{"id":176002,"date":"2024-02-20T04:41:26","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T09:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=176002"},"modified":"2024-02-20T04:41:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T09:41:27","slug":"random-thoughts-expansion-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/02\/20\/random-thoughts-expansion-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: expansion and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest installment of Random Thoughts includes congratulations, expansion, the state tournament, the Diebler family, best wishes and thoughts on a pep band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations go out to Lincolnview wrestler Cody Ricker, who earned his 100th career win during the NWC tournament at Ada on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

100 career wins in wrestling is like 1,000 yards rushing in football or 1,000 points in basketball. It\u2019s not an easy mark to reach. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s even more impressive is the fact that Ricker is just a junior, so he has plenty of opportunities to add to his total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expansion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It came as no big surprise that the OHSAA\u2019s Board of Directors voted last Thursday to expand the number of divisions in a number of sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve heard arguments for and against expansion and when you get down to it, I guess I don\u2019t have any strong feelings one way or another. However, I am part of the group that believes this probably should have been put to a member vote. Who knows, maybe it would have passed, although it probably would have been close either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State tournament<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a fan of the OHSAA state basketball tournament, girls and\/or boys, you may want to consider getting tickets to see some or all this year\u2019s tournament or tournaments in Dayton. Why? Because this will be the final time the state semifinals and finals will all be played at one venue over the course of three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Starting next season, the semifinals will be played at neutral sites around the state. There\u2019s really no other way is can work with the expanded format unless the tournament is expanded to 5-6 days, and that\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting next year, the championship games, all seven of them, will be played at one venue, most likely over the course of two or three days. I will admit I’m sad to see that format change because it just seems so special. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dieblers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also have to admit, it was strange for me to see Jake Diebler lead Ohio State to an upset win over No. 2 Purdue on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember him as a high school basketball player at Fostoria (three years), then at Upper Sandusky during his senior season, when the Rams won the 2005 Division II state championship. I had the privilege of broadcasting some of his games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diebler, his brother Jon and Greg Micheli, who would later go on to quarterback Mt. Union to more than one national football championship and win the Galiardi Trophy, were the heart and soul of that team. Their father, Keith Diebler, who is still coaching at Danbury High School, was the head coach. Up-tempo doesn\u2019t begin to describe that team. They were certainly fun to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what I remember most about all of them was how humble and polite all of them were. Just good people all around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good luck<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best of luck to all area girls basketball teams, as they tip off tournament play this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pep band<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I received a message from a Lincolnview fan who wanted to toot the horn (no pun intended, I\u2019m sure) of the school\u2019s pep band. The fan said the Lincolnview pep band is one of the best they\u2019ve listened to over many years of watching sports. This person also said they know the Lancers are having a tough season on the court but the band keeps the gym rocking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wholeheartedly agree. Good season or down season, a pep band can make all the difference in the world and this person is correct \u2013 the Lincolnview pep band is top notch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, if you have questions or comments on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor The latest installment of Random Thoughts includes congratulations, expansion, the state tournament, the Diebler family, best wishes and thoughts on a pep band. Congratulations Congratulations go out to Lincolnview wrestler Cody Ricker, who earned his 100th career win during the NWC tournament at Ada on Saturday. 100 career wins in wrestling is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 13:37:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176050,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176002\/revisions\/176050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}