Trojans teams face big weekend of postseason games, tournaments

HOCKEY – Rematch will be the name of the game on Saturday when the Findlay High and Perrysburg hockey teams square off at 8:30 p.m. in an OHSAA district final game at the Slater Family Ice Arena on the Bowling Green State University campus. Findlay and Perrysburg, both members of the Northwest Hockey Conference Red Division, split their regular season matchups. Perrysburg (19-11-1) won 2-1 in overtime in a Jan. 10 game at BGSU, and Findlay (17-14-1) came away with a 5-3 victory in a Jan. 30 game at The Cube. The Trojans have played well since a 2-6 start, winning their final four games of the regular season. "I think we've been on a pretty good run," said FHS hockey head coach Ben Patey. "We just look to keep it going." Saturday's winner will advance to a March 5 regional semifinal, also at BGSU, and will face either No. 2-seeded Sylvania Northview or seventh-seeded Amherst Steele. Draven Wilson has led Findlay this season. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior forward, who earned first-team all-NHC honors in voting by league coaches, had team highs in goals (23), assists (24) and total points (47) Forwards Colin Somerville (16 goals, 18 assists), Jaron Clark (7 goals, 7 assists), Louis DiBerardino (15 goals, 18 assists) and Jackson Flechtner (12 goals, 4 assists), defensemen Ryan Maas (2 goals, 9 assists) and Mac Archer (6 goals, 10 assists) and senior goalie Brett Flanagan (8-10-0, 360 saves) received honorable mention all-league recognition. Findlay freshman Jackson Biggs (3 goals, 7 assists) was named to the NHC's cross-division rookie all-star team. AROUND THE HORN – In addition to boys (sectional) and girls (district) basketball competition this week, OHSAA tournament play begins or continues in several other sports. BASKETBALL – Findlay High's boys and girls basketball teams will be heading east for tournament games this weekend. Findlay's boys team, just 1-22 a year ago but coming off a 51-45 win over Sylvania Northview that clinched a share of second place in the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division, is the 13th-seeded team in the district and takes a 9-13 record into Friday's game against 12th-seeded Strongsville (9-13). "I'm super proud of this group," FHS coach Ryan Grose said after Tuesday's win. "Really, it's what life's all about, right? How do you deal with adversity, how do you bounce back, what choice do you make to move forward …. "There were certainly times when guys like Blade (Wendt) and (Cooper) McKanna and Bronson (Drew), guys that went through that one-win season last year, could have said, 'You know, I don't know if I want to keep working hard.' "But they came back in every day and continued to work …. Through all the adversity and the injuries and everything else, win or lose, we're competing our butts off. "Now we have a chance to go on the road and try to get a tournament win, and if you're lucky enough to do that, (you) get to take on a top-three seed and a storied program like (Cleveland) St. Ignatius. "We're looking forward to the challenge." Findlay's girls team, 15-7 and the No. 7 seeded team in the district, travels to Wooster on Saturday to take on a No. 3-seeded Massillon Jackson team that is 20-3 after hammering Elyria 81-17 in Tuesday's tournament opener. Friday's winner will advance to the Division I regional in Barberton. SWIMMING – The 2026 state swim meet got under way this week at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton and Ottawa-Glandorf's Kelsie Schmitz figured in an impressive showing by Northwest Ohio divers in the Division II meet. Schmitz posted a score of 390.95 and placed third in the Division II girls final standings. Wauseon's Kali Spangler (442.10) was the Division II state champion and Liberty Center's Joy Brown (421.60) was second. Ottawa-Glandorf's Caitlyn Maas also qualified for state in diving, but did not advance past the first round. Findlay High divers Dominic Smith and Megan Guthrie were state qualifiers in Division I. Smith advanced to the semifinals with a score of 283.90, but did not qualify for the top 16 and finished 18th overall. Guthrie finished 32nd in Division I girls after a first-round score of 132.58. Division II swimming events will be held Friday and Division I on Saturday, with Findlay's Tillie Abbott seeded sixth in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. WRESTLING – Boys and girls wrestlers begin their journeys to state with sectional tournament this weekend. Findlay's boys will take part in the Division sectional at Oregon Clay on Saturday. Division II boys meets will be held at Clyde, Defiance and Galion. Five sites will host Division III competition, with most area wrestlers competing at Van Buren and Lima Central Catholic. The one-division girls wrestling tournaments will be held mostly on Sunday, with Findlay hosting both a sectional this week and a district tournament on March 8. GYMNASTICS – Local and area gymnasts have, basically, one shot at qualifying for state and that opportunity comes up Friday when the Northwest District meet is held at Bowling Green State University. There will be 28 schools represented at the meet, with the top two teams and top six individuals in each event advancing to the state tournament to be held March 7-8 at Hilliard Bradley High School.