The Swanton Lions Club held their annual Giving Tree gift distribution last Wednesday evening at the Swanton Sports Center. On behalf of the Club, I would like to thank the incredibly generous people of the Swanton Community who helped make this a much better Christmas for many of the children in the Swanton Area School District.
The Club would also like to thank the Swanton American Legion Post 479, You-nique Boutique, CK Sweets, First Federal of Delta, DeEtte’s Dream Diner and Club Salon for passing out the Stocking Tags and collecting the gifts and the Swanton Sports Center for staging all the gifts and serving as the distribution center. Thank you all again and please have a wonderful holiday season.
Prior to the wrestling match against the Van Wert Cougars last Saturday night, Swanton High School held a ceremony for three former wrestlers, Tony Carone, Xavier Taylor and Mimo Lytle, who had each reached the 100-win milestone during their high school career. Today, when a wrestler reaches this impressive total, they are awarded a banner in recognition of their outstanding achievement. However, back when these three Bulldogs ruled the mat, awarding banners was not the practice. It was decided rectify this omission and hold this event when Swanton scheduled Van Wert for a dual match, where Mimo is in his second year as head coach.
All three honorees were outstanding athletes in other sports as well during their high school years. Some of their accomplishments are listed below:
Tony Carone 1988-1992: Earned 11 varsity letters overall. Had 105 wrestling wins, first in school history. First four-year place winner at the prestigious Perrysburg Invitational Tournament (PIT). Four-time Sectional place winner. Three-time Sectional Champion. Two-time District place winner. Two-time State qualifier in Division II. Four-time NWOAL place winner. Two-time NWOAL Champion. MVP and Art Ruggles award winner in 1992. Four-time varsity letter winner in football. All NWOAL in football in Junior and Senior years. All District football as a Senior. Two-time varsity letter winner in baseball and one-time varsity letter winner in track. Was inducted to the Swanton Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. The banner was presented to Tony by his wrestling coach and father, Joe.
Xavier Taylor 2003-2006: Four-year varsity letter winner in wrestling. Had 114 wins (second 100-win wrestler at Swanton) with 75 pins in his career. Was NWOAL Champion in 2003. Was Sectional Champion in 2005. Was District Champion in 2005 and 2006. Placed 5th at State in 2005 and 4th in 2006. Was High School All-American placing 6th at the National Tournament. The banner was presented to Xavier by his wrestling coach and father, Whitey.
Mimo Lytle 2009-2012: All-time career wins record at Swanton High School with 162. Three-time NWOAL Champion. Four-time Sectional Champion. Two-time District Champion and four-time District placer. Four-time State placer. Two-time Ohio State Champion, 2011 and 2012. Ninth all-time State of Ohio for career pins with 128. Named Most Outstanding Wrestler in Ohio Division III. Finished with a record of 83-1 in his final two years at Swanton. Wrestled three years for Kent State University and recorded a 7-1 record in the MAC Duals in 2015. Finished fourth at the MAC Championships to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Championships. Transferred to Findlay and qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships. The banner was presented to Mimo by his wrestling coach Greg Hallet.
For Mimo, it was his first time coming back to his high school alma mater as the head coach of a competing school. He was also not aware of the banner presentations until they were announced. “It was a surprise,” said Coach Lytle of the banner award. “I loved seeing my former coaches and seeing familiar faces from my hometown. It was very special.”
Photo (LtoR): Toney Carone, Xavier Taylor, Mimo Lytle
Click on the link above to access photos from the ceremony. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
The Swanton Bulldog wrestlers won nine matches, seven by pins and two by forfeits, to easily outscore the Van Wert Cougars 54-24 in a home non-league match.
Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Delta senior Brenden Pribe fired a two-game series score of 444 to lead the Panthers over the Evergreen Vikings 2290-2166 in a home match at the Swanton Sports Center. After the first round of match play, the Vikings were up by 20 pins, 802-782, behind Mitchell Gillen’s 201 game. The Panthers, however, took control of the match in the second round with Pribe’s score of 262 and a 210 game from Konrad Hawkins, outscoring the Vikings 979-830 to lead by 149 pins. Evergreen managed to edge Delta in the Baker round 534-529 but it was not enough to overcome the large deficit.
Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
Both the Swanton Boys and Girls bowlers went up against a powerful Liberty Center team, dropping the Boys match 2749-2012 and the Girls match 1728-1263. The highlight of the matches was, of course, the perfect game thrown by Liberty Center’s Wesley Wilhelm.
Liberty Center Tigers Individual Scores: Wesley Wilhelm (300+234 = 534), Landon Amstuz (219+237 = 456), Jacob Sexton (266+177 = 443), Cody McDougle (220+210 = 430), Tim Blaton (168+200 = 368), Baker Games (171+141+206 = 518) Total = 2749
Swanton Bulldogs Individual Scores: Conner Williams (267+147 = 414), Scott Lafferty-Reside (160+208 = 368), Matt Bates (149+156 = 304), Chase Lafferty-Reside (111+144 = 255), Matthew Chovan (105+92 = 197), Baker Games (170+158+145 = 473) Total = 2012
Liberty Center Lady Tigers Individual Scores: Hannah Roth (146+178 = 324), Madison Amstutz (166+155 = 321), Halle Shanks (134+173 = 307), AJ Seedorf (128+143 = 271), Killian Garrelson (94+124 = 221), Baker Games (74+117+93 = 284) Total = 1728
Swanton Lady Bulldogs Individual Scores: Audrey Gossett (124+125 = 249), Makayla Balonek (116+114 = 230), Madison Roytek (103+113 = 216), Kaycee Scherger (85+79 = 164), Ann Urbina (73+82 = 155), Baker Games (93+86+70 = 249) Total 1263
In the other match at the Swanton Sports Center, the Delta Panthers defeated the Patrick Henry Patriots 2356-2079 while the Lady Panthers dropped a close one to the Lady Panthers 1878-1845.
Patrick Henry Patriots Individual Scores: Seth Hathaway (193+185 = 378), Isaiah Geahlen (171+190 = 361), Xander Braden (151+140 = 291), Josh Hoops (150+133 = 283), Austin Lammers (135+143 = 278), Baker Games (173+145+170 = 488) Total 2079
Delta Panthers Individual Scores: Dylan Stricker (191+255 = 446), Brody Waugh (200+201 = 401), Konrad Hawkins (179+174 = 353), Brenden Pribe (178+163 = 341), Paul McQueen (143+160 = 303) Baker Games (203+152+157 = 512) Total = 2356
Patrick Henry Lady Patriots Individual Scores: Kylee Karmol (172+154 = 326), Rachael Breece (144+167 = 311), Zayna Kuesel (135+173 = 308), Leah Geahlen (102+120 = 222), Claire Piercefield (82+138 = 220), Baker Games (109+194+188 = 491) Total = 1878
Delta Lady Panthers Individual Scores: Ciarra Flickinger (136+245 = 381), Alana Hoytt (211+135 = 346), Lexi Brown (143+145 = 298), Olivia Tipton (120+88 = 208), Serena Shelhart (91+103 = 194), Baker Games (140+154+134 = 428) Total = 1845
Another highlight of the evening came before the bowling began. Delta bowlers and Marching Panthers Band members, Camden Leonard and Ronald Savage, played the National Anthem on their trumpets to the delight of the entire crowd.
Photo: Camden (Left) and Ronald
Click on the link above to access photos from the match. Photos are in the jpeg format and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
The Swanton Sports Center, after reopening under new ownership, welcomed back high school bowling approximately eight years ago. From then, until the start of the 2022-2023 NWOAL Bowling season, no high school bowler had ever thrown a perfect score of 300. That is, until senior Lexi Brown of the Delta Lady Panthers accomplished that feat on December 2nd, during the first match of the year against Liberty Center. Just ten days later, freshman Wesley Wilhelm of the Liberty Center Tigers matched that rare and elusive score by rolling the first 300 of his very early career against the Swanton Bulldogs.
“I was pretty nervous. It’s the first one I’ve ever thrown. I’ve come pretty close to it, getting into the eight or ninth frame but couldn’t do it,” said Wesley. “I tried not to think about tonight, just throw strikes.” Wesley followed up his perfect game with a 234 for a 534 two-game series.
“He’s only a freshman and he’s a heck of a bowler,” commented Liberty coach Bruce Engler. His Mom and Dad both bowl and he has a lot of talent.” Wesley carried a 207 average after six games into the match on Monday which is pretty impressive in its own right.
For the second consecutive game, the Swanton Bulldogs rolled to an easy victory over a visiting opponent, this time a Saturday evening 72-36 romp over the North Central Eagles. And, for the second consecutive game, the Bulldogs were led by the hot outside shooting of senior Drew Smigelski. Smigelski, who drained five three-pointers in Swanton’s 60-37 win over the Otsego Knights on Thursday night, knocked down another four from downtown on his way to a career high and game leading 20 points.
Swanton started fast, leading 22-10 after the first quarter and 42-23 at halftime. By the end of the third, the Bulldogs’ lead had ballooned to 35 points at 64-29, triggering wholesale substitutions for the remainder of the game. With the victory, Swanton moves their record to 5-0 on the season.
North Central: 10-13-6-7 = 36 Ben Pettit-11, Cohen Meyers-10, Joey Burt-5, Johnny Hicks-5, Ethan Beard-4, Gage Kidston-1
Swanton: 22-20-22-8 = 72 Drew Smigelski-20, Cole Mitchey-14, Hayden Callicotte-12, Luc Borojevich-9, Charlie Wood-6, Ryan O’Shea-4, Brennon Mersing-3, Kayden Davis-2
Photo: Drew Smigelski fires from beyond the arc.
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The Wauseon Lady Indians and the Delta Lady Panthers battled back and forth for 32 minutes in a non-league game Thursday night and still needed an extra four minutes of play to decide a winner with Wauseon coming out on top 56-53. The Panthers jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead to start the game and led 13-10 after the first quarter. The Indians responded by outscoring Delta 18-10 in the second for a 28-23 halftime advantage. The third quarter was all even at 13 points each as Wauseon took a 41-36 lead into the fourth. Getting points from five different player, Delta tied the game at 50-50 and survived two Wauseon free throw attempt with .02 seconds on the clock to push the game into overtime. With Aizlynn Coronado hitting a big three-pointer, her third of the contest, the Indians outscored the Panthers 6-3 in the extra session for the 56-53 victory. Wauseon’s Hayley Meyer led all players with 25 points, including netting 11 out of 12 foul shots and Grace Munger led Delta with 20 points.
Delta Scoring: Grace Munger-20, Sophia Burres-11, Kate Friess-9, Khloe Weber-7, Olivia Smith-2, Total = 53
Photo: Hayley Meyer battles for position down lowagainst Olivia Smith.
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The Delta Panthers and the Swanton Bulldogs, who both call the Swanton Sports Center home, met on Monday night with Delta taking both the girls and boys matches. The Lady Panthers defeated the Lady Bulldogs 2359-995 and the Gentlemen Panthers beat the Gentlemen Bulldogs 2201-1953.
Lady Panther Scoring: Ciarra Fleckinger (202+183=385), Lexi Brown (197+139=336), Serena Shelhart (108+93=211), Alan Hoytt (116+118=234), Olivia Tipton (101+101=202) Total = 2359
Lady Bulldog Scoring: Makayla Balonek (110+145=255), Audrey Gossett (118_107=225), Madison Roytek (94+115=209), Kaycee Sherger (82+86=168), Ann Urbina (74+64=138) Total = 995
Gentlemen Panther Scoring: Dylan Stricker (194+181=375), Brody Waugh (165+204=369), Konrad Hawkins (181+160=341), Paul McQueen (187+139=326), Brenden Pribe (185), Ethan Cone (119) Total = 2201
Gentlemen Bulldogs: Scott Lafferty-Reside (242+196=438), Conner Williams (190+157=347), Mate Bates (115+200=315), Chase Rafferty (126+155=281), Matthew Chovan (72+103=175) Total = 1953
Photo: Brody Waugh and Ciarra Fleckinger
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Major kudos to the organizers and volunteers of this year’s Christmas in Swanton Parade. And, thanks to all who came out to enjoy it.
Click on the link above to access photos from the parade. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.
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