I will be on vacation and be out of the office until January 2.

So the blog will be silent until 2011. Have a great winter break everyone.

There is a high school bowling notebook in the Christmas Day Morning Journal. Here is a link at Prepzone http://bit.ly/eAt56A

Westlake's Sheldon Stuckart won his second tournament of the year. He had four pins and decision at Hudson to improve his record to 19-1 including 14 pins. Stuckart earlier won the Bison open.

Clearview 215-pounder improved to 11-0 by winning the Willoughby South Rebel Invitational. He has three pins. Last Thursday he won both matches in a conference tri against Wellington and Oberlin.

Amherst defeated Midview 5-1 to win the Lorain County Hockey Tournament. The Comets led just 1-0 entering the third period on a second period power play goal by Kevin Burgett.

The Comets scored four straight goals to open the final period. Connor Morris scored the first and third goals. Caleb Gannelli and Michael Kuhn also scored. Midview's Brad Urig closed the scoring with an unassisted goal by Brad Urig.

Amherst goaltender Eli Branscum had 10 saves while Midview's Blake Sunagel had 40 saves.

Amherst won all four of their games in the tournament and are now 10-1.

Midview had their eight game win streak snapped by Elyria Catholic on Monday and with the loss to Amherst fell to 8-3.

The Sandusky Bowling squads hit the road to Woodville and split with Gibsonburg in Sandusky Bay Area Bowling Conference action on Tuesday afternoon.

The Sandusky Girls squad remained undefeated in SBABC conference play with a 2,092-1,783 victory over the Bears. Leading the way for the Streaks was Marissa Kieffer with 188-126 for 314 series. Kerri Riebold chipped in with 178-134 for 312 series. Leading the way for the Gibsonburg's was Karri Kreilick with a 259 series.

The Sandusky boys were defeated by Gibsonburg 2,655 to 2,302. Leading in scoring for Sandusky was Senior JP Vincent and freshmen Kyle Dickman each with 339 series. Brett Diekman led the Golden Bears of Gibsonburg with 216-247 for 463 series.

The JV Boys picked up their first win on the season with a 1,864-1,810 victory. Quinton Walton lead the Streaks with 154-151 for 305 series.

" The lane conditions were very tough today," Sandusky head coach Bob Dickman said. "They were extremely dry, and we did not have the ball speed to combat the condition. We will learn from this and move on to Wednesday's match versus Clyde at Fremont's Plaza Lanes."

The Girls match versus Clyde features two undefeated teams in conference play. "Clyde is 5-0 and the Lady Streaks are 3-0, should be a great match," Dickman said. Sandusky Bowling Coach Bob Dickman said.

Lorain sophomore Alex Harris had a great week for the Titans. She had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in a win over Beaumont. She also had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots over Warrensville Heights.

Westlake junior Lauren Choban won the 100 backstroke and was part of the winning Medley Relay against Avon Lake. She also posted fast times at the Viking Invitational.

With the next two Fridays being Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, the Morning Journal will not have an Edge high school section. So there will be no official players of the week. However I will be posting about several athletes that could have been players of the week in this space.

Sandusky's bowlers completed sweep of Norwalk in SBABC Bowling action in Norwalk on Saturday. The girls team defeated the Norwalk 2,559 to 2,188. The Streaks shot games of 814-890 for a 1,704 total and a 221 pin lead heading into baker format, where they outscored the Truckers 855-704. Leading the way for the Streaks was Senior Co-captain Marissa Kieffer with scores of 225-191 for 416 total. Sophomore Shelby Ohlemacher chipped in with 154-179 for 333 total. Leading the way for Norwalk was junior Logan Harris with 184-238 for a 422 series.

Balanced scoring by the Blue Steaks boy’s squad lead to a 2,916-2,614 win over the Truckers. The Streaks shot games of 1,019-1,020 for a 2,039 total and a 268 pin lead after regular games and outscored the Norwalk boys in baker matches 877-843. Leading the way for the victorious Streaks was sophomore Andrew Barnum with 212-224 for 436 series. Senior Nathan Peters scored 223-191 for 414 series. The Dickman brothers, Ben and Kyle, each shot 406 series and Senior JP Vincent chipped in with 377 series. The leading scorer for the Norwalk boys was Jeremy Mattlage with 222-209 for 431 series.

“A very good day for the Blue Streak bowling squads,” Head coach Bob Dickman said. “The Girls shot their highest score of the season. Liz Janshego and Morgan Blevins in their first ever Varsity start performed very well. Marissa Kieffer was spectacular throwing the ball today. The Boys squad finally put two good regular games together and bowled great on the road. Andrew Barnum bowled great today, leading a balanced attack. The squads have some things to work on in practice, but today, very pleased with their efforts.”

The Blue Streak Bowlers are now off until this Tuesday, December 21st, 2010, when they hit the road again for a 4:00pm match at Tri-County Lanes in Woodville to face the Golden Bears of Gibsonburg in Sandusky Bay Area Bowling Conference action.

Lorain High School defeated Open Door 2,208 to 2,092 in North Shore Bowling Conference play at Strike-Out Lanes in Wellington.

The Titans remain tied for the lead with Keystone and St Ignatius at 3-1 while Open Door falls to 0-4.

Solomon Fenn led the Titans with games of 230 and 210 for a 410 series and Nick Kerecz led Open Door with 239,199 and a 438 series. Kody Beiswenger added a 230 game and 399 series for Open Doo.r

Once again our area had a great week of wrestling. Here are some of the wrestlers considered for Wrestler of the Week which will be revealed in Friday's Edge.

Amherst coach Brian Cesear nominated 119-pounder Mark Matos. Mark was 5-0 with four pins and a tech fall at the Bellevue Invitational. He is 11-1 on the season.

Lorain coach Billy Kopp nominated 189-pounder Alec Medina. Alec was 6-0 in winning the Riverside Rumble. He is now 10-0.

Sandusky coach Casey Harrington nominated heavyweight Mike Brown. Mike is 10-0 on the season and Harrington had this to say about him, "He not only has a perfect record. He also has a great attitude in the wrestling room. He is an awesome leader, role model and student."

Avon head coach Mark Porter nominated Zane Zeman. Zane won the North Coast Classic Tournament and was named Tournament MVP. Zane is now 14-0.

Congratulations to all four wrestlers. All of them could have worthy wrestlers of the week. However the award went to a wrestler who had arguably the biggest high school wrestling win in the biggest match in the entire country last week.

The Avon Lake Wrestling Team took second at the Cuyahoga Heights Wrestling Tournament with 187 points, finishing behind Barberton. Taking second places for the Shoremen were Evan Potts (130), Will Muller (135), Caleb Rojek (171), Matt Sokolow (189), and Cory Frank (285). Austin Spenzer (145) and Jimmy Emerson (152) finished 3rd, while Anthony Gerrone (103) and Jeffrey Braunsdorf placed 4th.

"I was pleased to finish in second and having 9 wrestlers place," head coach Ken Weaver said. "We finished that high due to the bonus points we picked up, most of those being pins. Cory Frank and Matt Sokolow had 4 pins each, to lead the way."

Monroeville had a great weekend at the Ironman Tournament. With several of the top programs in the country at the tournament, the Eagles had a great showing finishing fifth just five points out of third place.

Three-time state champion Hunter Stieber was in the match of the tournament taking on 135-pounder Austin Ormsbee of national power Blair Academy, who was ranked #1 in the nation. Stieber scored a takedown in the first period and won 3-2, winning his second Ironman title.

"It was arguably the toughest division in the tournament," Monroeville head coach Scott Bauer said. "It was a big win. Hunter always wrestles well but it is the best we have seen him wrestle in a while."

Fellow three-time state champion Chris Phillips won the 171-pound title.

"Chris dominated the division," Bauer said.

The third three-time state champion, Cam Tessari finsihed second.

"Cam wrestled smart but he was a bit conservative in the finals," Bauer said.

Bauer was pleased with the rest of the team as well. Freshman Grant Fidler won a match and went six minutes with a tough opponent.

"We were real pleased with how everyone wrestled," Bauer said, "Fifth place is a great accomplishment."

The Lorain wrestling team finished second out of 12 teams at the Riverside Rumble held in Painesville over the weekend.

The Titans 298.5 points were second only to West Branch’s 381.5. Brush was third with 277 points.

Narcisco Inchaurregui (130) and Alec Medina (189) won their weight brackets. Dominic Diaz (103) and Antoine Edwards (125) finished second. Juan Lugo (119) took third while Bishop Overton (145), John Findley (171) and Amon Willis (215) were fourth.

Sandusky hosted the A-Behr Blue Streak Classic on Saturday. The Blue Streaks had an outstanding meet winning every event expect for two on the girls side and two swim events and diving on the boys side. The girls team won the classic with 400 points. Margaretta was second with 318 points. Taylor Vargo won the 200 Free and 100 Breast. Mary Murray won the 200 IM. Ashley Ahlers won the 100 Free. Sarah Miller won the 100 Back. Eve London won the diving competetion. The Blue Streaks also won the 200 Medley relay and , 200 Free Relay and the 400 Free relay.

“They came in and swam lights out,” head coach Tommy Patterson said. “When you finish in first place plus have depth that is how you win meets.”

Despite winning almost every event, the Sandusky boys finished second with 339 points to Margaretta’s 363. Zach Waddington won the 200 Free, Jack Stauffer won the 200 IM and 100 Back. Jeremy White won the 100 Fly and 500 Free. Jeremy Bondarenko won the 50 Free and 100 Free. Sandusky also won the 200 Medley relay and 200 Free relay.

“The boys were a bit outnumbered,” Patterson said. “We won all of the events but the last two. We do what we can with what we have to work with. When you score the top 12 and don’t have depth it is tough.”

On Thursday several local swim records were broken.

Avon's Elliot Runge set a school record in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 57.53.

Three records were set during the Westlake-Bay meet at North Olmsted Recreation. Westlake's Joe Craven set a pool record in 100 Back with a time of 56.56. Bay's Elizabeth Auckley set school and pool records in the 100 fly and 100 back. Her fly time was 59.03 and her 100 back was 1:00.21.

Westlake Demons Gymanstics

Head coach: Chelsea Cahill, 4-time state qualifier at Magnificat and a member of the 2003 state championship team.
Last Season's results: 12th place finish at Sectionals

Top Returners for Westlake: Sophomore Mackenzie Hurd, sophomore Kate Jenkins and Junior Hayley Hartman

Coach's Outlook:

"The Demons have been working hard in the gym, learning new skills and routines," Cahill said. "With the largest gymnastics team Westlake has ever had, there is new motivation to establish the team name in our region. We have several returning gymnasts, including co-captains Aleks Tyler (Jr) and Hayley Hartman (Jr) plus a whole new group of freshman and sophomores.The Demon Gymnasts are all very enthusiastic about this season.They all have a great work ethic and I expect their skills to improve tremendously over the next month. The goal is for the girls to do their best, challenge themselves, work hard and have fun! Hopefully that will lead to their highest placing yet in post season meets."

Pictured: Junior captains Aleks Tyler (in the white) and Hayley Hartman.

The Player of the Week Awards will be revealed in Friday's Edge. It was a difficult choice to make for wrestling as there were several outstanding performances and a host of wrestlers that could have easily earned the honor. Here are some of the student-athletes nominated by their coaches for the award.

Elyria coach Erik Burnett nominated 125-pounder Eli Garcia. Eli went 4-0 at the Super 12 Duals held at Cincinnati Moeller. One of his wins was a 8-6 victory over two-time Kentucky State Champion John Fahy, Trinity High junior.

Lorain coach Billy Kopp nominated senior Amon Wilis. Amon went 4-0 with three pins to win the Ashland Boomaster Tournament and helped the Titans to their first ever championship.

Edison coach David Hermes nominated Kyle Burns. Kyle went 5-0 and defeated Keystone state placer Cal Clark. Kyle, also a returning state placer, was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Edison Invitational. Hermes had this to say of Kyle, "Kyle's performance was very impressive considering the caliber of wrestler he was facing. Kyle is a very hard worker in and out of the wrestling room and this dedication really shows when he steps on the mat.

Avon coach Mark Porter nominated 145-pounder Zane Zeman. Zane recorded four pins while winning the Knights of Columbus tournament. The team captain is now 6-0 this season. Porter had this to say about Zane, "Zane had picked up right where his state qualifying season left off. He has worked hard, wrestling a lot in the off-season and it has shown in this first tournament of the season.

Avon Lake coach Ken Weaver nominated 285-pounder Cory Frank. Cory was 6-0 and won the Knights of Columbus tournament. Cory had five pins.

The Morning Journal will reveal the player of the week awards on Friday in the Edge. Here are several of the student-athletes nominated by their coaches:

Lorain coach Mark Feldmann nominated senior Shanique Ogle. Shanique had 22 points and 11 rebounds in three quarters of action. She also had 16 points and 9 rebounds against Elyria last Saturday.

North Ridgeville coach Amy Esser nominated Ashley Montgomery who had a career high 29 against Wellington and followed that up with 26 against North Olmsted. She had 13 total assists including a career high 9 against Wellington.

Avon coach Meghan Banks nominated Emily Julius. Emily had 27 points and 9 rebounds against Keystone. She also had 8 points and 8 rebounds against Westlake. In the two games Emily was 9 of 10 at the free throw line. Banks said “Emily is a great leader on and off the court as she not only excels on the court but in the classroom as well.”

Elyria Catholic coach Eric Rothgery nominated Ashley Schuster. Ashley had 20 points and 21 rebounds in a win against Columbia.

The Morning Journal's Player of the Week will be revealed in Friday's Edge. Here are some the student-athletes nominated by their coach:

Edison coach Chris Ceccoli nominated Mike Yost. Mike scored 18 points, had 9 rebounds and 3 steals in Edison's victory against New London.

Columbia coach Matt Sheets nominated Danny Kleinhenz. Danny had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals against Mapleton. Danny scored 19 first half points and did not play much in the second half.

Open Door coach Jason Penley nominated Abe Valentine. Abe scored 30 points in Open Door's win over Black River.

Avon coach Jim Baker nominated junior Claude Gray. Claude had 21 points and 10 rebounds in Avon's 68-46 win over Amherst. Claude is also a 3.5 student.

The Sandusky High School Bowling teams split with Fremont Ross in SBABC Play at Cedar Lanes in Sandusky on Tuesday afternoon.

The Lady Streaks defeated the Lady Giants 2,163 to 1,891. Leading in scoring was senior co-captain Marissa Kieffer with scores of 168-184 for 352 series. Senior co-captain Kerri Riebold added a 220 in second regular game. Leading the Lady Giants was Ashley Vaerewyck with 235-142 for 377 series.

The Fremont Boys squad defeated the Blue Streaks 2,997 to 2,701. Leading the way in scoring was freshmen Dalton Schenk with 232-158 for 390 series. Freshmen Kyle Dickman added 178-198 for 376 series.

The Ross JV's defeated SHS JV's 2,221 to 1,849. Quinton Walton shot 168.

"The Boys Varsity squad could not get on track today," Sandusky Bowling coach Bob Dickman said. "Ross bowled very well the second game and baker games, that was the match. The Girls squad bowled good in the second game to take the lead in the match and the victory. We travel to Marion Harding on Saturday morning, we know we have to bowl better that we did tonight to compete with the Presidents. A good non-conference test for the Streaks with a quality opponent from the Mid-Ohio Conference."

The Midview hockey team is off to great start for the 2010-2011 season. The Middies are now 4-1 and 2-0 in the Blue South.

The Middies have scored 30 goals in their first five games. After losing thier opener to Kent Roosevelt 11-3. Midview has outscored their opponents 27-6 including divisional wins over CVCA and Cleveland Heights.

While many players have played well, Austin Steindl has scored 8 goals and 10 assists.

North Ridgeville junior Ashley Montgomery has been on fire in her team's first two games of the season.The Rangers are 2-0 after 53-29 win over Wellington and a 40-24 win over North Olmsted.

Montgomery had a career high 29 points against Wellington and followed that up with 26 points in the win over North Olmsted. She is shooting 39 percent from the field and 35 percent behind the arch where she has made seven. She has 13 assists on the season including a career best 9 against Wellington. Montgomery also has 14 steals.

The Westlake hockey team was a bit shell-shocked to start their game Saturday night against Avon. The Demons were down 3-0 less than six minutes into the game.

But Westlake head coach John Duke said his team didn't quit. The score remained 3-0 heading into the third period. A couple of minutes into the third Kent Axcell scored to make it 3-1. Westlake goaltender Cassidy Fuller stopped a breakaway midway through the period to keep it 3-1 setting up a dramatic final minute.

Harrison Keppler scored with 57 seconds left to bring the Demons within one then in the final seconds in what Duke described as "an gut wrenching end to end rush" Ben Thurstone scored with four seconds left to earn Westlake a tie that had to feel like a win.

Both Avon and Westlake are playing home games at the North Olmsted Recreation Center. So while Westlake played there on Saturday, Saturday's 3:15 game will be the team's first official regular season home game at North Olmsted Rec center.

The Lorain Titans don't have the depth of many local swimming programs and they lack a diving team. Scores at duals often reflect that but head coach Bob Cunicella likes what he sees from his kids.

"Basically I keep telling the kids I am not looking for wins I am looking for times," he said.

The Titans swam a double dual meet on Saturday against Margaretta and St. Mary. Cunicella was particularly proud of three of his swimmers.

On the way to the meet the bus had to pull over so Anthony Torres could puke. Torres who is fighting the flu - "and losing" according to Cunicella still swam in the breaststroke and the 200 medley.

"His team was good considering," Cunicella said.

Two other swimmers swam in events they had never swam in before and weren't expected to until other swimmers were not available for the meet.
Ayla Torres swam the 100 back for the first time.

"She swam a 1:29.47," Cunicella said. "She did it as a favor to me."

Brandon Pettway just joined the team a week ago and had never swam besides recreationally. He swam the 100 meters for the first time.

"He wanted to swim the 50 but I needed him in the 100 meters," Cunicella said. "He said he would try. The kids really amazed me."

The new program hockey programs in our coverage area played on Saturday at the North Olmsted Rec Center. Avon jumped on Westlake with three first period goals. That held up until the third period when the Demons scored three third period goals to force a 3-3 tie.
Scoring for Avon were Alex Guzik, Eric Novakovic and Tyler Lance. Scoring for Westlake were Kent Axcell, Rudy Keppler and Ben Thurstone. Avon's Kory Carter had 34 saves while Westlake's Cassedy Fuller had 20 saves.

Avon 3, Westlake 3
Independent
Score By Periods
Westlake (0-0) 0 0 3 – 3
Avon (0-0) 3 0 0 – 3
First Period – H: Guzik (Novakovic), H: Novakovic (Uhas), H: Lance.
Second Period – .
Third Period – .A : Axcell (Jenkins), A: Keppler , A: Thurstone (Sandor)
Goalkeepers – .H: Carter – 34 Saves, A: Fuller – 20 Saves

Elyria High School Bowling Preview

Coach: Nancy Henceroth, Kevin Borowry, John Shreve Jr

Key returners:

Boys: Mike Wagner, Soph Mark Hartman, Soph (Varsity Lettermen)

Matt Franczak, Soph (JV)

Girls: Emily Henceroth, Jr (Varsity Letter)

Olivia Peloquin, Soph (JV)

Other team members:

Boys: Aaron Kilgore, Fr Jeff Maloney, Fr Tyler Balmuta, Fr

CJ Ross, Soph

Marq Fairbanks, Jr Dylan McGuire, Jr Cody Bell, Jr

Jake Neuschaefer, Sr

Girls: Kelsey Otis, Soph Zoe Woodings, Soph India Field, Soph

J'Neshia Butler, Soph

Coach's Outlook:

We are excited to start our 2nd season with 3 full teams, last year we had 7 bowlers with 2 of them being girls on the boys team. Our key players this year will be our veterans, Mark Hartman, & Mike Wagner. Looking for newbees Aaron Kilgore, Cody Bell & Jake Neuschaefer to really round out a strong team. All have bowled in jr. programs so are lane veterans if not high school team bowlers till this year. We have good JV guys in the wings that will learn as the year goes on & keep our varsity boys on their toes.

Girls we look for Emily Henceroth to be the key girl's player finishing with a 161 her lst yr out in high school play but carried a solid 183 in jr. league. She is anxious to compete in the girl's class this year & see what she can do. Our other girls are new but willing to learn & very excited to be part of the team!

It should be an exciting season & we look forward to building the program at EHS for next year.

Sandusky Bowling Girls Preview

Head coach: Bob Dickman

2009-2010 season results: 15-4, SBABC American Division Champions
Key returners: Marissa Kieffer, Kerri Riebold, Hillary Yost, Shelby Rohrbacher, Shelby Ohlemacher

Coach's outlook: "We have experience with five letterwinners coming back," Dickman said. "We expect another good season for the Lady Streaks."

Sandusky High School Boys Bowling Preview

Head coach: Bob Dickman

2009 results: 13-5, Sandusky Bay Area Bowling Conference American Division Champs

Key returners: Boys -J.P. Vincent, Ben Dickman, Andrew Barnum

Coach's Outlook: "Youth and experience on boys team," Dickman said. "Expect a good season with the Boys. We will be in the running for the SBABC crown by season's end."

Brookside Bowling Preview

Head Coach: Mark Cizl

Returning Varsity Letterwinners: Rocco Fariis, Taylor Stephens

Rest of the team: Zach Griffiths, Taylor Neigh, Nick Gattarello, Matt Griffin, Courtney Neigh, Brian King, Alyssa Pranckunas, Tim Krall, George Wenner, Nikki Crnko, Tyler Litz, Jason Cox

Coach’s Outlook:

“In the past 2 years that our Brookside Bowling team entered OHSAA, we have had bowlers go to Districts each year," Cizl said. "The rich history of the Brookside Bowling goes back to the 1970 and Brookside has been conference champions 5 times in the GCIBL.

“This year’s team is young in experience and old in interest. We lost four seniors last year of which two were four-year varsity letter winners. We also had our top average bowler move out of our district, so we’re rebuilding this year. To make things more difficult, we lost our home lanes when North Coast Shoreway Lanes closed over the summer. This year we are practicing at Nautical Lanes and again competing in the Greater Cleveland Interscholastic Bowling League for over 30 years. One of the major benefits to being in this conference league, is we are able to compete every Saturday in both Actual and Handicap divisions. Most (all) other OHSAA conferences only compete in Actual. Therefore, we have more of an opportunity to be competitive with younger, inexperienced teams.”

Firelands High School Bowling Team Preview

Head coach: Ken Davis

Returning Letterwinners: Girls - Kaylynn Cuson, Erika Richardson, Emma Northeim, Samatha Wargo, Haley Strong; Boys - Nate Danko, John Vancs, Tom Vancs

Rest of the team: Girls - Emily Krieg, Karlie Canfield, Erika Hornyak, Maggie Clark, Hannah Brnaz; Boys - Kevin Migra, Matt Rainey, Ben Roberts, Justin Williams, Tom Battig, James Keressi, Austin Zapola, Teddy Chambers, Chris Kubicki

Coach's Outlook:

Girls: "Even though we are a very young team, we return all varsity starters from last year," Davis said. " Kaylynn Cuson, a district qualifier, should be one of the top female bowlers in the NSBC this year. Freshman Emily Krieg brings a strong junior bowling background to the team."

Boys: "The boys team has a solid group of experienced bowlers," Davis said. "They just have to put that to work for them to get the big scores. I’m looking for big years from Danko and the Vancs brothers."