Sidelines: Oak Harbor's Miller will wrestle at Kent

5/13/2010

Oak Harbor junior Ian Miller, who won the 145-pound state title in Division II, has verbally committed to wrestle at Kent State.

Miller will join a program that has shown marked improvement in recent years.

Kent, which has crowned two NCAA All-Americans in each of the last two seasons, took second to Central Michigan at this year's Mid-American Conference tournament and finished 25th at the NCAA tourney.

Oak Harbor graduate Keith Witt, who was a state champion, is a freshman at Kent.

Miller was dominant in the state final, defeating Lisbon Beaver's Dylan Ice by technical fall 19-4. At 41-1, Miller went unbeaten after an early-season loss, by a 3-2 decision, to the nation's top-ranked wrestler in the finals of the prestigious Walsh Ironman.

The City League softball tournament will be held at Scott Park on the University of Toledo campus starting Saturday with semifinal games at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Undefeated Clay is the top seed and will play at 1 p.m. The Eagles' opponent, the fourth seed, has yet to be determined. If Notre Dame defeats Bowsher in a game to be played today, Notre Dame will earn the fourth seed. A victory by Bowsher would give the fourth seed to Whitmer.

The 3 p.m. game will feature second-seeded St. Ursula facing Central Catholic, the third seed.

The two winners on Saturday will meet for the City League title on Sunday at Scott Park, with the first pitch set for 3 p.m.

An interesting note from around the state, sophomore Hayley Flynn of Philo set a softball state record that probably won't be broken any time soon. She struck out 55 batters in a game.

Philo is near Zanesville in Muskingum County.

Flynn's achievement came in a 24-inning game and helped her team claim a 5-4 victory over Sheridan. The previous record was set by Kasie Kelly of Wooster, who fanned 44 in 20 innings against Lexington last season.

Area boys tennis players will begin their march to Columbus with sectional tournaments, which begin today and conclude Saturday.

Jermain Park will host a pair of Division I sectionals, while teams from Bowling Green, Findlay and Perrysburg will compete at Ohio Northern and Sandusky will host Clay and Fremont Ross, among others.

In Division II Archbold and Port Clinton will be among the sites hosting district tournaments this weekend.

The top four teams in both singles and doubles will advance to next week's district tournament.

The Division I district tournament will feature semifinals at Sandusky on May 20 with the finals at Port Clinton on May 23. The D-II district will be held at Port Clinton on May 19 and 22.

Among the top players back from last year's tournament are sophomore Chikara Oshima of Findlay, who advanced to the D-I state tournament last year; Evan Bechtel, a junior at St. John's who advanced to the D-II state singles while at Ottawa Hills last season; and senior Eyad Jaara of Maumee Valley, who won a first-round match in D-II at state last season.

Findlay nearly swept all the finals in winning the Greater Buckeye Conference boys tennis title at Sandusky.

The Trojans took the three singles crowns and won one of the two doubles finals to finish with 28 points, 11 more than second-place Napoleon.

Findlay sophomore Chikara Oshima was named GBC player of the year for the second straight season by repeating as first singles champion, while Connor Hoban won second singles and Lucas Schaible claimed the third singles.

Findlay's Connor Jack and Brady Thorp took first at No. 2 doubles.

Napoleon's Jason Wenner and Alex Altman prevented a sweep by knocking off the Trojans' Hayden Gephart and Joey Armand in No. 1 doubles.

Port Clinton will add three individuals and one team Saturday to its athletic hall of fame.

Sara Harmon, Shannon Ryan Hauck, Tony Meek, and the 1974 golf team will be honored at the Port Clinton Elks Club, beginning at 5 p.m.

Harmon, who graduated in 1999, earned eight varsity letters in softball, volleyball, and basketball. As a pitcher, Harmon set a school record with 17 wins in a season.

Hauck (1999) finished with nine letters in softball, volleyball, and basketball. She was a four-time All-Sandusky Bay Conference choice as a catcher.

Meek (1992) lettered nine times in golf, basketball, and baseball. In golf, he was a three-time district qualifier who still holds the SBC record for season scoring average with a 34.25 mark. He was a member of three SBC champion teams in basketball.

Coach Bob Hartung led the 1974 golf team, which included David Belden, Robert Cedoz, Robert Gardner, John Gill, and Mike Martin. That squad won the Class AAA district title and finished eighth in the state tournament.