In a year of many big local sports stories, Shawnee’s historic Division II boys soccer state championship takes the top spot for 2022.
The Indians needed two overtimes and a penalty kick shootout to claim a 1-0 win over Bexley for their state championship.
Shawnee goal keeper Jack Tenwalde stopped three of four Bexley penalty kicks and Austin Miller, Caleb Miller and Sam Tenwalde got their kicks past the goal keeper for the win.
It is the first state championship in soccer by a school in the Lima area and only the third by a northwest Ohio school. The other northwest Ohio soccer champions were Ottawa Hills in Division III in 2008 and Archbold in Division III in 2018.
The No. 2 story in the area is a sad farewell to several area sports legends who passed away this year – Lima’s William White, Gary Moeller and Jim Lynch, and Coldwater’s Lou Brunswick and Brian Harlamert.
White, a Lima Senior graduate, was a four-year starter at cornerback for Ohio State after being a standout running back in high school. He played six years with the Detroit Lions, three years with the Kansas City Chiefs and two years with the Atlanta Falcons.
Moeller, Lima Senior graduate, was an Ohio State football captain who went on to become the head football coach at Illinois, Michigan and the Detroit Lions. His Michigan teams won or shared three Big Ten championships.
Lynch, a Lima Central Catholic graduate, was a first-team All-American linebacker at Notre Dame and was a starter for 11 seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs, including their victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.
Brunswick coached baseball at Coldwater for 35 years. His teams won 750 games and five state championships. Harlamert coached Coldwater baseball for 25 years. His teams won 531 games and two state championships and he played on two state championship teams in high school at Coldwater.
The No. 3 story is Lima Senior graduate Xavier Simpson making his NBA debut with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Simpson, a former University of Michigan point guard, averaged 11.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in four games with the Thunder.
He currently is playing for the Lakeland Magic of the NBA’s G League, hoping for a chance to return to the NBA.
Perry High School’s Brady Yingst’s dominance on the track comes in at No. 4 on the list of top local sports stories.
After winning the Division III individual state cross country title in the fall of 2021, Yingst won the Division III 1,600-meter run in 4:10.74 and the 3,200-meter run in 9:14.46 at the state track meet in June.
His time in the 1,600-meter run was a state meet record in Division III and he set an overall Division III record in that event earlier in the season with a time of 4:09.20.
St. Marys post player Austin Parks signing with Ohio State is the No. 5 story locally this year. The 6-10 Parks was one of four recruits the Buckeyes signed in November. He averaged 19.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots last season for St. Marys.
Lima Senior joining the Toledo City League starting with the 2023-2024 school year is the No. 6 story of the year.
Lima Senior had been searching for a new league home since the Three Rivers Athletic Conference broke apart in 2021 when Findlay, Fremont Ross, Toledo Whitmer and Oregon Clay accepted an invititation to join the Northern Lakes League.
The No. 7 story belongs to another double winner and record setter on the track, Ottawa-Glandorf’s Alexa Fortman. She won the girls Division II 400-meter dash in 55.74 seconds, an O-G record, at the state track meet and also was the state champion in the 800-meter run in a Division II state record time of 2:08.60.
The No. 8 story is a familiar one. Midwest Athletic Conference teams won four state championships in 2022. The MAC has had 149 team state championships since it was founded in 1973.
Marion Local won the Division VI football state championship, the Flyers’ 13th state title in that sport. Minster was the Division IV state champion in girls cross country, its 15th state championship in that sport. And New Bremen won the Division IV volleyball state championship and the Division VII football championship.
Winning state championships is always the goal. But back-to-back state runners-up finishes are also a rarity.
Ottawa-Glandorf’s girls soccer team and Lincolnview’s baseball team did that in 2022 when the Titans reached state championship games in Division III soccer the last two seasons and Lincolnview did it in Division IV baseball to share the No. 9 area sports story of the year.
The No. 10 story involves a change in leadership for the Lima Locos. When Matt Furuto resigned as the team’s head coach Chad Ehrnsberger returned to that position, which he held from 2013 to 2016.
