Prep roundup: volleyball, golf, soccer

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Volleyball

Lincolnview 3 Wayne Trace 0

Kara Suever had quite a match, finishing with 13 kills, 19 digs and five aces, as Lincolnview swept Wayne Trace 25-12, 25-10, 25-18 on Thursday. The Lancers are now 4-0 with the win.

Annabel Horstman and Brooklyn Byrne each had seven kills for Llincolnview and Makynlee Dickinson and Aubrey Miller each recorded three kills. Dickinson also had 31 assists and 15 digs, Byrne added 14 digs and Joey-Kate Carey finished with 12 digs.

Lincolnview will travel to Antwerp on Saturday.

New Bremen 3 Crestview 0

NEW BREMEN — Crestview traveled to New Bremen Thursday evening to compete in non-league play, and the host Cardinals defeated the Knights in three straight sets with scores of  25-18, 25-12, 25-14.

Kaci Gregory and Ayla Kreischer led Crestview with eight and six kills respectively, while each had six digs. Nora Perkins finished with 10 assists, while Alecta Baxter had five blocks. Delanie Balliet was 8-of-8 serving and Lainey Gardner was 3-of-3 with an ace.

Crestview is now 0-2 on the season and will be back in action on Monday as they will host Minster with a 5:30pm junior varsity start.

Van Wert 3 Elida 2

ELIDA — Van Wert dropped the first two sets but rallied to win the final three as the Cougars hit the win column for the first time this young season, 17-25, 18-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-10 at the Elida Fieldhouse on Thursday.

Check back later for statistics.

Van Wert (1-2, 1-0 WBL) will host Kalida on Tuesday.

Golf

Lincolnview girls win tri-match

The Lancers (197) were able to top Kalida (211) and Miller City (223) at Willow Bend on Thursday.

Lincolnview was led by Grace Custer, who carded a 43. She was followed by Eme Renner (48), Avery Zielke (49), Bellamy Miller (57) and Sophia Brickner (59). Kalida was led by Madison Veroff (49) while Miller City’s Anna Lammers was the match medalist with a 39. Crestview’s Aleigha Brown competed as an individual and logged a 58.

Lincolnview 162 Miller City 177

At Hickory Sticks, Bosten Bailey shot a 38 to lead Lincolnview by Miller City on Thursday.

Seth Brant was a stroke behind at 39, followed by Marshall Hammons (42), and Jacob Geier and Aiden Milligan (43 each). The Lancer junior varsity team also posted a victory, 199-220, with Adam Miller (47) leading the way.

Soccer

Miller City 4 Lincolnview 0

Lincolnview was shut out by Miller City 4-0 on Thursday, dropping the Lancers to 0-3 on the season.

“We’re an extremely young team, with 19 of our 23 players being freshmen and sophomores, and right now we’re working through the challenges that come with that while competing against teams that have a significant advantage in experience, both mentally and physically,” head coach Eli Alvarez said. “Even our small group of upperclassmen are adjusting to being put into leadership roles and learning what that responsibility looks like. What continues to encourage us is how well our kids respond to coaching.”

“We’re seeing glimpses of improvement, and now it’s about turning those glimpses into longer stretches of good soccer,” he added. “There are going to be growing pains with a group this young, but they continue to work, listen, and compete, and that gives us a lot to build on.”

Miller City’s junior varsity team defeated Lincolnview 1-0 in one half of play.

The Lancers will face Lima Sr. at Spartan Stadium at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Pigskin Pick’Em: Week No. 2

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

There’s no other way to put it – last week, the opening week of the 2026 high school football season, was wild. There were upsets galore around the area, results that very few people saw coming. There were also some nice surprises and for some teams that have struggled, sort of a glimmer of hope.

Thanks to the upsets, my record took a beating. The first week is always the toughest because there are so many unknowns due to graduation losses etc., but some of the results were truly surprising. It hurts to type this – my record last week was 22-10 (68.8 percent), far short of my minimum goal of 80 percent correct picks. It’s really not much easier this week with some intriguing Western Buckeye League games and some premium non-conference games.

Games of the Week

Archbold (1-0) at St. Henry (0-1)

These two teams met last year and St. Henry posted a 27-19 win. The Redskins went on to win the Division VII state championship but suffered notable graduation losses. Meanwhile, Archbold returns a number of starters, including 10 on offense. This feels like the Blue Streaks should get a win but I’m hitting pause on that thought. It’s tough to pick against St. Henry at home and quite honestly, it’s hard to see the Redskins start the season 0-2. This should be one of the better games of the night. One more note – the two teams began the series in 2022, and each team has won two games. I’m picking the Redskins to win this one. If the game was at Archbold, that might be a different story.

The pick: St. Henry

Delphos Jefferson (1-0) at Parkway (1-0)

Given their recent struggles, it seemed improbable that these two teams would enter this game 1-0 but here we are. Delphos Jefferson enjoyed a convincing 34-6 win over Evergreen last Friday night, while Parkway snapped a 19-game losing streak with a dominant 27-14 win over Brookville. I’m pleased for both teams as they try to turn things around. The last time Delphos Jefferson started the season 2-0 was 2014 and the last time Parkway opened the season 2-0 was 2008. So, which one will pick up win No. 2 in as many weeks? I believe it’s the Panthers.

The pick: Parkway

Ottawa-Glandorf (1-0) at Defiance (1-0)

I don’t know about everyone else but this is a game that I didn’t expect both teams to enter 1-0. I thought Defiance had a shot to do it but I wasn’t so sure about Ottawa-Glandorf. Boy, did the Titans prove me and a lot of others wrong last week with a 52-7 win over Liberty-Benton. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs earned a 9-8 win over rival Napoleon, making it the third straight year the game has been decided by a single point. This one is hard to pick, as a case can be made for either team. In my mind, it’s a coin flip and I’ll say the Titans get the win.

Roughrider golfers defeat Van Wert

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St. Marys Memorial swept Van Wert in WBL golf action at Willow Bend on Wednesday, winning the varsity and junior varsity matches.

In the varsity match, the Roughriders recorded a 157-166 victory. For Van Wert, Joey Keysor and Cal Byrum lead the Cougars with a pair of 39s. Zach Stoller followed up with a 41 and Noah Krites rounded out the scoring with a 47. Match medalist honors went to Memorial’s Hayden Robey, who carded a round of 35. The Cougars are now 2-1 in the WBL and St Mary’s is 3-0.

The junior varsity match also went to the Roughriders 184-228. Van Wert’s Beau Bear was runner-up medalist with a 45, followed by Jacob Keber with a 53, Alex Eby with a 56 and Levi Fox with a 64.

The Cougars have four matches next week of which three are on the road. On Monday, they travel to Wapakoneta to take on the Redskins.

Cougars prepping for Elida in WBL opener

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

One thing about being a member of the 10-team Western Buckeye League – when football season starts, you have just one week to iron out any issues before jumping into league play.

That’s the case as Van Wert prepares for the WBL opener against Elida at Eggerss Stadium. Losing the league opener puts any team with league title hopes behind the proverbial eight ball for the remainder of regular season.

This week, the Cougars hope to continue improving along the offensive line. Behind a line with three new starters, the running game struggled to get going for much of the first three quarters and pass protection was an issue at times during the season opener against Bryan.

“Our offensive line does a great job of asking questions and constantly wanting to understand what we need to do to succeed as a unit,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. “They did get more comfortable as the game wore on and will continue to improve each week. While our sprintout protection was better than in our scrimmages, we do need to do better in drop back protection and run blocking to really make us difficult to defend.”

Despite the early struggles, the Cougars rolled up 488 yards of total offense, including 350 yards on 22-of-26 passing by junior quarterback Zach Crummey. Seven of his completions went to Keaten Welch for 175 yards and a touchdown, while Xavier Kelly had four receptions for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“Van Wert obviously has quite a bit of team speed and they get their playmakers the ball in space,” Elida head coach Kyle Harmon noted. “Their scheme allows them to show their talents. Crummey has a plus-arm and also combine that with his size he is able to extend plays and also run the ball down hill well. At wide receiver (Micah) Cowan is a problem as he has shown the last few years he can make plays. Kelly in and out of the backfield is a problem as well.”

Recker noted he was pleased with his team’s ability to convert third and fourth down situations, while preventing Bryan from doing the same.

“We were successful on 62 percent of our third and fourth down conversions offensively while Bryan was only successful on 25 percent of their conversion downs, so both offensively and defensively that was a big part of our victory,” he explained.

Knights to hit the road in Week No. 2

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — It doesn’t get any easier for the Crestview Knights.

During last Friday’s season opener, the Knights lost to Paulding 18-6 but the game was much closer despite five turnovers by Crestview, including an interception return for a touchdown with roughly 2:30 left in the game that sealed the win for the Panthers.

Now, the Knights will head to the Auglaize/Shelby County border to face Minster, a team that has enjoyed success in the powerful Midwest Athletic Conference.

While reflecting on last Friday night’s game, Crestview head coach Cole Harting was able to find some positives.

“Despite the loss, our defense had one of the best performances since I have been here,” he said. “They executed the game plan and shut down a very potent offense.”

The defense also forced three Paulding turnovers and the Knights outgained the Panthers 287-263. In his varsity debut, junior quarterback Cooper Miller completed 10-of-26 passes for 184 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Behind a large and experienced offensive line, running backs Evin Brincefield and Trenton Osborn combined for 20 carries and 105 yards rushing.

“We are still looking at that position, I expect to rotate guys in there and keep everyone fresh,” Harting said of the running back position. “We may have a couple of change-ups this week, but we are still trying to figure out what gives us the best offense possible.”

Cash Hammons led the Knights with three receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown, while Beau Lichtensteiger had three catches for 52 yards.

“Crestview looks big and physical on film,” Minster head coach Seth Whiting said. “We will have our hands full with their size. They do a nice job over there, we will need to play at a high level to compete.”

Roundup: volleyball, tennis, golf, soccer

VW independent sports

Volleyball

Paulding 3 Crestview 1

CONVOY — The Crestview Lady Knights opened their 2026 volleyball season at home against Paulding Tuesday evening. The Panthers won the match 25-13, 23-25, 25-16, 25-17.

Kaci Gregory led Crestview with 16 kills and 12 digs, while going 13-of-14 from the service line with a pair of aces. Kenadie Schwartz and Ayla Kreischer had eight and seven kills respectively, while Nora Perkins had 30 assists and six digs. Schwartz and Kaylee Owens each had two blocks.

Crestview will be back in action on Thursday as they travel to New Bremen for more non-conference action.

Lincolnview 3 Van Wert 0

Lincolnview rolled to a 25-9, 25-10, 25-14 straight set win over Van Wert Tuesday night.

Brooklyn Byrne had 10 kills for the Lancers, while Joey-Kate Carey had nine digs. Bryne had three aces, while Carey and Ainsley Schwab each had two kills. Finley Foster led the Cougars with seven kills and Amaya Dowdy had a team-high nine digs. Jazzlyn Florence had seven assists and Dowdy, Grace Kitson, Gia Coleman and Isabelle Murphy each had an ace.

Van Wert (0-2) will open WBL play on the road against Elida on Thursday, while Lincolnview (3-0) will host Wayne Trace in a non-conference match the same night.

Golf

Lincolnview 194 Lima Central Catholic 214 (girls)

LIMA – Lincolnview’s Grace Custer earned match medalist honors by carding a 43 and the Lancers defeated Lima Central Catholic 194-214 at the Oaks Golf Club on Tuesday.

Eme Renner and Avery Zielke each shot a 49, and Bellamy Miller finished with a 53. Lima Central Catholic was led by Gianna Cumella, who fired a 45.

Columbus Grove 174 Crestview 214 (boys)

Kash Lichtensteiger shot a 49 but Crestview fell to Columbus Grove 174-214 on Tuesday. Drayden Hoffman fired a 53 for the Knights, followed by Chase Feasby (55) and Zaine Cereghin and Eli Scarlett, who each shot a 57.

Soccer

Delphos St. John’s 3 Crestview 1

DELPHOS — Crestview dropped to 0-2 with a 3-1 loss to Delphos St. John’s on Tuesday. Evie Williman scored the lone goal for the Knights with the assist provided by Macie Dickman. Ella Lamb had 15 saves. Crestview will host South Adams (IN) on Saturday.

OPSMA Football Notebook: Week No. 1

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Week 1 of the 2026 high school football season is in the books.

Football players from all over Ohio put up some amazing performances in the sixth week of the season. Here, the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association compiles the best of the best with the OPSMA High School Football Notebook.

Let’s take a look.

-Van Wert defeated Bryan 41-6 on Friday and the Cougars posted some impressive numbers. Junior quarterback Zach Crummey completed 22-of-26 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns. Crummey, who already has MAC offers as a tight end, also rushed for 54 yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Xavier Kelly scored four touchdowns in the game, two on the ground and two via receptions. He finished with four catches and 94 yards, plus 34 yards rushing. Senior wide receiver Keaten Welch caught seven passes for 175 yards and a touchdown. 

-Coming off a 10-0 regular season, Paulding’s defense came ready to play on Friday. The Panthers forced five (Convoy) Crestview turnovers, including three fumbles and two interceptions. One of the fumbles occurred just as Crestview was about to score. The second interception came with 2:34 left in the game, when junior defensive back Emmet Barnes picked off a Crestview pass and raced 80 yards for a touchdown, sealing an 18-6 victory for Paulding. 

– Indian Lake defeated Lima Bath 54-43. The teams combined for 1,131 yards of offense and 33 first downs, but it was three interceptions by the Indian Lake defense that helped them overcome a fourth quarter deficit.

-For the third consecutive season, the annual Defiance-Napoleon rivalry game was decided by one point. After a 35-34 OT win by Napoleon in 2024 and a 20-19 Defiance win last year, Defiance kept the River Rock Trophy another year by winning 9-8 in a game featuring both teams scoring safeties when punts were snapped out of the endzone. The deciding points came when Napoleon bobbled the hold on a game-tying PAT attempt with 4:08 left.

-FLIP THE SCRIPT: Two teams that went 0-10 in 2026 buried those bad memories in a big way on Friday. Ottawa-Glandorf, with former assistant Ben Kaufman, now the head coach, pulled off one of the biggest shockers by beating Liberty-Benton 52-7. L-B had blanked the Trojans 35-0 last season in going 12-1. (Mount Blanchard) Riverdale, also 0-10 last season, elevated a former assistant – Tyson Speyer – to head coach and he guided the Falcons to a 30-6 win over Ridgemont, ending a 12-game losing streak extending back to the ninth week of the 2024 season.

-With just 12 players on the roster, a special meeting of administrators, parents and fans was held at Vanlue to decide if the program could continue its current course, possibly consider 8-man football or fold all together. It was decided to continue on, so low numbers or not, Vanlue suited up for its 102nd consecutive season of 11-man football on Friday. The Wildcats hosted Ottawa Hills, a Division VI school in Toledo in its opener, and lost 62-8.

-Senior quarterback/defensive back Tayte Giesige completed 13-of-19 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns, rushed 14 times for 101 yards and another score, and had a team-high 15 tackles in Bluffton’s 42-27 win over Benjamin Logan.

-New Bremen senior quarterback Gavin Dicke celebrated his 18^th birthday in a big way, leading the Cardinals to a 35-0 victory over Wayne Trace in the season opener Friday. Dicke ran for 103 yards over seven carries, including touchdown scampers of 27 and 52 yards, while throwing for 73 yards and two touchdowns in completing six of a dozen passes. Dicke connected with Tommy McNaughton for a 27-yard toss for a score while throwing 34 yards to Grayson Timmerman for another touchdown strike.

Random Thoughts: well wishes and more

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

Parker Wynk

The response to Celina quarterback Parker Wynk and his injury has been nothing short of incredible, nor is it surprising.

Most people have heard by now that the senior Bulldog quarterback suffered a serious neck injury during the first half of Friday’s opener against St. Henry. He had no feeling in his arms or legs and was taken from the field by ambulance. Over the weekend his mother shared updates online and said that Wynk was regaining some feeling. We all hope that in the coming days, his recovery process continues to progress.

The outpouring of support from all around the area and beyond has been amazing. Well wishes, thoughts and prayers have been sent from near and far and a GoFundMe account established to help with medical expenses and other needs rapidly received a number of donations. I know Wynk and his family are very appreciative of all of the support. In these crazy times, it just goes to show that there are many, many good people out there.

WBL opening weekend

Most high school leagues and conferences have two or three weeks of non-conference football games but the Western Buckeye League has just one, then it’s off to league play.

Opening weekend in the WBL has some very intriguiing matchups.

Roundup: tennis, soccer, volleyball, golf

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Tennis

Bath 3 Van Wert 2

LIMA — Van Wert picked up wins at third singles and first doubles but fell to Bath in WBL tennis action on Monday.

Alli Spieles defeated Bath’s Jordan Taylor 6-1, 6-0 at third singles, while the first doubles team of Bristol Wollet and Ella Kimmel topped Bri Downey and Khloe Kinkleman in a nailbiter, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. At first singles, Bath’s Gianna Marfo defeated Lauren Gearhart 6-4, 6-4, while Elizabeth Rope posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Van Wert’s Madilynn Thomson at second singles. Bath’s second doubles team of Kylie Chang and Jackie Alva scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over Annabelle Miller and Ixchell Castillo.

Van Wert (1-4, 1-2 WBL) will host Bryan today.

Soccer

Celina 8 Lincolnview 0 (boys)

The Lancers fell to Celina 8-0 on Monday.

“We knew coming into the season that this was going to be a tough stretch of games for us,” head coach Eli Alvarez said. “We’re not the team we’re going to be yet, and right now our focus has to stay on getting better each time we step on the field and continuing to play hard regardless of the score.”

Lincolnview (0-2) will host Miller City on Thursday. 

Ada 7 Crestview 0 (girls)

ADA — In the season opener, Ada defeated Crestview 7-0 on Monday.

For the Knights, Ella Lamb had 21 saves on goal, while Emma Lirot, Jackie Dennie, Evvy Lamb and JJ Korte gave a great defensive effort.

Crestview will play at Delphos St. John’s today.

Volleyball

Paulding 3 Van Wert 0

PAULDING — The Panthers swept Van Wert in the season opener 25-10, 25-14, 25-9 on Monday.

Karli Breedlove led Paulding with nine kills, three aces and four digs. Estie Pease had 15 assists, five digs, five aces and a pair of kills, while Jayla Griffith had four aces. Van Wert statistics were not immediately available.

Van Wert will play at Lincolnview today.

Golf

Van Wert defeats Defiance

In a Western Buckeye League showdown at Willow Bend, Van Wert Cougars defeated Defiance by a comfortable margin, 165-191 on Monday.

Co-match medalists were freshman Joey Keysor and senior Zach Stoller, who each carded fine rounds of 39. Sophomore Cal Bryum finished his round with a 40. Sophomore Van Wright had a rough start and righted the ship for a score of 47. Zander Coleman tallied a 49 followed up by Noah Krites with a 51.

Beau Bear carded a 46 to lead the junior varsity to a Cougar sweep of the Bulldogs.

With the win, Van Wert improved to 2-0 in the WBL. The Cougars will take on St Marys Memorial at Willow Bend.

Monday Mailbag: rivalry, upsets, more

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

The Monday Mailbag is back by popular request. Each week, readers can submit questions or comments about any type of sport. In previous years, the focus has been on high school athletics but questions and comments about college and pro sports are welcome as well.

Q: I have always heard the rivalry between Van Wert and Bryan in football is one of the oldest in the state of Ohio. Are there any documented facts? Just how old is this rivalry? Is it the oldest rivalry in Ohio? Also what is the series all time in terms of wins and losses? Jeff Perry, Nashville Tennessee

A: Hi Jeff, it’s a long standing series but it’s not the oldest Ohio or even really that close to it. If you look at it by number of years, Cincinnati Hughes and Cincinnati Woodward hold the record for the oldest rivalry in Ohio. Believe it or not, it dates back to 1878, according to the OHSAA record book. This year will be the 131 time they’ve played. Hughes leads the series 69-52-9.

A number of Ohio’s other oldest high school football rivalies also date back to the late 1800s. As far as Van Wert, it appears the Cougars’ oldest rivalry is against Defiance, which goes back to 1916.

I believe the all-time series record between Van Wert and Bryan schools is decidedly in favor of Van Wert. Including last Friday’s win, the Cougars lead the series 62-22-3. Now, I’m still looking to see in what year they began squaring off in the season opener. I know it goes back at least 50 years. Perhaps someone out there can chime in on this?

I’ve heard from multiple people that Van Wert and Bryan hold the record for longest opening game rivalry in Ohio high school football history. I would think that is currently an unconfirmed record, one that would take a ton of research given how many high school are playing/have played high school football.

Of course, there is an asterisk. The two teams didn’t play during the 2020 COVID-19 season. The Cougars played a six-game regular season, all against WBL opponents before entering the playoffs and eventually winning the state championship. Given the circumstances, I would think it’s possible they hold the non-COVID years record for opening games.