Fulton County Ohio Media

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Swanton senior Cole Mitchey, still healing from a flagrant foul head injury suffered just days earlier in a game against Ottawa Hills, returned to action Friday night and lit up the gym at Wauseon to the tune of 34 points to carry the Bulldogs to 61-43 NWOAL victory over the Indians. 

Mitchey, wearing a bandage to cover the five-stitch wound over his swollen left eye, began the game on fire, hitting three consecutive three-point shots and scoring 12 points in the first quarter, staking the Bulldogs to a 16-9 lead after one.  He scored six of Swanton’s 14 points in the second as the Bulldogs took a 30-22 advantage over the Indians as the teams headed for the locker room at halftime.

Wauseon began to close the gap when play resumed, pulling within four points at 30-24, but Mitchey continue with his torrid pace, racking up another 11 points, matching the Indians’ total for the third quarter and pushing the Swanton lead to 46-33.  A slam dunk off a feed from Hayden Callicotte in the last frame and his sixth and final three-pointer finished Mitchey’s scoring on the night with a career high of 34 points and an 18-point Bulldog win.

“The game plan wasn’t to keep giving me the ball, but the shots kept falling,” said Mitchey.  My teammates were working the ball and finding me when I was open.  It just worked out.”

The victory was critical for the Swanton’s title hopes this season.  They were coming off a grueling stretch of three consecutive overtime games, the second of which was a heartbreaking double OT road loss to league opponent Patrick Henry.  The win over Wauseon evens their NWOAL record at 1-1 with five more league games to play.  “We’re a resilient bunch.  We never quit, that’s for sure,” stated Swanton head coach Bruce Smith referring to his team’s bounce-back performance after the last two overtime defeats.  “They (Wauseon) are so well coached and patient and have some people that can put the ball in the bucket and we held them to 43.  I don’t think they scored in the last four minutes.  When we score 61 that means something went right.  We’re normally a 52- or 53-point team.”

The Bulldogs are typically a very balanced scoring team, but on this night Mitchey just could not and would not be contained.  “When you come out and hit your first two or three shots you think you can do anything and beat anybody and he was magnificent, exclaimed Coach Smith.  “He was an All-Ohio player tonight.”

Swanton moves to 10-2 overall on the season and returns home on Tuesday night to face the Fayette Eagles at 7:30 PM.  Wauseon also lost 60-51 to the Northview Wildcats on Saturday night, dropping their overall record to 7-7 and are currently 1-1 in the NWOAL.  The Indians travel to Evergreen on Friday night to take on the Vikings in the Big House.

Swanton: 16-14-16-15 = 61 Cole Mitchey (34), Hayden Callicotte (9), Dre Smigelski (5), Luc Borojevich (5), Kayden Davis (4), Charlie Wood (4)

Wauseon: 9-13-11-10 = 43 Jack Leatherman (15), Landon Hines (11), Tyson Rodriguez (7), Jude Armstrong (4), Elijah Mcleod (3), Trey Parsons (2), Ethan Borton (1)

Photo: Cole Mitchey takes the court

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. 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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In the first and third quarters combined, the Wauseon Lady Indians outscored the Swanton Lady Bulldogs 33-7 and went on to defeat Swanton 47-22 for an NWOAL road victory on Thursday night. The Lady Bulldogs were a point better in the combined second and fourth quarters but trailed for the entire contest.

Wauseon: 15-5-18-9 = 47 Haley Meyer (14), Macknzie Stasa (10), Aizlynn Coronado (10), Maite Marugan (9), Madison Strain (2), Kaylin Ehrsam (2)

Swanton: 2-5-5-10 = 22 Katyln Floyd (5), Alaina Pelland (5), Peighton Manning (4), Jessica Finfera (3), Olivia Gowing (3), Miranda Yeager (2)

Photo: Maite Marugan scores two of her nine points in the first quarter

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. 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 Village Council held its first meeting of 2023 this past Monday on January 9^th.  All Council members that served in 2022 remain with Diane Westhoven and Dave Pilliod serving the final year of their four-year term and Derek Kania, Samantha Disbrow, Patrick Messenger and Mikey Disbrow each beginning their second year.  Having been elected in November of 2019, Neil Toeppe is serving the final year of his term as Mayor.  Also at the meeting, as part of the Village administration was Administrator Shannon Shulters and Finance Director Jason Vasko.

One of the first orders of business for the Council to begin the new year is to elect a President Pro Tempore of Council to serve in the absence of the mayor.  Councilwoman Westhoven, who served in that capacity in 2022, nominated Councilman Kania.  The nomination was seconded and Mr. Kania was elected unanimously. 

Establishing the 2023 Rules of Council came next.  As previously reported, the proposed changes to the committee structure and the agenda format would be to eliminate all committees but include all pertinent issues in every meeting agenda, regardless of what committee responsibility they would have fallen under.  The recommended starting time for a Council meeting would be 6:00 PM and the agenda would be followed without intermittent delays.  There would be no committee reports, no putting an issue on hold until that specific committee meets again in four weeks and motions for legislation could be made at any point.  “All the Council members attend the committee meetings anyway and they can offer input so, this would be no different,” said Mayor Toeppe.  These changes were also unanimously approved.

Council discussed issues with refuse service, currently being provided to the Village by Republic Services.  “We’ve had a number of complaints about Republic Services,” said Mr. Vasko explaining the reason for the discussion.  He and Ms. Shulters went on to inform the Council that they had discovered that the contract between the Village and Republic had, inadvertently, not been signed by either party, thereby rendering the contract null and void and giving the Village an opportunity to explore other vendors.  Ms. Shulters has reached out to other refuse collection vendors regarding pricing and other details and the Village may initiate a bidding process.  Also discussed was the possibility of including the refuse collection charge in with the utility payment instead of being charged directly by the vendor.

Regarding utility rates, Mr. Vasko reported to Council that per EPA regulations, utility rates must be studied periodically and adjusted accordingly and that time is drawing close.  He believes a rate increase will follow the study and, with a January 2023 increase previously approved, Mr. Vasko recommended the January increase be delayed until the study, which will begin next week, is completed. 

In personnel moves, a motion was approved for the hiring of Christian Renner as a full-time Patrolman with the Swanton Police Department at a rate of $19.67 per hour.  This offer is contingent upon the successful passing of a drug screening.  A motion was approved for the hiring of William Pouter as a full-time Paramedic with the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division at a rate of $19.57 per hour, effective immediately.  This offer is contingent upon the successful passing of a drug screening, physical, and background check.  A motion was approved for the hiring of Steve Sprague as a part-time Firefighter / EMT with the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division at a rate of $18.80 per hour, effective immediately.  This offer is contingent upon the successful passing of a drug screening, physical, and background check.

A motion was approved to accept the resignation of Alva Conger from the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division, effective February 3, 2023.  A motion was approved for the reclassification of Scott Brubaker from part-time to full-time employee at the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division, effective immediately.  A motion was approved to accept the reclassification of Brianna Morgan from full-time to part-time employee at the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division.

Notice that Cynthia Pawlaczyk was hired as the Administrative Assistant I / Utility Billing Clerk, effective Jan 9, 2023.  This position was filled under the authority of the Village Administrator. Mrs. Pawlaczyk was offered a rate of $16.00 per hour.

The next meeting will be January 23, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the Village Council Chambers at 219 Chestnut Street. It will be simultaneously live-streamed and recorded on the Village’s Facebook page.

Photo: Swanton Village Council President Pro Tempore Derek Kania

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The Swanton Bulldogs, for the second consecutive game, rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to force overtime, but were outscored 12-5 in the extra session and fell to the visiting Ottawa Hills Green Bears 62-55 in boys’ basketball.  Cold shooting in the middle quarters allowed Ottawa Hills to carry a 37-28 advantage into the final frame before Swanton staged a furious comeback that saw them go up by 50-48 with just over a minute remaining, but were unable to hold the slim lead and entered the overtime tied at 50 apiece.

A pivotal moment of the contest came during the Bulldog rally, with just over four minutes left in regulation, when Swanton standout Cole Mitchey stole the ball and raced down the right side toward the offensive end.  He was cut off by a defender who dove for the ball and crashed head-long into Mitchey’s face, opening up a gash over his left eye that would later require five stitches.  A flagrant foul was called, however, Mitchey, one of Swanton’s top players, was taken to the locker room and would not return to the lineup.

The loss was Bulldogs’ first home defeat this season and the first since the 2020-2021 season.  Swanton’s record falls to 9-2 on the year.  They will next face the Wauseon Indians on the road on Friday, January 13^th at 7:30 PM.

Ottawa Hills:  11-13-13-13-12 = 62   Sam McCaffery (21), Chase Miller (11), Jackson Snyder (10), Nick Anderson (10), Chance Coy (6), Cole Anderson (4)

Swanton:  14-7-7-22-5 = 55   Luc Borojevich (21), Ryan O’Shea (11), Hayden Callicotte (11), Cole Mitchey (7), Drew Smigelski (5)

Photo: Ryan O’Shea drains the first of his three triples in the first quarter.

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This past Saturday, the Delta Panthers Archery Club hosted 520 students from 16 school districts and three states, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio for their annual archery tournament. The Delta Archery Team, comprised of 42 students, is a part of the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP).  As described it its website, NASP is an in-school program aimed at improving educational performance among students in grades 4-12.  Students learn focus, self-control, discipline, patients, and the life lessons required to be successful in the classroom and in life.

Delta is also a member of the 13-team Black Swamp Archery League which includes Ayersville, Delta, Fayette, Fairview, Hicksville, Hilltop, Holgate, Liberty Center, Montpelier, Patrick Henry, Stryker, Tinora and Wauseon.  Officially, school archery teams are associated with their school districts as a “club” sport.

At the Delta Tournament, competitive categories were divided into elementary school, middle school and high school and then by gender for a total of six team trophies to be awarded.  Individual medals were awarded to the top three placers in each of the six categories.  In the competition format there were 11 rounds of 46 archers shooting at 23 targets that had 50 minutes to complete a round.  Archers shot three scoring rounds from 10 meters and three scoring rounds from 15 meters with a maximum total score of 300.  A preliminary practice round was given at both distances.

As far as the rest of the season, “We’ll be taking next week off then will be competing every weekend into March,” said Delta head coach Mitch Cousino.

Click on the link above to access photos from the tournament. 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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The Evergreen Vikings took, what appeared to be, a comfortable 26-14 lead over Delta into the locker room at halftime, only to see the Panthers score the first 12 points of the second half to tie the game before the Vikings rallied back for a 40-35 NWOAL boys basketball road victory.  Eli Keifer scored 15 of his game high 18 points in the first half to give Evergreen a 15-point advantage late in the second quarter, but a three-point Delta basket as the half ended started a 15-0 Panther run to even the score towards the end of the third.  The Delta defense shut down Keifer in the second half, holding him to just three made free throws, but Tyson Woodring stepped up for Evergreen scoring six of his eight points to hold off the charging Panthers in their league’s season opening game.

Evergreen:  12-14-7-7 = 40   Eli Keifer (18), Tyson Woodring (8), Drew Gillen (7), Riley Dunbar (4), Ryder Hudik (3)

Delta:  2-12-14-7 = 35   Bryce Gillen (10), Nolan Risner (10), James Ruple (8), Justin Ruple (3), Jude Gibbons (2), Bryan Knapp (2)

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: Eli Keifer drives to the basket against Bryce Gillen for two of his 18 points.

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The Swanton Lady Bulldogs took on the undefeated Leipsic Lady Vikings in the Bob Fisher Holiday Classic championship game and lost 32-24 in a closely played contest. Swanton held an 8-4 lead after one quarter and the game was tied at 18 apiece by halftime. However, Leipsic outscored the Lady Bulldogs 10-3 in the third quarter in route to the eight-point victory.

Leipsic: 4-14-10-4 – 32

Swanton: 8-10-3-3 = 24

Leipsic Scoring: Kyrsten Martinez (12), Whitney Langhals (9), Ava Henry (5), Leah Kirkendall (2), Abby Hasselman (2), Brooklyn Cunningham (1), Maris Hermille (1)

Swanton Scoring: Alaina Pelland (11), Peighton Manning (5), Emma Crow (4), Olivia Gowing (2), Katie Floyd (2)

Photo: Swanton Lady Bulldogs – Bob Fisher Holiday Classic Runners-Up

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The championship game of the Bob Fisher Holiday Classic lived up to its hype as the Swanton Bulldogs outlasted the Maumee Panthers 49-45 in overtime.  Luc Borojevich hit a big three-pointer in OT to put the Bulldogs up 43-42 and, with 17.6 seconds left on the clock, sank two crucial free throws in a one-and-one situation to give Swanton a little cushion at 47-43.  “I was like so nervous because I haven’t been shooting to well from the line this whole tournament,” said Borojevich who led all players in the game with 23 points.  “I took five deep breaths and trusted the shot.” 

The Panthers quickly scored inside to pull within 47-45 and then fouled Cole Mitchey, hoping he would miss at least one of his foul shot attempts.  Mitchey went to the line looking calm, cool and collected and drained both shots to seal the win and bring home the Fisher Classic trophy.

The Bulldogs did not have a good shooting night in the first half, but were still in good shape as they trailed only by four points at the break.  “We’re a lot better defensively than we are offensively.  I think that’s pretty evident,” commented Swanton head coach Bruce Smith.  “When you can go 2 for 10 from the arc and 3 for 8 from the free throw line and be down just four points at the half, you’re doing something right.  But we got a lot of clean-up to do.”

Maumee, out of the basketball-strong Northern Lakes League, defeated the Maumee Valley Country Day School Hawks 49-34 to advance to the finals.  “They’re a quality team,” said Coach Smith.  “I’ve watched them.  I’ve seen them on tape.  I knew they were bigger than us, I knew they were stronger than us, I knew they were faster than us.  Other than that, we were fine.”

The Bulldog victory moves their record on the season to 9-0.  They begin league play this Thursday when they travel to Patrick Henry to take on the pre-season favorite Patriots.

Photo: Swanton Bulldogs – 2022 Bob Fisher Holiday Classic Champions

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The Swanton Bulldogs opened the Robert L. Fisher Classic basketball tournament by scoring the first 12 points of the game against the Van Buren Black Knights and went on to cruise to a 54-30 victory to advance to the championship game. Swanton proved too fast and too athletic for the visitors while getting balanced scoring from their line-up in moving their record to 8-0 on the season.

Van Buren: 9-5-10-6 – 30

Swanton: 15-18-13-8 – 54

Van Buren Scoring: Parker Beilharz-9, Jackson Gregory-5, Hudson Sendelbach-4, Reese Reichley-4, Seth Gregory-2, Mason Thorla-Lopez-2, Lucas Harrington-2, James Homan-2

Swanton Scoring: Drew Smigelski-11, Hayden Callicotte-10, Luc Borojevich-9, Charlie Wood-8, Cole Mitchey-7, Kayden Davis-6, Brennon Mersing-3

Photo: Bulldog Cole Mitchey (5) tips off against Black Knight Jackson Gregory (12).

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The Swanton Bulldogs boys junior Varsity basketball team lost in the Van Buren Black Knights in the first round of the Robert L. Fisher Classic then rebounded in the consolation game to defeat the Maumee Valley Country Day School Hawks.

Photo: Keyon Johnson shoots a short jumper from the baseline.

Click on the link above to access photos from the game against Van Buren. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.