weight throw who was ninth at 39-9.

∎ Marion Harding senior golfer Jacob Beaschler won the MOAC Boys Golf Tournament at the Country Club of Bucyrus by four strokes. On his final swing in the tournament, he hit his first-ever hole in one.

∎ Marion Harding senior Taryn Simmers went undefeated in the MOAC at No. 1 singles and earned a return trip to the uber-competitive Central District girls tennis tournament for a second straight season.

∎ High school basketball returned to Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Marion County Fairgrounds for the first time in at least 25 years with the playing of the Coliseum Basketball Tip-Off where the five county high schools hosted boys and girls two-quarter preview games all day.

Rob McCurdy is the sports writer at the Marion Star and can be reached at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Year in Review: Marion-area brings home trophies and titles