Springfield Betters 16 Teams At District Wrestling Tournament
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
With individual wins by senior 130-pounder Garrett Manley, junior 125-pounder Robbie Shiekh and sophomore 145-pounder Kyle Ruiz, Springfield’s wrestling team managed to place 27th out of 43 teams at the district tournament over the weekend in Ashland.
Manley led the Blue Devils with a fifth-place finish, earning him alternate status for this weekend’s state tournament.
He began the district competition by pinning Mansfield Senior’s Dona-thon White (5:03) and then outlasted Cuyahoga Falls’ Colin Taylor, 4-3.
Unfortunately, Manley was then pinned by St. Edward’s eventual champion Jamie Clark (1:21) before suffering a 5-4 loss to Clay sectional champion Angelo Amenta.
“Jamie Clark is obviously very good and there’s no doubt that he is a level above the rest of the kids he wrestles,” said Springfield coach Tim Dishong
To his credit, Manley came back to claim fifth place with a 7-1 win over Avon Lake’s Kevin Brunner.
“It was a solid weight class,” Dishong said. “Garrett’s definitely at the same level of the kids moving on to the state tournament.”
Whether Manley gets another chance to wrestle at the state tournament or not though, he will finish his high school career as the Blue Devils’ all-time leader in wins – having passes Kevin Byers this year with 134.
“That in itself is a major accomplishment,” Dishong said. “He’s been a team leader pretty much every year – from the time he was a freshman 3-pounder to the time he was a senior. He’s going to be a tough kid to replace.”
Shiekh opened the tournament with a 16-0 loss to Brecksville’s eventual third-place finisher Dylan Good, but responded with a 12-10 win over Anthony Wayne’s Jamie Brown.
His final loss then came to the eventual fourth-place finisher, North Olmstead’s Brian Brunner in an 11-4 decision.
Shiekh finished the year with an individual record of 22-8.
Ruiz was pinned by Brecksville’s eventual fourth-place finisher Kyle Roddy (2:45) in his first match, but came back with a 7-2 decision over Fremont Ross’ Kent Weaver.
The same as Shiekh, though, Ruiz’ run next came to an end when he was pinned by Elyria’s Myles Wright (0:39) in his third match.
Ruiz finished the season with 17 wins.
Springfield senior 215-pounder Josh Chung and 119-pounder Alex Gearig and 135-pounder Cody O’Connor – both sophomores – also competed for the Blue Devils.
Chung lost a pair of close decisions (3-2 and 12-5), Gearig dropped his two matches in a major decision and a technical fall and O’Connor suffered a 14-4 loss to Lakewood’s eventual fourth-place finisher Nick Ramsey and a 6-0 loss to Bowling Green’s eventual sixth-place finisher Nick Miller.
“In Robbie, Kyle and Alex, I have some solid kids coming back next year,” Dishong said. “And, Josh Chung wrestled pretty competitively.
“His No. 1 sport is football, but I think he accomplished a lot in wrestling as well. He’s definitely one of our most improved kids. He’s a big, strong kid that is very competitive. He’s a great kid to coach. It was nice to always feel comfortable that we were going to win at 215.”
Gearig finished the season with a record of 21-11.
St. Edward won the tournament with 289.5 points and was followed by Wadsworth (268.5), Brecksville (121), Clay (113) and Medina (80).
“It was pretty much the toughest district for Division I,” Dishong said.
Area notable finishes included St. John’s Jesuit (30) at 15th, Perrysburg (27) at 17th, Start (23) at 20th and St. Francis (14) at 26th.
Southview tied Springfield (12) for 27th, Bowling Green (seven) placed 31st, Anthony Wayne tied Whitmer (six) for 32nd, Waite (three) finished 35th and Bowsher (two) ended up 37th.
As for local individuals moving on to the state tournament, Clay 103-pounder Nick Garcia and 135-pounder Mark Orth each placed third, as did Start 171-pounder Nate Brubaker.
Clay’s Amenta and 160-pounder Chico Cloyne and St. John’s 189-pounder Kevin Schoen each followed up with fourth-place finishes.
Those six athletes will travel to The Ohio State University’s Jerome Schottenstein Center to compete at the state tournament from Thursday through Saturday.
The Blue Devils finished their injury-plagued season with an overall record of 13-2 and a league mark of 6-1.
“We never had everybody in the lineup that I would have liked to have had, but you do with what you got,” Dishong said. “With the team we had, we competed fairly well.”
“I was disappointed not to get somebody to the state tournament. We have some work to do in the off-season so we can get back to that level. Having a young team and only graduating two seniors, I’m pretty comfortable with the idea that we’ll have a strong group coming back. Like any sport and any team though, the bottom line – of course – is what they do in the off-season.”

Findlay Wins Sectional Title With 53-48 Win Over SHS, Blue Devils Finish At 14-8
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield’s girls basketball team finished the 2009-10 season at 14-8 last Saturday, when Findlay earned a sectional championship with a 53-48 win over the Blue Devils at Otsego.
The underdog Springfield squad gave the second-seeded Trojans all they could handle on the night, but just didn’t have enough in the tank for an upset victory.
“We played as hard as we wanted to play,” said Springfield coach Mike Hampton. “A couple of shots didn’t fall for us, but it was a good game.”
Findlay jumped out to an 11-3 lead on early buckets by junior forward Danielle Sallisbury, junior guard Holly Barton, senior guard Shannon Mills and junior guard Megan Lammers, but the Blue Devils mounted a comeback at the beginning of the second quarter.
Sophomore forward Briaunna “Breezy” Nix, junior guard Erika Thompson, senior forward Lauren Roy, sophomore forward Ciara Ruiz and senior guard Krista Haley combined to score nine of the quarter’s first 11 points
“Krista is a tremendous leader and we were happy to have her,” Hampton said.
Three-point plays from Nix and senior forward Sarah Benbow later gave Springfield a 20-18 lead with 1:36 remaining in the opening half.
“Anytime Sarah played, she definitely gave it her all,” Hampton said. “And, off the floor, she’s just a tremendous young lady to be around.”
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, though, they weren’t able to hold that lead long, as Sallisbury responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to help the Trojans to an eventual 27-22, halftime lead.
Findlay never trailed again.
Additional Springfield baskets from Benbow and senior guards Danisha Brown and Lindy Martin allowed the Blue Devils to get back within a mere point at the end of the third quarter, but that’s as close as they got.
The Trojans made successful use of their deep bench over the game’s last 8:00, getting 18 final points from six different players.
While Springfield stuck within striking distance almost the entire rest of the way, Findlay eventually put the game out of reach when its defense forced a 5-second call with a 3-point lead intact and only 13.2 seconds remaining on the clock.
“I wish we had those last 13 seconds back to do all over again,” Hampton said.
From there, Lammers simply iced the game with a pair of late foul shots.
Connie Lyon’s Trojans committed just 14 turnovers on the night, shot 37 percent from the floor and went 16-of-22 from the free throw line.
Sallisbury led all scorers in the game with 17 points and pulled down three rebounds.
Lammers added 11 points, five steals, three rebounds and two assists, and 6-0 freshman forward Christina McQueen came up big with eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Additionally, Barton contributed seven points and six boards, junior guard Rosie Wohl had four points, five rebounds and two assists and both Mills (two rebounds) and senior guard Ashley Miller (four assists) scored three more points in the Findlay win.
“Findlay’s a darn good team,” Hampton said. “They have some good kids that come out of Findlay. They are a large school, and for us to compete with those larger schools is a compliment to our kids.”
Brown paced the Blue Devils with 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
“We are very proud of Danisha,” Hampton said. “She was one of the most committed seniors that we had this year. I wish we had her for one more year because she still has so much more potential.
“Danisha’s got a heart of gold. Whatever she does in life, she’s going to give that full-out effort.”
Benbow added a trio of 3-pointers for nine points, Haley had seven points and two boards and both Ruiz (five rebounds) and Nix (two rebounds) netted six points.
“This year was a learning experience for both Ciara and Breezy,” Hampton said. “They played against some great players in both league and non-league games. To have them for two more seasons – they are going to be a very nice force for the Springfield Lady Devils basketball team.”
In addition, Thompson totaled five points, three rebounds and two steals, Martin (five rebounds, three steals, two assists) and Roy (four rebounds) scored two points apiece and senior guard Keyonna Gregory battled foul trouble to post four rebounds and two steals.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, Hampton’s Blue Devils finished with Springfield’s best record in at least 14 years – bettering the 1996-97 team’s overall mark of 12-11.
“It’s been a special group with these guys this year and I knew it was going to be a special year,” Hampton said. “They relied on one another to get those 14 wins. They were very unselfish. They didn’t care who scored. They just wanted to win.
“When you spend so much time with good people, you can’t help but to fall in love with them. I worked hard for them and they worked hard for us. We weren’t ready for this thing to end yet.”
Findlay will move on to play top-seeded Perrysburg (15-6) in the district semifinals at Otsego on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.