Perkins’ Cierra Bravard and the No. 20 Florida State women’s basketball team fell to No. 1 Connecticut, 93-62, on Tuesday night, giving the Huskies’ (11-0) college basketball record-setting 89th consecutive victory.

Bravard led Florida State with 19 points, while also pulling down six rebounds.

Down 54-27 at halftime, the Seminoles never gave up were outscored by just four in the second period despite the growing excitement of a home crowd watching its team approach an improbable milestone.

While FSU battled as hard as possible, in the end there was just too much Maya Moore to handle. UConn’s star came out firing and never stopped. She finished the night with a career-high 41 points.

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Admiral King graduate Cameron Bryant was named to the All-Ohio FCS/II/NAIA Second Team by the website OhioCollegeFootball.com.

Bryant led the team in tackles this season, recording 73 total stops, including five for losses, despite not entering the starting lineup until the seventh week of the season.
Over the last five games, Bryant made 64 total tackles, reaching double figures in each game. He also picked up a sack and had an interception on the season.

The Storm posted a 3-8 overall record and 3-7 conference mark and fourth place finish in its first season in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s South Division.

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Westlake’s Ann Ryan scored a career-high 16 points in the opening round of the Pro Rehab-Hubbard Company Tournament as Allegheny topped the century-mark in points for the first time since 1994 in a 103-100 overtime win over Defiance College.

Ryan, who saw limited minutes last year as true freshmen, has been a key player in the Gators’ rotation coming off the bench and had her most productive game in her young career shooting 8 of 14 en route her career-high of 16 points. She also pulled down a team-high nine boards with six coming off the offensive glass.

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Wisconsin-Whitewater scored 21 unanswered points en route to a 31-21 win over Mount Union’s football team in the Stagg Bowl at Salem Stadium on Saturday.

Stagg Bowl MVP Levell Coppage finished with 39 rushes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, including a back-breaking 75-yard scoring run with 2:34 left in the contest.

Mount Union senior wide receiver Cecil Shorts III was a multi-dimensional threat. He caught seven passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Lining up as a quarterback, he completed 5 of 7 passes for 56 yards.

After the Raiders took a 21-10 second-quarter lead, Coppage scored on an 11-yard touchdown run, helping the Warhawks trim their deficit to 21-17.

Then, Whitewater quarterback Lee Brekke found Tyler Huber on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 1:01 left in the first half, putting Wisconsin-Whitewater ahead for good.

Coppage provided the game’s first points with his 54-yard touchdown scamper and Eric Kindler added a 30-yard field goal as the Warhawks took a 10-0 lead.

The Purple Raiders answered back with 21 consecutive points in the second quarter. Wisconsin-Whitewater then scored 14 points of its own to take a 24-21 halftime lead.
Mount Union’s defense forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions, helping the Raiders take their only lead.

Sophomore defensive end Charles Dieuseul recovered a fumble, which was forced by sophomore defensive back Nick Driskill to set up Mount Union’s first score.

The Raiders got on the board when sophomore quarterback Matt Piloto found senior tight end Kyle Miller for a 39-yard touchdown hookup.

A 28-yard interception return by senior defensive end Lambert Budzinski set up the next Mount Union score.

Starting at UWW’s 4-yard line, the Raiders needed two plays to find the end zone, finishing with a 1-yard rush by sophomore running back Jeremy Murray.

The Raiders (14-1) took a 21-10 lead later on when Piloto went deep to Shorts for a 58-yard score.

At that point, the Warhawks (15-0) used their running game to take control. UWW enjoyed a 312-45 advantage on the ground.

Driskill starred on Mount Union’s defense, finishing with 12 tackles including two for a loss, and the forced fumble.

Senior defensive back Chaz Jordan added nine tackles and junior defensive back Alex Ferrara made an interception.

Making his first collegiate start, sophomore quarterback Matt Piloto completed 20 of 43 passes for 267 yards.

Matt McCulloch was a thorn in the Raiders’ side as he finished with two interceptions and eight tackles.

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Elyria’s Promis Cabbil, who is a junior All-OAC guard, scored a career-high 20 points, but Baldwin-Wallace fell to Muskingum University, 71-68 on Saturday in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center in Berea.

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Casey Mitchell and Kevin Jones scored 15 points apiece as West Virginia pulled away in the second half, handing Cleveland State its first defeat of the season, 74-63 on Saturday.

Mitchell, the leading scorer for the Mountaineers (8-2), recovered after being held to a total of eight points in his previous two games. His 3-pointer with 7:45 left in the second half ignited a 19-8, game-ending West Virginia run.

The Vikings (12-1) drew within seven points on Trevon Harmon’s 3 with 3:50 left. But two Cam Thoroughman free throws, followed by Jones’ 3-pointer with 2:45 remaining, quelled any chance of a Cleveland State comeback.

Norris Cole, who led Cleveland State with 19 points, tied the score at 55 with 8:30 to go in the second half, but 3-pointers by Mitchell and Jones on consecutive possessions made it 61-55 and sent West Virginia on its way.

Cleveland State, off to its best start in school history, was looking to become the first NCAA Division I school to win its first 13 games this season and to avenge last season’s final-second loss to West Virginia in Cleveland.

Cleveland State returns to Cleveland for a Wednesday night game with South Florida at the Wolstein Center.

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Elyria graduate Stevie Mitcheff was named the Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week for Kent State, after his 125-pound championship on Dec. 11 at the Cleveland State Open.

Mitcheff went 5-0 in his 25-man bracket inside Cleveland State’s Woodling Gymnasium. He recorded a 17-0 technical fall in his opening bout over Michigan State’s Chris Lyon, before pinning Cleveland State’s B.J. Miller in the second period. Mitcheff then earned a convincing 6-0 shutout over Edinboro’s Korey Mines in the quarterfinals and topped Central Michigan’s Joe Roth 6-2 in the semifinals. In his final bout of the day, Mitcheff knocked off Indiana’s Zach Zimmer 8-6.

Now 13-4 on the year, Mitcheff has placed in all three of the tournaments he has competed in this season (Hokie Open, Body Bar, CSU Open).

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courtesy of The Associated Press

Upper Sandusky graduate Jon Diebler matched an Ohio State record with nine 3-pointers, scoring a career-high 29 points and leading the second-ranked Buckeyes past Florida Gulf Coast 83-55 on Wednesday night.

Diebler, who has now made a school-best 291 shots behind the arc, shot 9-for-14 on 3s.

William Buford became the 47th Buckeye player to reach the 1,000-point career mark, finishing with 17 points. Jared Sullinger added 11 for Ohio State (9-0).
Chase Fieler had 12 points and Anthony Banks 10 for the Eagles (2-6), playing their first game after an 11-day break.

Diebler made three 3-pointers in an 11-0 run in the first half that put the Buckeyes in command.

His nine 3-pointers were a Value City Arena record. He matched the Ohio State record held by Jay Burson.

The Buckeyes took control early and never let up, thanks to Diebler.

The Eagles were intent on preventing Sullinger, who scored a school freshman record 40 points last week against IUPUI, from beating them. As a result, they tried to pack the middle as much as possible.

Sullinger wasn’t a factor, picking up two fouls and playing only 9 minutes in the first 20 minutes while scoring just two points.

But Diebler hit 5 of 7 3-pointers as the Buckeyes hit more shots behind the arc (7) by halftime than FGCU had total baskets (6). Ohio State was on top 42-16 at the break and substituted freely in both halves.

The Buckeyes scored the first seven points over the opening 2½ minutes. After Fieler hit a 3 to put the Eagles on the board, Ohio State ran off the next 11 points.
With his second 3 of the game, Diebler moved past Indiana’s A.J. Guyton (1997-2000) into seventh place all-time in Big Ten 3-pointers made.

The second half was never close as the Buckeyes tried to blend in their six freshmen with four veteran starters.

When ranked in the top 10, Ohio State moved to 249-56 with wins in 40 of its last 42 games. Against unranked teams at home, coach Thad Matta’s Buckeyes teams are now 93-2.

The Eagles dropped to 0-5 all-time against the Big Ten, losing earlier this season at Indiana 88-60. In the four previous losses, the average margin of defeat was 24 points.

Kevin Cantinol played in his first game for FGCU after transferring from Mississippi.

It was the first meeting ever between the teams.

Perkins graduate Cierra Bravard had 14 points and 10 rebounds and No. 17 Florida State cruised to a 69-51 win over Central Florida on Wednesday night.

Bravard had her fourth double-double of the season and Alexa Deluzio added 11 points for the Seminoles (9-1).

D’Nay Daniels had 17 points and eight rebounds and Aisha Patrick added nine points for UCF (4-5), which had 22 turnovers and six assists.

FSU broke open the game by going on an early 23-4 run. The Golden Knights shot 7 of 31 from the floor in the first half and couldn’t recover.

The Seminoles outrebounded the Golden Knights 49-41.FSU has won 11 straight against UCF. The Seminoles are 15-2 in the series.

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Western Reserve’s Steph Tinney set a school record at Ashland University, while running track. The Eagles were in action on Friday and Saturday at Kent State’s Golden Flash Gala.

Tinney is no newcomer to the Ashland record book. She put another school mark behind her name, setting the school record in the 800 (2:13.59). That’s also a provisional qualification.

Tinney was also on the 4x4 relay team that finished in 3:52.74.

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Sandusky’s Greg Garrett scored a team-high 17 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and added three assists and two steals for Owens Community College, as it lost to Schoolcraft College, 70-63 on Wednesday.

The game featured 15 ties and 21 lead changes. Neither team shot free throws well, but Schoolcraft outscored the Express, 48-32 in the paint. The Ocelots also edged Owens in rebounding, 51-41.

Garrett led Owens with 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Cal Edwards added 15 points and five assists, while Tommy Kralovic Jr. had 14 points and six rebounds.

Schoolcraft’s Daniel Hill led all scorers with 18 points. He also pulled down 16 rebounds.

Owens is now 5-7 on the season, while Schoolcraft is 6-6.

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Perkins’ Jimmy Chapman nearly set a pool record in the 100 butterfly (48.52) for Kenyon’s only individual win, to go along with five relay wins as Kenyon lost a close competition to the University of Pennsylvania in the 2010 Total Performance December Invitational champion.

The Lords went a perfect five-for-five in the relays thanks to their wins in the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays. Chapman, along with Michael Mpitsos, Collin Ohning, David Somers kicked off the night by leading the way to the wall with an NCAA Division III automatic qualifying time of 1:30.27.

Chapman provided Kenyon’s lone individual win of the night by taking first in the 100-yard butterfly. His swim of 48.52 was not only good enough to win the event and qualify him for the national meet, but it also was less than a second from a new Kenyon Aquatic Center record (48.47).

When the dust settled, the Quakers outdistanced the Lords, 1,600-1,482.5, to end Kenyon’s three-year reign at the Total Performance Invitational. The title is Penn’s first since 2006. To round out the standings, Wayne State (684) took third, Carnegie Mellon University (496) checked in fourth, and Davidson College went fifth (493.5). Grove City College (335) was sixth, followed by Colgate University (230).

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No. 2 ranked Mount Union and No. 1 ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater will meet for a sixth consecutive season in the NCAA Division III National Championship game — the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl — on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 3:30 p.m. in Salem, Virginia. The game will be broadcast LIVE on television on ESPNU, ESPNU HD.

It will be the 14th Stagg Bowl visit for the Purple Raiders who have won the game 10 times including the 2005 (35-28), 2006 (35-16) and 2008 (31-26) games against Whitewater. Whitewater is making its sixth Stagg Bowl appearance and the Warhawks won two championships both over Mount Union in 2007 (31-21) and 2009 (38-28).

The Purple Raiders (14-0), won the Ohio Athletic Conference and its automatic bid into the playoffs. After completing its fifth straight undefeated regular season, the No. 2 ranked Purple Raiders are 12-0 overall after beating St. Lawrence, 49-0 in the first round and No. 18 ranked Delaware Valley 31-3 in the second round, Alfred (N.Y.) 37-7 in the quarterfinals and a 34-14 win over No. 14 ranked Bethel (Minn.) in the semifinals.

Wisconsin-Whitewater (14-0) earned an automatic bid by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) title. The Warhawks are making their ninth playoff appearance with a 27-6 record in NCAA post-season play. Whitewater defeated No. 24 Frankin (Ind.) 52-21 in the first round, No. 12 Trine (Ind.) 45-31 in the second round, then went on the road to beat No. 5 North Central (Ill.) 20-10 in the quarterfinals and No. 3 ranked Wesley (Del.) 27-7 in the semifinals.

This will be the seventh meeting between the schools with Mount Union holding a 5-2 edge in the series. The teams have met in each of the last five Stagg Bowls and also played a pair of regular season openers in 2002 and 2003 with Mount Union winning 44-21 in 2002 in Wisconsin and 40-17 in 2003 in Ohio. The Raiders are a combined 8-4 against WIAC teams (5-2 vs. UW-Whitewater, 2-2 vs. UW-LaCrosse and 1-0 vs. UW-Oshkosh).

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Elyria’s Tai Dotson, Lorain County's Miss Basketball (2009), recorded a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help Findlay notch a 72-63 win at Saginaw Valley State University on Saturday in University Center, Michigan.

The victory improves the Oilers to 6-1 overall and a 2-0 mark in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Oilers will be back in action again on Thursday when they travel to Tiffin to face Tiffin University at 8 p.m.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Lauren Percival, a sophomore setter on the Mount Vernon Nazarene University volleyball team, was selected on the NCCAA All-American Second Team for her outstanding play this season.

Percival dished 1,823 assists this year to go along with 48 aces, 56 blocks, 108 kills, and 643 digs. She also posted a .960 serving percentage.

MVNU finished the season with a 43-6 overall record and a perfect 10-0 American Mideast Conference mark. The Lady Cougars went 2-2 in pool play at the NCCAA National Tournament.

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Edison’s Tristan Stoll, who wrestles at 197 pounds at Baldwin Wallace, was named this week’s Ohio Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for the first time this season and third time of his career.

On Saturday, Stoll pinned NCAA Division II Lake Erie College’s Bobby Hager in 2:05 during the Yellow Jackets lone dual match of the week. The pin was Stoll’s third of the season and the victory improved his season record to 8-1 overall.

Earlier this season, Stoll captured the individual title at 197 pounds in the season-opening Messiah (Pa.) Tournament with a 4-0 record and also finished second at the Rochester Institute of Technology Tournament. Last year, Stoll was 20-4 overall with 13 pins and finished third at the OAC Championships at 197.

Stoll and the Yellow Jackets are back in action on December 20 when they travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete at the Annual Desert Duals Tournament hosted by Wartburg (Iowa) College at the Flamingo Resort & Casino.

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Avon Lake’s Nikki Chiricosta won the back draw of her singles flight on Sunday (Oct. 24), as Bowling Green completed play in the three-day ITA Second Chance.

Nikki picked up a pair of singles wins, losing a combined total of just seven games in her four sets. She topped a pair of NIU players, downing both Kelly Phillips and Haley Dekkinga en route to the consolation-round title.

Senior Christine Chiricosta and sophomore Mary Hill also picked up victories in singles action. Christine defeated Chicago State’s Peggy Moore, losing only three total games.

With three total wins on the weekend, Christine is moving closer to multiple school records. Christine ends the fall portion of the schedule with 75 singles wins in her career. She is now tied for seventh place on that BGSU career list, and is just six wins away from matching the school record of 81 singles victories.

Christine now has 73 doubles victories, tying her for fourth in school history. The school record is 84.

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Avon Lake’s Kevin Brunner pinned Baldwin-Wallace’s Phillip Payne at 3:54 for his fifth pin of the season at Lake Erie College, as the Storm defeated Baldwin-Wallace, 38-12 in Berea on Saturday.

The Storm took the first six matches and seven overall in the decisive win.

Brunner, who wrestles at 133 pounds, improved his record to 5-3 in just his freshman season.

The Storm is in action next on Dec. 18-19 at the Midwest Classic in Indianapolis, Ind.

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St. Mary’s Catherine Spisak scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Baldwin-Wallace win its fourth straight game with a 70-57 win over Wilmington College on Saturday.

B-W improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference with the win.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Marietta to play Marietta College in an OAC game at 7:30 p.m.

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Wellington’s Cory Kidd was named a first teamer for OhioCollegeFootball.com for his outstanding punting at Oberlin College this season.

Kidd set the school record for putting average in a season with a mark of 40.6 yards per kick, which was also second best in the North Coast Athletic Conference. He also had the best single-game performance in Yeomen history with a 48.8 average against Wooster. Kidd had a league-high 19 punts inside the 20 and also tied for an NCAC-best nine punts over 50-yards — including a league-long 73-yarder in the season finale against Allegheny.

An All-NCAC Second-Team selection, Kidd was also a valuable option at wide receiver for the Yeomen. He caught 25 passes for 257 yards and one touchdown.

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Amherst’s Ryan Kish, a Baldwin-Wallace middle linebacker, was named to the second team of the Division III All-Ohio team.

Kish, who was a two-time All-OAC linebacker, including first-team honors this fall, ends his career ninth on the all-time tackle list with 270 career tackles. He was second on the team this season with 80 tackles, including 14 tackles for losses of 48 yards and 4.5 sacks. Kish also led the team with 35 solo tackles, forced two fumbles, recovered two others, intercepted one pass and had four other breakups.

Last year, Kish led the Yellow Jackets with 90 tackles. He was a four-year starter at outside (freshman and sophomore) and then middle linebacker (junior and senior).

The Yellow Jackets had an outstanding turnabout season and finished with a 7-3 record after compiling a 3-7 mark in 2009.

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Admiral King graduate Cameron Bryant was named to the Ohio College Football All-Ohio Second Team Defense (FCS/Division II/NAIA teams) for his play at linebacker this season at Lake Erie College.

Bryant led the team with 73 tackles and one sack. He also had seven tackles for loss and led Lake Erie's defense in his junior season.

Lake Erie won three of its last four games, including a 48-45 win over Findlay, 30-15 over Ohio Dominican and 31-27 over Tiffin.

Last year as a sophomore, Bryant played in all 11 games as a reserve linebacker and on special teams, making 19 tackles. He even returned a kickoff for seven yards at West Liberty on Sept. 12 and recovered an onside kick attempt at Wesley on Nov. 7.

As a freshman, he played in nine games as a true freshman, making six total tackles, including three solo. He was also named team’s Scout Defensive Player of the Year.

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Wellington’s Cory Kidd, a junior, was named to the second team of the North Coast Athletic Conference for his outstanding punting at Oberlin College this season.

Kidd set the school record for putting average in a season with a mark of 40.6 yards per kick, which was also second best in the NCAC. He also had the best single-game performance in Yeomen history with a 48.8 average against Wooster. Kidd had a league-high 19 punts inside the 20 and also tied for an NCAC-best nine punts over 50-yards — including a league-long 73-yarder in the season finale against Allegheny.

Last season, he played dual roles in all 10 games as one of the team’s key wideouts as well as the starting punter. At wideout, he caught 11 passes for 75 yards, including a game-best four catches for 26 yards at Earlham College. While punting, he upped his average from 35.6 yards per punt in 2008 to 36.7 yards per punt in 2009, punting the ball 57 times, with six of those punts traveling 50 yards or more, including a career long punt of 61 yards against Kenyon College (10/17/09).

As a freshman, he played in all 10 games as the team’s starting punter. He punted 44 times for a total of 1,567 yards (35.6 yards per punt). He ended the year with two punts totaling over 50 yards.

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Admiral King graduate Jessi Britvec, a junior, was on the University of Findlay's Equestrian team last season.

She rode in the novice division and made it to regionals.

Findlay won its seventh national championship last year.

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Huron graduate Sara Sage totaled 11 kills, while sophomore teammate Rachael Kidder led the team with 22 kills and Dicey McGraw had 18, but the No. 9 UCLA Bruins fell to No. 6 Texas in four sets on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Set scores were 23-25, 25-20, 18-25, 24-26.

A Kidder kill, a Texas attack error and a Sage kill cut a Bruins’ deficit to 19-18 in the fourth game. After a Texas sideout, UCLA scored three in a row on back-to-back kills by Sage and one from McGraw to take a 21-20 edge. The Longhorns posted the next two, but a McGraw kill and an Aquino/Van Orden combo block put the Bruins up 23-22. Texas then scored two straight to earn a match point at 24-23. A McGraw kill tied the score at 24, but the Longhorns notched the final two points to post a 26-24 victory. McGraw had seven kills in the fourth, while Kidder and Sage added five apiece. The Bruins were out-hit .306 to .286.

The Bruins’ season concludes with a record of 22-9.

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Amherst’s Courtney Jarvis, a junior, led Akron with 16 kills, but Akron ended its season on Saturday at the Mizuno Thanksgiving Tournament falling, 3-0 to Long Beach State and 3-1 to University of California Irvine.

Traveling to Irvine, Calif. for the second match of the day against UC-Irvine, Akron won the third set by a score of 25-15 but fell 25-10, 25-23, 25-19 to conclude the season.

Jarvis was the only Zip in double-figure kills in the defeat.

The Zips finish the 2010 campaign 15-17 overall and 7-9 in the Mid-American Conference. The win total in both categories boasts the most since the 2003 season.

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Left: Spisak;

Right: Phillips.
St. Mary graduates Catherine Spisak and Kathleen Phillips faced off at the college level as Spisak’s Baldwin-Wallace team took on Phillips’ Heidelberg squad on Wednesday night in an Ohio Athletic Conference opener.

Spisak’s team won 67-50, while both girls played outstanding. Spisak scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win, while Phillips added six points and four rebounds in the loss.

Phillips is having a good start as a freshman playing for the ‘Berg. She is second on the team, averaging 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

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Monroeville’s Logan Stieber made his Ohio State debut Nov. 21 at the Buckeye Duals in St. John Arena and did not disappoint. Stieber recorded a pair of technical falls over Pittsburgh’s Anthony Zanetta (18-3) and Nebraska’s Shawn Nagel (18-0).

The Buckeyes lost by one point to No. 20 Pittsburgh, 18-17. They also lost to No. 14 Nebraska, 24-11.

Ohio State is now ranked 19th nationally and will compete at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

At Monroeville, Stieber became the 19th wrestler in OHSAA history to become a four-time state champion.

He ended his high school career with 179 consecutive wins and lost only one match his entire high school career (184-1). He also recorded 134 pins.

He is also a USA Wrestling national championships titlist in the freestyle division, along with being a Cadet and Junior Greco-Roman champion, FILA Freestyle Junior National Champion, runner-up at Junior World Team Trials, third at 2009 U.S. Open and fourth at World Team Trials.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Elyria’s Promis Cabbil scored a game-high 18 points and dished six assists for Baldwin-Wallace as the Yellow Jackets defeated Heidelberg, 86-75 in an Ohio Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday.

In the second half, Heidelberg had a 45-44 but B-W came right back with a layup from Chris Ameen and a 3-pointer by Cabbil at 15:59 that gave the Yellow Jackets a 49-45 lead. Cabbil gave B-W a six-point bulge at 58-52 when Cabbil made another 3.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Amherst’s Lauren Percival, a sophomore setter at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, was selected on the AMC First Team, along with being named as the AMC Setter of the Year, becoming the first player in school history to earn that award.

Percival ranks third in the NAIA with 1,662 assists. She has also posted 95 kills, 47 aces, 49 blocks, and 590 digs along with a .957 serving percentage.

MVNU will be the No. 2 seed at the upcoming National Christian College Athletic Association Tournament in Kissimmee, Fla.

The Lady Cougars, who are the defending NCCAA national runner-up, will begin pool play with a noon match against No. 10 seed Southeastern University and a 6:30 p.m. contest against Trinity Christian College on Thursday. Then, the team will play King College at 10 a.m. and Campbellsville University at 4 p.m. on Friday. The semifinals and finals will be held on Saturday.

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Elyria Catholic's Joe Jovanovski signed a national letter of intent to continue his soccer career at Tiffin University at Elyria Catholic on Wednesday.

Jovanovski was a four-year letter winner at Elyria Catholic. This season, he scored a goal and had three assists.

His freshman year, he led the team with 12 assists. He earned All-County his junior year. He also earned All-County this season, along with All-Greater Cleveland honors.

Jovanovski will major in sports management.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

North Ridgeville’s Joe Faragher was named the NEC Tip-Off Tournament MVP after leading New England College to a 3-0 week where he averaged 17.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

Faragher scored 21 points in just 27 minutes in the Pilgrims’ win over UMaine Presque Isle, then followed it up with a 12 point, 10 rebound game in a win over Suffolk to earn the honors.

New England College men’s basketball is off to a program-best 5-0 start, after defeating the Newbury College Nighthawks 67-66 on Tuesday night. Faragher added 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Faragher had an unfortunate foot injury during his senior year while playing for North Ridgeville, but never gave up he continued his fight to play college basketball. He was offered a chance to play even with his foot still in a cast.

Last year, Faragher earned the team’s MVP award after playing and starting in 17 games for the Pilgrims. He led the team in scoring, averaging 11.2 points per game. He also grabbed 6.6 rebounds per game and led the team with 25 steals.

The Pilgrims returns to action on Friday when they take on Lancaster Bible College in a tournament hosted by Eastern Nazarene College.

swalker@MorningJournal.com