Fulton County Ohio Media

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 2^nd, 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. 

Photo: Wesley Wilhelm

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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.

Click on the link 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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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.

Wauseon Scoring:  Hayley Meyer-25, Mackenzie Stasa-14, Aizlynn Coronado-14, Maite Marugan-2, Marin Letherman-1, Total = 56

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 low against Olivia Smith.

Click on the link above to access photos from he 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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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

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.

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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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After putting up 21 points in the second quarter to take a 31-19 halftime lead, the Swanton Bulldogs were held scoreless in the third quarter, allowing the Evergreen Vikings to pull within three at 31-28.  The Vikings would eventually tie the game at 35-35 with 5:47 left in the contest before the visiting Bulldogs would regroup and outscore Evergreen 17-9 the rest of the way to win the non-league boys basketball game 52-44.  Drew Smigelski’s short bank shot early in the fourth was Swanton’s first points of the second half and stopped a 10-0 run by the Vikings.  He would later bury a clutch three-pointer, helping to fuel the Bulldog comeback.  Both Cole Mitchey and Kayden Davis ignited the Swanton crowd with slam dunks in the final quarter.

More than half of Evergreen’s offense came from the hot shooting of Eli Kiefer who led all scorers with 26 points with 11 coming on 14 free throw attempts.  Kiefer scored 15 points in the second half including nine in the fourth quarter to keep the Vikings close.

Swanton:    10-21-0-21 = 52   Cole Mitchey-16, Luc Borojevich-13, Hayden Callicotte-9, Drew Smigelski-7, Kayden Davis-5, Charlie Wood-2

Evergreen:  9-10-9-16 = 44     Eli Kiefer-26, Drew Gillen-7, Ryder Hudik-4, Walter Lumbrezer-4, Blade Walker-2

Photo: Kayden Davis with a late-game slam dunk.

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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The Delta Panthers bowlers opened the 2022-2023 NWOAL season with both the boys and girls teams losing to the Liberty Center Tigers.

In the girls’ match, the Lady Tigers got balanced scoring from their lineup including two-game series scores of 361 (149/212) from AJ Seedorf and 330 (164/186) from Madison Amstutz to defeat the Lady Panthers 1988-1822. Delta countered with a 461 (161/300 Perfect Game) from Lexi Brown and a 296 (128/168) from Ciarra Fleckinger to keep the score close heading into the Baker games.

In the boys’ match, the Tigers prevailed 2471 to 2197 with Wesley Wilhelm leading the way with a two-game total of 428 (174/254) and Jacob Sexton rolling a 379 (195/184). Delta’s Dylan Stricker bowled a 356 (192/164) and Paul McQueen had a 332 (146/186) as did Brody Waugh (158/174).

Photo: AJ Seedore and Madison Amstutz

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

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The Evergreen Lady Vikings paid a visit to Swanton’s McQuade Gymnasium and came away with a 37-29 victory over the Lady Bulldogs in a non-league game that was closely contested throughout.  Holding just a three-point lead, 13-10, at halftime, the Vikes stretched their advantage to five points after the third quarter and finally eight for the game as the Bulldogs kept coming back from larger deficits.

With the win, Evergreen improves to 4-1 on the season.  Swanton drops to 3-1.

Evergreen   8-5-13-11 = 37

Kennedy Emmitt–12, Ella Burgermeister-9, Addison Ricker-9, Lucy Serna-6, Brookelyn Gleckler-1

Swanton     4-6-11-8 = 29

Peighton Manning-10, Katie Floyd-7, Sammi Nelson-5, Emma Crow-3, Alaina Pelland-2, Miranda Yeager-2

Photo Below: Kennedy Emmitt fires from just inside three-point range

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.

Delta senior Lexi Brown, a four-year member of the Lady Panthers bowling team, fired 12 consecutive strikes in her second game of the season’s opening match for a perfect score of 300 at Delta’s home bowling alley, the Swanton Sports Center on Friday afternoon.  Lexi bowled a respectable 161 in the first game against fellow NWOAL foe Liberty Center, then was able to zero in on her marks for the next 10 frames for the first 300 game of her career and the first in the history of the Panther bowling program, boys or girls.
“Honestly, it was touch and go,” commented Lexi on how her game progressed after the first five strikes.  “When I got a strike in the sixth frame I thought, ‘Maybe there’s a chance’ so I kept going and going.  I was scared.  I was nervous, but I had the whole crowd behind me so it was good.”

Lexi drew inspiration for the achievement from her coach and mentor, Jerry Donaldson who, ironically, was the last bowler to reach the 300 mark at the Swanton Sports Center, just earlier this year.  “She did an awesome job,” said Coach Donaldson.  “She struggled in game one, couldn’t hit her mark, the ball wasn’t coming up.  I told her, ‘Relax and bowl.  Go back to basics.  Hit your mark and follow through.’  She then threw a few good balls, came back in that second game and couldn’t miss.”

What was clear to Lexi, her coaches and her fellow bowlers, was that this perfect game did not come out of nowhere.  It was a result of years of hard work and allowing herself to be coachable.  “I remember when she was a freshman, she could barely roll a 100,” said Delta Head Coach Dave Kina.  But she put the work in and now she throws a really good ball.”

Lexi now joins the short list of bowlers who have rolled a score that will never be topped.  She will have the high game for the season in the NWOAL and her school record will stand forever.  

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In front of family, friends, fellow students and former teammates, Ethan Hensley signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his education and soccer career at the University of Findlay (UF).

Ethan played soccer for the Bulldogs in his Freshman and Sophomore years then joined the football team for his final two years of high school, starting at several positions including defensive back, quarterback and kicker.  In the off-season, he competed with the highly-regarded Sylvania Pacesetter Soccer Club, playing alongside some of the top soccer talent in Northwest Ohio.

With Ethan’s decision to move on to the next level, the Hensley family will have two sons playing collegiately.  His older brother, Riley, played soccer at Lake Erie College before transferring to Defiance College to be closer to home.  “It’s pretty awesome,” commented the boys’ father, Joe.  “They both worked very hard and we’re very blessed to have both of them playing at the college level.

One of the reasons Ethan chose UF was also to be closer to home.  As of now, he is undecided on his major but is leaning towards something in the area of the sciences.

Click on the link above to access photos from the event.