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Crestwood sophomore Conner Nemec is congratulated last Saturday after winning the Aurora Wrestling Invitational championship at 113 pounds.
When it comes to the winter sports season in the Portage Trail Conference Metro Division teams won’t have much time to warm up. There will be no dipping your toe in the water as contenders will be diving in head-first.
By the end of the week, many of the Metro Division’s preseason title contenders will have had their first – and in one case, only – encounter with one another, setting an early stage for championship races.
Wrestling is the clearest example, where the two teams that have accounted for the last three PTC Metro championships, Coventry and Crestwood, will collide at Field High School in a double dual that also includes the host Falcons and the Norton Panthers.
A year ago the Red Devils edged the Comets in their first match of the year. Both teams proceeded to tear through the Metro Division all the way to the PTC Tournament when Crestwood and Coventry finished 1-2 overall.
Coming into this season eight of the two schools’ 16 combined All-Metro Division first or second team wrestlers are back. The Comets welcome back first teamers Jesse Gunter, Zac Cropper and Brandon Rang, and second teamers Dillon Headrick and Travis Gosnell. Meanwhile, the Red Devils welcome back Conner Nemec, Dylan Kager and Nick Fejedelem.
Nemec and Kager are returning conference champions.
Coventry brings back the majority of its runner-up lineup with Rusty Lockhart the only regular missing. The Comets welcome back three conference runner-ups, two of whom lost to 2011 graduates. Crestwood lost considerably more from its team. The question is how far back to the pack will the runaway defending champions fall?
The answer will come on Thursday.
Girls basketball: Ravens and Panthers clash in Metro opener
While the last two teams to win wrestling championships will face off with each other for the only time on Thursday, the top two teams in PTC Metro Division girls basketball will face off with each other on Wednesday.
The two-time defending champion Ravenna Ravens will host two-time runner-up Norton in the first of two meetings between the two schools. The Panthers-Ravens matchup is one of two marquee games Wednesday, with the Field Falcons taking on the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders in the other.
The Ravens, led by University of Akron recruit DiAndra Gibson, fellow senior Malorie Gibson and spark-plug point guard Moe Moe Smith, are off to a perfect 2-0 start in non-league play with a close victory over Kenston and a 30-point triumph over defending County Division champion Mogadore. DiAndra Gibson is the reigning PTC Metro player of the year after averaging a double-double a year ago. Malorie Gibson scored a game-high 14 points, and DiAndra Gibson scored 13 in their most recent game against the Wildcats.
Norton is the only team to have beaten Ravenna in the regular season in the last 39 games, beating their divisional rival in the last game of the 2011-12 regular season.
The Panthers haven’t gotten off to their best start, dropping two straight games to Manchester and Magnificat. Norton started the season with injuries to three players, leaving them thin, but got senior guard Alyssa Kraus back for the game against Magnificat and the sharpshooter promptly led her team with 21 points, while forward Jaclyn Fortner scored 12 and grabbed seven rebounds.
In the other big matchup, Field travels to Kent to take on the Roosevelt Rough Riders
“We just get right into the fire of the schedule with a couple teams right there always at the top,” Field first-year coach Craig Nettleton said.
The Falcons began the season with two wins against County Division opponents Waterloo and Southeast, but Field hasn’t made it easy, leading by one point entering the fourth quarter against the Vikings and trailing the Pirates by four.
“We keep telling the kids it’s not about who we play, it’s about us,” Nettleton said. “We can’t keep worrying about other teams, we have to worry about what we’re doing and how we are practicing.”
Kent Roosevelt has split its opening games with a 56-34 loss to Massillon Jackson and beating Revere 56-34. The trio of Abby Wemhoff, Christine Keener and Daniella Rice has led the Rough Riders, combining to average 33 points per game between them.
Boys basketball: Metro teams clash for first time on Friday
The conference season in boys basketball begins Friday with the best matchup by far being Kent Roosevelt hosting Field. The Falcons were the only team to sweep the defending co-champions last season, beating the Rough Riders twice. Field began the season with a 60-39 victory over Lake Center Christian last Friday, and Kent Roosevelt fell to Barberton 69-60 thanks to a Magics’ second half comeback.
In Friday’s other matchups, the other defending Metro Division Champion, Crestwood will host Coventry coming off a 48-42 win over Rootstown. The Comets dropped a 55-47 decision to Southeast.
Norton and Ravenna both won cross-division games last Friday, and the two challengers will meet on the Ravens’ home court to kick off the Metro Division season.
Finally, Streetsboro gets welcomed to the Metro Division in a road contest against the Springfield Spartans. It will be the Rockets first game, while Springfield fell to neighboring rival Ellet to begin the season.
Signings: PTC athletes moving on to college
Three PTC Metro Division athletes recently made decisions to continue their athletic and academic careers in college, including the reigning Metro Division girls basketball player of the year and the reigning County Division boys basketball player of the year.
The aforementioned DiAndra Gibson will play in the Mid-American Conference for the Akron Zips, while Streetsboro standout Ben Gency will continue his basketball pursuits at the University of Ashland.
Finally, Field softball star Hannah Fisher will be joining Gency at Ashland.