Tygers Gash Ashland For OCC Championship
For the Mansfield Senior boy’s basketball program, waiting seven years in between league championships feels like forever, but a 73-62 victory over Ashland in their regular season finale clinched the Tygers a share of the league crown for the first time since 2012.
On a special senior night at Pete Henry Gymnasium, Senior High’s seven senior team members scored 58 of the Tygers total points. The brown and orange took an early edge and never looked back, leading wire to wire after building a 12-5 first quarter advantage.
Behind Manny Bronson’s team-high 15 points, Mansfield built a 9-point halftime lead and grew the margin to double-figures by the end of the third. Fellow seniors Quan Hilory and Tavion Harris each added a dozen points as Senior High outscored the Arrows in every frame to earn a share of the OCC crown with Lexington, despite Garrett Denbow dropping a game-high 28 points.
Mansfield Senior (17-4) will next open tournament play against Port Clinton in the D2 Bucyrus Sectional Semifinals while Ashland (15-7) will take on Anthony Wayne at Toledo Start in the D1 sectional finals.
Ashland Claims 3rd Straight JC Gorman Championship
The 57th J.C. Gorman Invitational at Mansfield Senior High School saw the same area school crowned champion as the previous two events. Ashland won their third consecutive title with a runaway victory, compiling 252.5 points over the weekend, more than 100 clear of second place finisher Bellevue (144).
The Arrows had 11 wrestlers advance to Saturday’s finals where each placed in the top-6 including a pair of champions in 3-time winner Josh Bever (220 lbs) and 2-time champ Austin McNamara (152 lbs). Norwalk’s Ethan Hernandez took home tournament MVP honors after stunning Northmor’s Conor Becker in the 170 lb title match with a last second escape to win 4-3.
Arrows Dominant 4th Takes Down Ontario
In their first meeting since 1992, Ashland used a monster final quarter to defeat Ontario at their place with a 78-63 victory at the 419 Challenge.
In the final matchup of the four-game event, the Warriors and Arrows played virtually even for the majority of the contest with neither squad building a sizeable cushion until the final minutes. Ontario held a slim 14-13 advantage after the opening frame then trailed Ashland 32-31 at the break.
The contest entered the fourth quarter a one-score game with the Arrows out in front 54-52 and the scoring margin remained tight until the final three minutes of action. Trailing 66-60 with 2:45 remaining, the Warriors were then outscored 15-3 the rest of the way as Ashland converted key buckets and free throws to pull away for the road win.
The Arrows (3-2) had three players score over 20 points, receiving 24 from Keijhan Randleman, 21 by Mitchell Heilman & Garrett Denbow added 20. Ontario’s (3-2) scoring attack was paced by Griffin Shaver's 22 pts and Jayden Jacobs 12, while Ethan Keller and Kolten Kurtz both scored nine each.
Lex Takes Down Ashland For OCC Title
In a thrilling 5-set battle between the top two teams in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, Lexington survived a winner take all match against defending league title holder Ashland.
The Lady Arrows led off with a 25-20 opening match victory before Lady Lex turned up the intensity for a 25-16 second set beat down. The momentum then swung in favor of visiting Ashland who came storming back from a late deficit to spike Lexington 25-22 in the third then built a cushion on their way to a pair of match points.
Lady Lex played clutch when it counted, scoring three straight points to keep their title hopes alive, then iced the fourth set with a 27-25 win to force a deciding fifth set. After jumping out to a 4-1 lead, Lexington never gave up the lead, knocking off the Lady Arrows for the second time this season with a 15-12 match ending win.
Amelia Moore was key down the stretch for Lady Lex, racking up 19 kills, 24 digs and 10 service aces to lead the charge, while Audra Kocker handed out 47 assists and Sara Malaska added 11 kills. Sophomore Karli Shepard was a monster of Ashland, smashing 31 of 67 kill attempts with 3 service aces.
The win puts Lexington at 12-9, 10-1 in OCC while Ashland dips to 17-3, 9-2.
Tygers Take Thriller In Ashland With Last Minute Score
Mansfield Senior controlled most of the action in their Week 7 OCC showdown at Ashland but still needed a late minute touchdown drive to secure a 26-21 road victory.
The Tygers were dominant in the opening half at Community Stadium, taking a 12-0 edge into the break by chewing up major yardage in the ground game while making the Arrows one-dimensional by shutting down their running attack. Senior High would eventually extend their lead to 19-0 early in the fourth quarter as Treshaun Windham, TaVion Harris and Amajeon Robertson all tasted paydirt for the Tyger on the ground.
Ashland then came storming back with a 21-0 run in less than a six minute span, as quarterback Mitch Heilman got red hot and connected with Cade McQuate on scoring drives twice before an 18-yard toss to Ross Garrison in the end zone gave the Arrows a 21-19 advantage with 3:41 remaining. Though the momentum had completely swung in Ashland’s favor, Mansfield Senior was still able to put together a game-winning touchdown drive, capped-off by a 5-yard TD pass from Cam Todd to Angelo Grose with just 23 seconds left on the clock to escape with a dramatic win.
For the game, the Tygers dominated time of possession 34:37-13:23, and had 411 total yards to the Arrows 183. Senior High held Ashland to just 11 rushing yards on 22 carries, racking up nearly 300 yards on 60 run plays and won the turnover battle 3-1.
Mansfield (3-4) will next host Wooster (5-2) while Asahland (5-2) will welcome Lexington (3-4) for their final home game.
Warriors Draw With Ashland In Final Home Match
A fairly evenly played match ended with an even result for Ontario and Ashland, who finished with a 1-1 draw in their showdown on the Warriors home turf.
The contest saw Ontario shoot 17 times with 10 of those attempts ending on target while the Arrows produced a dozen shots, 10 of those on frame. Much of the first half action belonged to the Warriors who struck early on a Brennan Blaising goal just 5:30 into the match.
Ontario carried that 1-0 advantage into the break, though they had plenty of opportunities to extend their edge before the break. Over the last 40 minutes it was Ashland who settled in and controlled long stretches of play, eventually sending home the equalizer with 17:25 remaining on a quick transition goal by leading scorer Bryan Bostic, his 19th of the season.
Both squads put together quality scoring chances down the stretch in an effort to pull out a victory but clean goal keeping would see the match come to a close locked up in a tie. The match is the last at home for the Warriors 12 seniors who are the winningest class to ever come through the program.
Ashland (6-7-1) finishes their regular season with a pair of home matches against St Vincent-St Mary and Norwalk while Ontario (7-4-1) will head on the road for four more games.
Arrows Shut Down Madison In 49-0 Blowout
Ashland crushed Madison under the Friday night lights with a 49-0 shutout victory on Rams territory.
The Arrows would strike quickly with quarterback Mitch Heilman completing 5 passes in a 71-yard scoring drive that ended on a Mason Kanz TD reception, who also had a 4-yard rushing score in the game. Heilman finished a perfect 13-13 through the air and added a rushing TD before giving way to the Ashland backups.
The Arrows would conquer the night by scoring 42 points in the first half and cruised to a conference win at Startek Stadium.
Ashland (5-1) now looks ahead to next Friday against Mansfield Senior (2-4) while Madison (1-5) will take on St. Charles (2-4).
Ashland Handles Lexington For 7th Shutout Of The Season
It was another dominating performance for the Ashland girls’ soccer squad who shutout Lexington on the road 3-0.
It was the third loss in the last four outings for Lex as the state-ranked Lady Arrows controlled time of possession 49:38-30:24, out-shooting Lady Lex 12-3 on frame. Ashland received goals from Taryn Wachtel, Katie Mcquillen and Grayce Hosse as keeper Paige Swanson saved all three shots sent her way to preserve the Lady Arrows seventh shutout in eight matches.
#8 Ashland (7-1-0) will next host Louisville while Lexington (4-4-1) travels to Mount Vernon.
Madison Stuns Ashland With 3-0 Win
In a battle of unbeaten state-ranked OCC opponents, the defending league champion Lady Rams went on the road and handled Ashland by a final score of 3-0.
The Lady Arrows (5-1-0) entered the match having not surrendered a goal all season, but sophomore stud Taylor Huff put an end to that streak just over 15 minutes into the match to seize momentum on the road for her Madison squad. The Lady Rams (4-0-1) then stunned Ashland with a quick second half score by sophomore Kari Eckenwiler and the Lady Arrows were never able to respond.
Huff would add a second goal with 16 minutes remaining in the match to secure a Madison win as the Lady Rams put 10 shots on frame to Ashland’s eight, despite losing the battle of possession 54:00-26:31. Madison keeper Paige Eldridge had eight saves to keep the Lady Arrows off the board for the first time this year.
Arrows Motivated To Carry On Winning Tradition
There’s been a successful pedigree attached to the Ashland football program ever since head coach Scott Valentine took over the reins some 17 years ago. The former Arrows standout has compiled a 125-55 record during his tenure with the program, entering the 2018 season as the reigning OHSFCA Coach of the Year.
The senior class has helped add to the winning tradition at Ashland, seeking to finish their prep careers with four consecutive OCC championships and playoff appearances. Continued prosperity on the gridiron is a major motivator for Arrows veterans who believe they have the pieces in place to sustain the programs excellence.
Few starters return for Ashland on the offensive side of the ball, but players often must wait their turn before cracking the Arrows lineup, so the expectation is that first time varsity players will be ready for their opportunity. Despite their lack of experience, Ashland again figures to be in the mix for a conference title and postseason berth, which would mark the 11th trip to week 11 for Valentine and the fifth straight for the Arrows.
Arrows Finish Runners-Up At OCC Boys Tennis Championships
Two-time defending OCC tennis champions Ashland had an opportunity for a three-peat at the conference championships on Saturday at the College of Wooster, but the kings of the league would reclaim the title.
For an incredible 12th time in the 15-year history of the OCC, Lexington took home the conference crown with a dominating performance in the conference finals.
The Minutemen won 4 of the 5 championship matchups, including a clean sweep of the singles showdowns.
Lex sophomore Brenton Drake would earn OCC Player of the Year honors for his championship performance in the #1 singles bracket, defeating Wooster’s top player 7-6, 6-4 to claim the title. Minutemen head coach Ron Schaub also took home a share of the Coach of the Year award. Here’s a breakdown of the 5 OCC champions:
#1 singles= Benton Drake (Lexington soph) #2 singles= Blake Webster (Lexington soph) #3 singles= Josh Mueller (Lexington senior) #1 doubles=Luke Webster (Lex senior) & Brent Webster (Lex soph) #2 doubles= Ryan Frazee (Ashland fresh) & Andrew Furness (Ashland soph)
Madison vs Ashland boys soccer
The Madison boys’ soccer team remained undefeated with a 5-1 win over visiting Ashland in OCC play.
James Wagner posted a hat trick for the Rams, who improved to 4-0-2 with the victory, while teammates Logan Davis and Isaac Chitwood also found the back of the net. The Arrows dip to 2-4-0 with the loss, and have now dropped 4 of their last 5 matches.
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Lexington Beats Arrows For Share of OCC Baseball Crown
It took a while for the Lexington offense to come alive in Wednesday’s 5-3 victory over OCC rival Ashland, but one big inning is all it took for the Minutemen to extend their 4-game win streak.
The visiting Arrows (6-8, 4-4) got to Minutemen starter Ben Vore in the first two innings, plating a pair of runs in the first and adding another in the second. Trailing 0-3 in their offensive half of the fourth, Lexington went to work on Ashland righty Tyler Croskey who had held them in check for the first three innings and even drove in a run.
The Minutemen loaded the bases with nobody out and knocked three consecutive RBI singles by Austin Basham, Josh Aiello, and Jared Strickler to tie the game. Lex would add two more runs in the fourth to wrap-up the scoring for either side the rest of the way.
Vore would settle in, going 6 innings and allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 8 Arrows batters. He collected the win to improve the Minutemen to 13-2 overall and with a 7-1 mark in the OCC claimed at least a share of the league title for the first time since 2015.
Ashland Rocks Wooster 20-3 Behind 18 Hits
Ashland baseball coach Rick Gough was anxious to get his team back on the field after dropping an 8-5 contest at Wooster on Tuesday night, feeling his squad could perform better. The Arrows skipper would prove himself right the following afternoon, knocking out a season-best 18 hits in a 20-3 beatdown of the Generals, who had won their last 4 games, in a shortened 4 ½ innings.
Right-hander Tyler Croskey picked up the first OCC victory for Ashland, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 4 and striking out 4 Generals in 4 innings of work. A stiff and steady breeze would get to Croskey early in the contest, walking the bases loaded in the top half of the 2nd leading to an RBI single from Kristian Scalf and a 1-0 Wooster advantage.
The floodgates would then be opened for the Arrows offensive attack, chalking up 4 runs in their half of the 2nd, then cranked out 5 runs on 4 hits in the 3rd before lighting up the home scoreboard for 11 4th inning runs to put the game out of reach.
Arrows sophomore first baseman Cole Garrison had a monster night from the dish, going 2-4 with a double, 5 RBI and scored 3 times. Second baseman Drew Schaly went 3-5 with a double, 3 RBI and a run while shortstop Brennen Hunt finished 1-3 from the plate with 3 RBI.
Ashland (2-1, 1-1) will next play at Norwalk on Saturday while Wooster (5-4, 4-1) hosts rival Orrville on Thursday.
Arrows Win 2nd Straight JC Gorman Championship
The 56th annual JC Gorman Invitational saw the Ashland wrestling program claim their 2nd consecutive tournament title with a meet-best 3 individual champions.
Many other top wrestlers from around the Buckeye state also competed in the 36 team field with 14 individual champions crowned.
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Ashland Arrows vs Massillon Tigers
Football Regional Semifinal 2017
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