OHSAA releases fall sports divisions

COLUMBUS – The Ohio High School Athletic Association's decision to expand divisions for post-season play took an added turn on Tuesday when the OHSAA released breakdown of those divisions for fall sports. In an effort to address what was considered enrollment disparity, the OHSAA took the state's 128 largest schools and divided them into two equal divisions. The remaining schools were them divided evenly into three additional divisions for boys and girls soccer (roughly 145 schools per division) and five (roughly 130 per division) for volleyball. According to an OHSAA release, "The divisional assignments and regional tournament representation should be considered preliminary, as OHSAA member schools may opt to move up to Division I if Referendum Issue 1B passes this spring." Most schools will see little or no change in possible post-season opponents when it comes to bracketing for tournament play. Findlay High remains Division I-size for all sports, although the Trojans are the state's smallest Division I school for boys soccer with an enrollment of 622 boys, a plus-4 competitive balance and a 626 total. Findlay's girls are the third smallest Division I soccer program. Liberty-Benton made one of the biggest moves under the new format. Under last fall's three-division format, the Eagles competed at the Division II level. This fall, L-B is Division IV. Ottawa-Glandorf and Upper Sandusky, both Division III a year ago, are now Division IV. Programs like Bluffton, Van Buren and Riverdale are Division V. In volleyball, Findlay is fifth smallest among the 64 Division I schools. Upper Sandusky and Liberty-Benton are in Division IV, with L-B the third smallest school in that division. Ottawa-Glandorf, Fostoria, Bluffton and Elmwood are in Division V, and Riverdale, Van Buren, Columbus Grove and Arcadia are Division VI. Ada is the state's largest school in Division VII. Divisional breakdowns in other fall sports stayed the same, with three divisions for boys and girls cross country and boys golf and two for girls golf and girls tennis. (14-sub head) Kiesel runs Marathon Findlay's Deanna Kiesel has run a lot of races over the years. But Sunday's Mercy Health Glass City Marathon had to be a bit bittersweet for the 60-year-old Tiffin native and former physical education teacher at Findlay and Defiance schools. Sunday's marathon was the 100th Kiesel has run in her career, and her last. Kiesel went out on an impressive note, completing the 26.2-mile course in a time of 6:15.51.89. That time placed Kiesel 16th in her age division. &emsp;&emsp;Local Sports Wednesday's Results BOYS TENNIS OTCA TOURNAMENT ELIDA &emsp;&emsp;3 U. SANDUSKY 0 SINGLES No. 1 – Jaden Neuman (Eli) def. Holden Daris 6-0, 6-3. No. 2 – Ben Osman (Eli) def. Avery Gill 6-0, 6-0. No. 3 – Eban Jackson (Eli) def. RJ Dennis 6-0, 6-0. DOUBLES Matches incomplete O-GLNDORF 5 VAN WERT &emsp;&emsp;0 SINGLES No. 1 – Sam Schomaeker (O-G) def. Keaton Foster, 6-1, 6-0. No. 2 – Ty Verhoff (O-G) def. Aaron Riechert, 6-1, 6-2. No. 3 – Brandon Gerding (O-G) def. Jaymison Moynihan, 6-0, 6-0. DOUBLES No. 1 – Mason Welch/Matt Schroeder (O-G) def. Caleb Bledsoe.Davon Story, 6-1, 6-0. No. 2 – Cole Fenstermaker/Justin Kahle (O-G) def. Fletcher Smith/Kaedyn Swander, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4. &emsp;&emsp;Schedule Wednesday's Events LACROSSE Sylvania Northview at Findlay Girls 6:30 p.m. BASEBALL Van Buren at Cory-Rawson 5 p.m. Lima Senior at Hardin Northern 5 p.m. Leipsic at Ottawa-Glandorf 5 p.m. Ada at Fort Jennings 5 p.m. Arcadia at Riverdale 5 p.m. Lakota at Hopewell-Loudon 5 p.m. Buckeye Central at Carey 5 p.m. Maumee at Fostoria 4:45 p.m. SOFTBALL Toledo Whitmer at Findlay 5 p.m. Liberty-Benton at Miller City 5 p.m. McComb at Lima Perry 5 p.m. Van Buren at Cory-Rawson 5 p.m. Ottawa-Glandorf at Leipsic 5 p.m. Buckeye Central at Carey 5 p.m. Lakota at Hopewell-Loudon 5 p.m. Lima Senior at Hardin Northern 5 p.m. Maumee at Fostoria 4:45 p.m. TENNIS Findlay at NLL Championship Galion at Upper Sandusky 4:15 p.m.