Coaching carousel in full swing

Guerra Enlarge

Tony Guerra, a four-time City League wrestling champion at Waite (2000-03) before becoming a two-time NCAA Division II national champion at the University of Findlay, has been named Central Catholic’s new head wrestling coach.

Guerra will replace coaching legend Richard “Doc” Leffler, who left the Irish program after one year as head coach. Guerra served as Leffler’s assistant last year after spending three years as a graduate assistant at Findlay under his former coach, Shawn Nelson. He also teaches science at Central.

Guerra was part of Waite teams that won two City championships under coach Carmen Amenta, and he placed fourth in the state tournament individually as a senior. At Findlay he was a four-time All-American and was twice named that school’s male athlete of the year.

He earned a bachelor of science degree in biology at Findlay, and is near completion of a master’s degree in integrated science education.

At St. Francis de Sales, Charles Dooley III will be the next head wrestling coach, succeeding Dennis Marzec, who resigned after two seasons guiding the Knights.

Dooley, a graduate of Wittenberg University (1999), has been coaching since 1996, with assistant and head coaching positions at Springfield Kenton Ridge, Springfield Greenon, and Mechanicsburg high schools. At the latter school he coached football and track as well as wrestling, and was an assistant athletic director at Mechanicsburg.

Dooley will also join the St. Francis faculty as a chemistry and algebra teacher.

Coaching carousel

In the City League and Northern Lakes League girls basketball circles, three new head coaches have been installed and one nomadic coach has resigned.

Leon Kynard’s time as a player included three years as a Macomber teammate of Ohio State University Hall of Famer Jim Jackson, and his time as a coach spanned six seasons with his daughter, future Ohio State women’s player Maleeka Kynard, at Byrnedale Middle School and Start High School.

The elder Kynard, a four-year Spartans assistant, will succeed Bob Brown’s as Start’s new head coach.

Leon Kynard will not have the services of his daughter, or Start’s other first-team All-Ohioan, Azia Bishop, who will play at Kentucky next season. Nor will he have guard Ariel Gaston, who will play at Division I New Hampshire.

But the cupboard is far from bare, with one of the City League top players – coveted D-I recruit Jaymie Jackson – returning for her senior year along with 6-4 Ce’Dra Evans, who has committed to Xavier University. Also back will be top of the CL’s top juniors in Dee Hicks and Deshayla Mosby.

They were all part of Start’s run to a second Division I state semifinal for the Spartans in three seasons.

“It’s been a longtime dream of mine to be a head coach,” Kynard said, “ever since I played at Macomber. I was worried about the time commitment with Maleeka going to play at Ohio State and trying to see her play. But she said, ‘Dad, you’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be OK.’

“We have a great nucleus at Start for a first-year coach to build around. I just wan the kids to compete. We’re not going to change too much of what we do, other than we might press a little more and play a little more zone.”

Kynard, 40, who played junior college basketball in California and later at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is employed as a residential therapist at Renew Minds juvenile facility in Toledo.

At Anthony Wayne, where Justin Zemanski stepped down after leading the Generals to an 18-6 season and a Division I regional semifinal advancement this past season, Jeremy Terwilliger will be changing gears from boys to girls basketball in replacing Zemanski.

Terwilliger has been an AW boys basketball assistant in eight of the last nine seasons, and previously spent three seasons as a boys assistant at Kenton.

“I’m really excited at the opportunity to be a head coach,” Terwilliger said. “There’s going to be a learning for me going from boys to girls, but in the short time I’ve spent with the current group, I’m real excited about their work ethic and their ability. And, I’m excited about the talent at the lower grade levels. That’s a tribute to coach Zemanski and the work he put in.”

Elsewhere in the NLL, Tim Nottke steps up after one season as a girls assistant under Todd Bostater at Southview to become the Cougars’ new head coach. Bostater resigned after the 2010-11 season.

Nottke had previously been an assistant for three years under highly successful Northview head girls coach Jerry Sigler, and coached at McCord Junior High in the Sylvania system for five seasons.

“I’m definitely excited,” Nottke said. “There’s been a lot of good coaches in this league that I’ve had a chance to be around and work with, and it’ll be nice to get a chance to coach against them now.”

A graduate of Bellevue High School and the University of Toledo, Nottke teaches at McCord.

In the last decade one thing you could say about Darrell Dorn was that he knew how to get a coaching job. Another thing that could be said is that Dorn never stayed long in one spot.

The former DeVilbiss High School standout has resigned after one season as the head girls basketball coach at Scott High School.

Scott athletic director Jim Huss said the Dorn resigned earlier this week because of indisclosed “health-related” reasons.

In an earlier one-year stint with the Scott girls, Dorn guided the Bulldogs to a City League regular-season title in 2006, when Scott eventually lost to Waite in the City championship game.

Dorn has also had two separate stints as the head girls coach and another as the boys head coach at Woodward, and was a women’s basketball assistant at a junior college in Florida.

Basketball season expands

By a 5-4 vote, the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s board of directors has approved a proposal from the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association to allow member schools to play up to 22 regular-season basketball games beginning with the 2012-13 season. Of note, the length of the season will not be expanded.

Porter back at Start

Sara Porter played varsity volleyball for four years at Start, including her senior year when she received first-team All-City League honors.

Now, after four years of playing at Defiance College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, Porter is back with the Spartans as their new head volleyball coach.

Porter succeeds her former Start coach Jan Dermer, who recently became the Spartans’ new athletic director.

Seidel All-Ohio in lacrosse

St. Ursula attacker Tenley Seidel has been named first team All-Ohio in lacrosse by the Ohio High School Lacrosse Association, the first girl’s player from northwest Ohio to earn this honor.

“She led our team in scoring, assists, ground balls and we probably played the toughest schedule we’ve ever played,” St. Ursula coach Paul Sieben said. “She averaged nearly six points a game and was well-rounded in goals and assists. She has exceptional speed and some of her best games were against the best teams in the state.”

Seidel, 5-6, plans to continue playing lacrosse in college at Indiana University in Pennsylvania.

Lepiarz, Hall to Lourdes

Andrew Lepiarz, a first-team All-League selection who pitched Start into the CL baseball championship game this season, has signed to continue his career at Lourdes College in Sylvania, which will begin its baseball program in 2012. Joining Lepiarz at Lourdes will be Spartans teammate Marty Hall, a first baseman who named to the All-City second team.

Owens volleyball signees

The Owens Community College women’s volleyball program has signed six Ohio athletes to scholarships, including five from local high schools.

Joining The Express program will be Bethany Critchley, a middle hitter from Toledo Christian, who helped the Eagles reach the Division IV state semifinals in the fall; Molly Hilfinger, a setter from Anthony Wayne; Whitney Hoodlebrink, an outside hitter from Eastwood; Alyssa Meis, an outside hitter from Genoa, and Brandi Schimming, a defensive specialist from Genoa.

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com or 419-724-6461.