2011 Spring Sports Follow Up

Boys Tennis
The Van Wert boys tennis team started their season out a little rough. By contributing more time to playing tennis, the Cougars get their first win against Kenton. At the Elida invitational, the team placed second out of four teams with Gary Espinoza and Bryan Zinsmaster winning first place in B doubles, Jacob Hood taking second in A singles, and Kevin Yeung and Seth Zuber taking second in A doubles. The Cougars went on a winning streak as they beat Defiance, Wapakoneta, LCC, and Bath. At WBL, Yeung and Zuber won their match to move onto Saturday along with Hood. Overall, the team placed 6th out of 10 teams. Hood placed 3rd, Yeung and Zuber placed 3rd, and Espinoza and Zinsmaster placed 5th.

Softball
The lady Cougar softball team started out their season on a roll. They had several games cancelled but spent their time practicing hard for the WBL games. They started with 8 out of 9 big wins against Lima Senior, Parkway, Delphos Jefferson, Bryan, Kenton, O-G, and Elida. They had several girls with blazing bats. Sam Fiegle, Morgan Williams, and Brittany Bigham had many homeruns throughout the season. They finished their season with a record of 11 wins and 6 losses.

Track
Fighting to be the best, the seniors work the underclassmen to run hard.  The team learned right away that it would be a standard starting time of 3:20.  Following the tradition warm-ups, each member knew from the start what they were getting themselves into.  Slacking isn’t an option for the members and it definitely shows.  The coaches have really shown  their dedication towards the teams, and without them, the team wouldn’t be possible.

2010-2011 Winter Sports Follow Up

Boys Varsity Basketball
The Van Wert Boys Basketball team started off very strong winning seven great games in a row.  Leading the team were Corey Clifton, Austin Fleming, Jacob Hood, Reggie Phillips, and Jacob Myers.  Their first tough loss went into overtime against the Celina Bulldogs.  The Cougars picked their game back up with another 2 wins against Bryan and Kalida.  With a devastating loss against St. Mary’s in an intense game, the Cougars continued to play hard the rest of the game.  The Cougars go their head back in the game with another 3 games.  This hard work led the Cougars to regional’s for the first time in 4 years.  The cougars ended with a great 15 wins.

Girls Varsity Basketball
The Van Wert Girl’s Basketball team had a tough year.  When they played Crestview it was a back and forth game and in the final second of the game Crestview got the shot.  The score was 29-30 with a devastating loss against Elida, Alex Morrow and Ashley Mohr were the top scorers for the Cougars.  They had another depressing loss but that didn’t stop them from trying in any other game since.

Swimming
After losing 10 senior swimmers last year, this year was a rebuilding year for the young cougar swimming and diving team.  However, that didn’t stop the team from surpassing expectations and finishing strong this season, seven swimmers qualified for districts and Kase Schalois qualified for diving.  The team worked hard and many swimmers had to step up and compete new strokes, but they pulled it together and had a great season.  Kase Schalois also went to state and broke a new record in diving.  Overall the team worked hard and met their goals this season and it was a great year for swimming and diving.

Wrestling
One again the wrestling team has out did themselves.  With a team smaller than most past teams, the Cougars still fought their way to the top.  With a team captains also the only two seniors Cory Hirschy and Connor Masillo get the team prepared for ongoing teams.  The next season doesn’t begin with new team mates, it starts with it leaders.

Boys Bowling
The cougar boys started their season with fire!  They were undefeated with a record of 7-0 along with being tied for first place with the Versailles Tigers.  Their next match was tough one against Versailles.  As they hit the lanes, they knew that they needed to keep concentrated on a win, but unfortunately were defeated by 84 pins.  The boys kept their heads up as they finished the season strong.  The ending league record was 11-4 and they placed 3rd of 16 teams.  On Feb. 19, they headed to sectionals and only the top 5 teams could advance to districts.  The boys finished in 5th place, just making it in.  Districts were the next weekend and the boys struggled.  They ended the district tournament in 12th place.

Girls Bowling
The lady cougars started out with a very difficult schedule.  They had four tough losses to Wapakoneta, Coldwater, Celina, and St. Mary’s.  After those losses, they knew they had to kick it in gear and win the rest of the matches, so they did end up winning 7 in a row.  Their league record was 8-4 tied with Versailles for fourth place.  As they headed to sectional tournament, they knew they had to be one of the top four teams.  Having a difficult shot on the lanes, they finished in 6th place overall.  Kylie Allenbaugh made it to districts as an individual with a three game series of 482.  Their top three bowlers were Taylor Beair, Kylie Allenbaugh, and Tyler Metzger.  At the awards banquet Taylor, Tyler, and Kylie received 2nd team all-conference and Britany received honorable mention.  Congrats ladies on a great year.

2010 Fall Sports Follow Up

Football
The 2010-2011 football season went 5-5, so far. In their opening game, the team won 36 to 20 over Bryan. The next week, at Kenton, we lost 70 to 34, making our record 1-1. The following week, the team beat Elida in a close game, 41-37, to bring home another victory. On September 17, 2010, the cougars lost to Bath 47-27. The following week, at Celina, the cougars suffered another loss, 50-30. The Van Wert cougars homecoming game was a success as we beat Defiance 42-7; a huge win for the cougs. The game against Wapak was a tough loss when the team was beaten 26-21. The home game against St. Mary's was a victory for Van Wert when the team beat St. Mary's 31-7. Last week, the cougars suffered another loss, this time against Ottawa Glandorf, 42-15.

Soccer
The Soccer season this year was an outstanding success. The boys broke many records this year, and overall had an intense year. Their final record was 6-12-1. The cougars started out their season slow, but finished strong making it to the district semi-finals. The boys also had the highest amount of wins in Van Wert history. Another achievement is beating Elida for the first time ever, who was ranked 9th in state last year. There were 2 seniors and one Junior with an All-District Honorable Mention of which only two others were ever earned, “Tyler Money, Jacob Hood, and Jack Moonshower.” Joe Moonshower got an All-District 1st team award, being the first ever from Van Wert. For WBL, Tyler Money earned Honorable Mention, Jacob Hood earned 2nd Team, and Joe Moonshower earned 3rd Team. At the awards ceremony Caleb Markward won the Cougar award, Tyler Money won the Skills award, Joe Moonshower won the MVP award, and Thad Carter won the Most Improved award. Overall the team had a tremendous season. At the last game Coach Derek Stemen announced his abdication from head coach position, in order to better support and spend time with his wife and two children.

Cross Country
The Boys Cross Country has had a successful season this year with my great races. After a great season for last the team stepped up and came together as a team and started taking down the other competitors. The team has made it through districts with a tough division this year making it to the Regional. The team got 10th overall with only one team member making it to State. Jared Fleming placed 19th at the State meet. This was his second time making it to state and is only a sophomore. The team has gotten the top half or even better in every race.

The Girls Cross Country is coming along great. The team has a great pack that helps them compete against the other runners. The team won Columbus Grove meets and got in the top half of each meet. The girls got 2nd at W.B.L. and 4th in there District. The team qualified together moving on to regional’s placing 7th overall with a tough regional to compete against.

Girls Tennis
The lady Cougars have overall had amazing season this year.  The girls’ record is 13-2 and at the invitational matches they have been able to place within the top two places.  The doubles team of Katie Etter and Lindsey Smith, and the two singles, Gretchen Klinker and Brooke Keber have all had a great year winning several matches ending up being singles and double champions.  The whole team moves on to WBL Finals.  Brooke Keber ends up being the champion for 2nd singles, 1st doubles runner-up, 2nd doubles, and 3rd place.  Jenna Waterman gets 4th place and Gretchen Klinker places 5th.  Congratulations Lady Cougars!

Volleyball
  The lady cougar volleyball team went 4-17 this season.  The cougars are hoping to come back next season and greatly improve their record.  Some of the wins were against Kenton, Bryan, and Lincolnview.  The lady cougars know they can do better next year so we look forward to seeing them on the court next year.

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