Fulton County Ohio Media

Aricka Lutz (pictured) sank 12 of 13 free throws, 11 of them coming in the crucial fourth quarter and the Lady Bulldogs were 16 of 19 overall in a 43-32 victory over the Liberty Center Lady Tigers in the first round of the Girls DIII Sectional Tournament played in Swanton.  The teams were playing in their third game against each other with each school winning on the opponent’s home floor.  However, the stakes were higher in this contest with only the winner able to continue the season.

The game was tight throughout most of the first half with the teams tied at seven apiece after the first quarter and again at 16 all with under a minute remaining in the second.  Just before the end of the half, Averie Lutz was fouled driving to the basket and made both foul shots and Aricka followed that with a lay-up and a foul for a three-point play and a 21-16 Swanton lead as the teams headed for the locker room.

An early basket by Katie Floyd and a three-point shot by Sami Taylor, her second of the game, eventually led to the Bulldogs opening up a nine-point lead halfway through the third quarter.  The Tigers were able to trim that deficit to four before Swanton bumped it back up to six, 28-22, as the quarter ended.

The Bulldogs were able to slowly grow the margin back to nine with foul shots and finally to double digits, 37-27, on a free throw from Maddie Peluso.  Liberty Center began to intentionally foul to get back in the game, but they fouled Aricka Lutz every time who shot 93.3% for the game, which effectively sealed the victory and allowed the Lady Bulldogs to move on.

Aricka’s 23 points led all scorers.  Taylor added seven points while Floyd and Frankie Nelson had four each.  The Lady Tigers were led on the scoresheet by Samantha Graber with 12 points, on four shots from long range.  Cassidy Chappa scored seven points and Alyssa Giesige had four.

The Liberty Center loss ends their season with a 13-9 record.  Swanton improves to 15-8 and will face the Archbold Lady Blue Streaks, a 29-27 Sectional winner over Wauseon, this Saturday, February 21, at 7:00 PM in Swanton’s Kevin McQuade Gymnasium.

The Village of Swanton recently purchased a 2020 Suphten Fire Engine, manufactured in Urbana, Ohio, to replace the aging 2000 Pierce Sabre model which is in the process of being sold.  The new engine is described as “well rounded” by Swanton Fire Chief Anthony Schaffer in explaining its versatility, serving as a rescue vehicle as well as a state-of-the-art firefighting engine.

“The new fire engine will be used as a rescue pumper or rescue engine so it will be used not only for fire related incidents but also for rescues with extrication equipment (Jaws of Life) and other tools like that to get people out of cars or vehicles,” said Chief Schaffer.  “It will also be equipped with some HazMat materials and equipment.  There’s more compartment space on this truck compared to other trucks we’ve had.”

The Chief also explained that this truck is expected to be on the “front lines” of service for approximately 8-10 years and then serve as a reserve vehicle.  “What we’re trying to do here is to replace trucks before their value is so low that we’re not getting anything out of them,” he said.  “Twenty years here should be the maximum for a truck or engine.”

The initial cost for the new truck was $509,000, which was a lower price, negotiated when Suphten wanted to use the engine as a demonstration model to display at other fire departments.  The demonstration period also allowed for any “kinks” to be worked out and modifications were made to the engine before it was delivered to Swanton.

There is still some more work to be done on the truck before it will be ready to help protect the community.  “It will need around $50,000 worth of (additional) equipment,” said the Chief.  “A third party is going to be mounting the equipment and designing some of the compartments for organization and ease of use.  We’ll be able to store more equipment and make it more functional.”

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some manufacturing delays in supplying the additional equipment required for the new Swanton Fire Engine 703 to be put into service.  Chief Schaffer estimates the truck to be available to the SFD sometime in April.

On the positive side, astute financial planning by Fiscal Officer Jennifer Harkey, allowed for the funds for the new equipment to be budgeted instead of requiring the Village to take out a loan.

Pictured:  Swanton Fire Engine 703 set to debut in April

The Swanton Village Council agreed to have enhanced add-ons to three current projects which will all result in an additional combined cost of just over $400,000.  Each enhancement was deemed necessary and would serve to save the Village money in the long run.

For the Membrane Project for the Water and Sewer plant it was decided to upgrade the plant’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system that gathers and analyzes real time data.  It allows operations and management to be monitored and automated through the system.  The upgrade would allow for more efficient treatment and streamline reporting and the chemical feed modifications would allow for more precise chemical feeding.  The increased cost for this upgrade will be $152,435.

Regarding Project 8 & 9 Sewer Separation, it was discovered after the original estimate that a large portion of the road surface on West Garfield that is higher slopes toward the right-of-way and needed to be corrected to have positive drainage to the roadway.  The original cut of six inches needed to lower the roadway will now be 18 inches which will cost an additional $252,000.

The upgrade for the Phase 2 Meter Update Project involves switching from an AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) system which allows for readings to be acquired by driving by residences to an AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) system will allow for readings to be transmitted electronically through a communication device.  The Village will choose the reading date and the readings will then be uploaded to the current billing system.  The AMI system would also have a Customer Engagement Portal where customers could monitor their usage in real time.  This upgrade will add $90,000 to the project along with an annual maintenance fee of $9,950 but will also result in an annual labor savings of $17,000.

In New Business, upon the request of Mona Dyke, President of the Swanton Historical Society (SHS), the Council agreed to have Councilman Dave Pilliod represent the Village on the SHS’s committee related to the proposed railroad park project.  Mr. Pilliod will act as the Village’s liaison to the committee and keep the Council informed of the project’s progress.

The next Council meeting will be held on February 22, 2021 at a time and location yet to be determined.

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The Archbold Blue Streaks took a 44-29 lead into the fourth quarter and had to weather a 14-point scoring explosion by Swanton’s Josh Vance that dropped the margin to four before finally defeating the visiting Bulldogs 60-51. 

After a close first quarter which ended with Swanton holding a slim one-point advantage at 13-12, Archbold took control of the game in the next two quarters, outscoring the Bulldogs 15-8 and 17-8, led by DJ Newman’s 15 points, all from the field. 

Swanton went to the long ball to get back into the game and hit five three-pointers, four from Vance and one by Hayden Callicotte and pulled within four points, 53-49 with 1:30 remaining in the contest.

With time running down, the Bulldogs were forced into fouling with the intention of getting the ball back, hopefully after a missed free throw.  However, the Streaks went to the line 13 times in last frame and made nine of those attempts to end the Swanton comeback.  Essentially, the game was decided at the foul line where Archbold went 17 of 23 and the Bulldogs shot just five of seven.

The Archbold win puts their overall record at 16-4, but more importantly, keeps their league record unblemished at 6-0 and sets up a winner-take-all matchup next week for the NWOAL title in Wauseon against the Indians who are also 6-0.

Newman led the Blue Streaks in scoring with 20 points.  Alex Roth had 10 points and Noah Gomez, Ashton Kammeyer and Trey Theobald (pictured) each had eight.

For Swanton, Vance scored a game-high 23 points.  Hayden Callicotte added 11 and Cole Mitchey had 10.  The loss places the Bulldog record at 3-3 in the league and 11-9 on the season.

The Swanton Lady Bulldogs and Wauseon Lady Indians placed second and third, respectively, in the girls’ OHSAA Division II Sectional Bowling Tournament on Friday held at River City Bowl-A-Way in Napoleon and advanced to the District Tournament next week in Lima.  Both schools finished behind team Sectional Champion Napoleon Lady Wildcats who totaled 3875 pins to Swanton’s 3792 and Wauseon’s 3660.

Hannah Patch rolled a career-high 623 series with games of 235, 246 and 142 to pace the Bulldogs which will be competing in the Districts for the second time in the past three years.  Backing up Hannah with big performances were Amy Lawson with a 587 series, Ivy Serres with 546, and Gabe Sieja with 516.

Wauseon’s Dannielle Carr (pictured) led all bowlers with a 646 series, throwing games of 268, 209 and 169, to win the individual Sectional Tournament Championship.  Danielle was supported by Quinlynn Rohda’s 618 series and a 557 from Rachel Carr and a 495 from Jayde Ramos.

Qualifying as individuals are Maddy Johnston who bowled games of 169, 204 and 212 for a 585 series and Ciarra Flickinger with games of 139, 222 and 213 for a 574 total.  Both girls come from the Delta Lady Panthers program.

After allowing the Swanton Lady Bulldogs to whittle an early 18-point deficit down to just two in the fourth quarter, the Archbold Lady Blue Streaks sank eight free throws in eight attempts, six by Addison Moyer (pictured), to pull out a 47-40 NWOAL victory on the road Thursday night.

The Blue Streaks started quickly as Moyer laced one from behind the arc and added a two-pointer for a 5-0 lead.  The hot start continued as Archbold raced out to a 20-8 first quarter advantage while the Bulldogs struggle to keep pace.  Eventually, the Streak advantage grew to 18 points, 33-15, before Swanton was able to score the final six points of the half to bring the margin back to 12.

But what was developing to be an easy win in the first half against a talented Swanton squad, changed dramatically in the third quarter as the Lady Bulldogs, led by identical twin sisters Aricka and Averie Lutz, slowly chipped away at the big Blue Streak lead.  Swanton outscored Archbold 13-4 in the third quarter and only trailed by three points entering the final frame.

The Streak lead hovered between the three- and five-point mark for much of the quarter until the Bulldogs were able to trim it to two points with just over two minutes remaining in the game.  With the small lead and possession of the ball, Archbold Coach Brian Ziegler put his offense into stall mode, forcing Swanton to commit fouls in hopes of getting the ball back after missed free throws.  The Bulldog strategy was sound but the Blue Streak shooters, Moyer and Kylie Sauder were not accommodating as they did not miss a single of their eight shots from the line to seal the win.

Moyer led Archbold with 18 points, Harley Phillips scored 14 and Sauder added eight.  Overall, the Streaks hit 10 of 13 foul shots.  The Lutz twins combined to score 35 of Swanton’s 40 points with Arika taking game-high honors with 20 and Averie netting 15.

At the February 1, 2021 Delta Village Council meeting, Delta resident and former Superintendent of Pike-Delta-York Schools, Jay LeFevre, addressed Council members regarding the recent resignation of Mayor Bob Gilbert.  Mr. LeFevre questioned the lack of information and reasons given to the public from Village officials that prompted the sudden and unexpected resignation of Mayor Gilbert who had just finished the first year of a four-year term. “Is there some formal documentation anywhere? As far as people know we have two mayors or what?” asked Mr. Lefevre. 

“The Mayor submitted his resignation.  There is a document where he resigned as Mayor.  According to the Charter, the Vice-Mayor takes over,” responded Village Solicitor Kevin Heban.

Mr. LeFevre asked if Mayor Gilbert’s resignation was mentioned in meeting minutes.  Councilwoman Lynn Frank checked the previous meeting minutes and said it was not.  “How then would anyone know in the public that the Mayor had resigned if there is no Village action or no minutes documenting that the Mayor resigned?” questioned Mr. LeFevre.  Mr. Heban said the Mayor’s resignation was mentioned at the last meeting prior to the swearing in of Vice-Mayor Frank Wilton as the new Mayor.  A replay of the on-line audio recording of the previous meeting did not make mention of the resignation.

“If someone was looking up the actions of the Council or what’s actually happening, how would they really know?  I don’t know if you have an answer.  I just wanted to put that out there.  As a person of the community, it seems rather puzzling that there’s not really any formal action,” said Mr. LeFevre.  “I don’t believe the minutes reflect the Mayor resigned.  I’m just kind of puzzled by that.  Maybe someone can follow up with me.”  Mr. Lefevre also questioned the Council’s vision for the Village of Delta and the overall transparency of its actions. 

“Obviously, there’s been some turmoil.  Obviously, it’s been discussed in executive session and I get all of that, but I’m very concerned about where we are going,” he said.  “I’d love to see the Village Council’s vision and I’d appreciate a reflection on the past year.  Because when a mayor resigns or is asked to resign, what ever unfolded, it’s a pretty big deal.  I struggle with what appears to be a complete lack of transparency.  I’m told we’re trying to be transparent and I see things on the website, certain examples of transparency, but it’s a very tough topic to have nothing at all said.  It would be great to hear some kind of example of why we have lost our Mayor and where we’re heading.  I respect your work.  I respect the position all of you are in.  It’s challenging work.  I would be grateful to see what the vision of the Council is in the near future.”

Mayor Wilton thanked Mr. LeFevre for his comments and asked if there was anyone else that wished to address Council.  There was no response and the meeting continued without further discussion on the issue raised by Mr. LeFevre.

Trailing the Bryan Lady Golden Bears by 83 pins after the three-game team match round of the NWOAL Tournament, the Swanton Lady Bulldogs rallied during the five-game Baker series to win the tournament 3155-3114. The Bulldogs bowled well in the team matches to start the Baker Games round in second place behind defending league and state champion Bryan. After tying the Bears in the first Baker game, Swanton began to chip away at the Bryan lead, beating the Bears 190-148 and 146-130 in games two and three to reduce the deficit to 25 pins. In the fourth Baker game, the Bulldogs took control, outscoring Bryan 180-117 and sealed the tournament title with a 153-150 win in the final Baker game.

Overall, Swanton topped second place Bryan by 41 pins, third place Liberty Center by 182 pins, fourth place Patrick Henry by 266 pins, fifth place Wauseon by 269 pins, sixth place Evergreen by 358 pins and seventh place Delta by 454 pins. Ivy Serres paced the Lady Bulldogs with a 543 series, Amy Lawson rolled a 489 series, Hannah Patch followed with a 468 series, Sarah Kohlhofer and Gabe Sieja combine for a 431 series and Haylee Didion had a 387 series.

Immediately after the bowling was complete, post-season awards were handed out. Named to the All-NWOAL First Team was Amy Lawson who garnered the honor for the third consecutive year. Ivy Serres was named to the All-NWOAL Second Team and Hannah Patch, Gabe Sieja and Haylee Didion received All-NWOAL Honorable Mention recognition.

“One of the most fun group of girls I’ve had on the team,” remarked long-time Swanton Head Coach Nick Staler. “Too bad they are all seniors,” he added. Coach Staler also thanked his assistant coach and daughter, Ashtin Staler who works mainly with the girls’ team. “Thanks for everything she does with these girls,” he said. “Now its on to Sectionals.”