Bulldogs sports roundup: Wadsworth pounds SMF at Homecoming but other teams had a banner week

The Stow-Munroe Falls football team’s 49-3 loss to Suburban League National Conference rival Wadsworth Sept. 30 on Homecoming Night was a good indicator of where the Bulldogs are as a program.

“Where Coach (Justin) Todd has Wadsworth at right now in terms of their alignment, their program through all levels, the strength of their players, it was evident from a physicality standpoint that we are not where we need to be to be able to compete in the top tier of the National Conference,” head coach Martin Poder said. “Wadsworth was on another level than we were, and we weren’t able to make plays and opportunities when we had to.

“It’s something that we’re going to get fixed, and it’s something that we’ve fixed in the past in our previous time when we were here and when I was at Brecksville-Broadview Heights. It’s a process, and it’s not fun going through that process.”

The Bulldogs, who dropped to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in the National Conference, were outgained 456 yards to 191.

SMF failed to gain any substantial yardage on its first two drives, but the Bulldogs’ third drive resulted in junior kicker Davis Broghammer’s 34-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Unfortunately, by that time the score was 21-3. Two more times, the home team drove into the Grizzlies’ red zone but could not score. SMF was down 35-3 at halftime.

Freshman quarterback Jake Harrington was 13-of-24 for 103 yards with an interception. Senior running back Teddy Gregory, Jr., rushed the ball 10 times for 63 yards. Senior wide receiver Jabari Hopkins had two receptions for 41 yards, junior wide receiver Jack Smith had five catches for 26 yards, and senior wideout Brayden Gabele caught two passes for 17 yards.

Defensively, senior outside linebacker C.J. Seckinger had seven tackles.

The Bulldogs host conference rival Nordonia on Senior Night at 7 p.m. Oct. 7.

Girls soccer: Hobart’s four goals give Bulldogs win over Nordonia

It was a career night for Kailey Hobart.

The Stow-Munroe Falls senior midfielder scored all of her team’s goals Sept. 28 in a 4-3 victory at Suburban League National Conference rival Nordonia. It was the most goals Hobart has ever scored in a high school game.

The Bulldogs improved to 6-4-3 overall and 2-1-1 in the conference.

“We were in control most of the game,” head coach Jim Dudones said. “We were ahead the whole time after scoring our first goal inside the first minute of the game. We were up 3-0 at halftime.

“Kailey is a really talented player. She just finished really well. She puts the ball in the goal. We’ve been really focusing on that, and she obviously took it to heart because she did a very good job.”

Hobart has had a tremendous season thus far.

“Kailey creates multiple opportunities for us to score,” said Dudones. “She’s an excellent defender, and that’s especially important for us when the other team has a corner kick because she’s completely fearless. She wins a lot of aerial battles where she does not shy away from the ball. She’ll just go get the ball, so she’s kind of a beast. That’s really made a big difference for our team. Between her defending and her ability to create chances and put the ball in the goal, she’s definitely a very special player historically for Stow-Munroe Falls High School.”

Junior forward Paityn Marino had a triumphant return from injury as she assisted on two of Hobart’s goals.

“It was good to have Paityn back,” Dudones said. “I’m sure Kailey was happy to have her back because it made her job easier because Nordonia couldn’t just completely focus on her.”

The Bulldogs host National Conference rival Twinsburg in a critical game at 7 p.m. Oct. 6. SMF is in a dogfight with the first-place Tigers and Brecksville-Broadview Heights for the top spot in the conference.

“It’s a big game,” Dudones said.

Boys soccer: Bulldogs post perfect week with wins over Nordonia and Cuyahoga Falls

The boys soccer team celebrated Senior Night and Homecoming with two victories last week.

Stow-Munroe Falls defeated Nordonia 2-1 Sept. 27 on Senior Night and beat Suburban League crossover rival Cuyahoga Falls 5-0 Oct. 1 on Homecoming.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-7-1 overall and 1-3 in the National Conference.

Head coach Kyle Kosmala was pleased with his team’s performance in the win over the Knights.

“It was probably one of our best attacking games of the season,” he said. “We struggled to find the back of the net, but we played really well defensively in the second half. Nordonia had only one serious threat in that second half.”

Junior central midfielder Reece Raymond-Smith scored early to give SMF a 1-0 lead. Nordonia tied the score a few seconds before halftime before senior defender Seth Stuber scored the winning goal early in the second half.

Scoring goals for the home team in the win over the Black Tigers were Stuber right before halftime and freshman midfielder Mateo Gardno, senior defender Decker Kress, Raymond-Smith and junior forward Rory Wilson in the second half.

“We had a five-minute period in the second half where we scored three goals,” said Kosmala. “It was nice to open it up in that second half.”

The Bulldogs travel to conference rival Twinsburg at 5 p.m. today.

Boys cross country: SMF rolls to team title at Madison meet

It was the first time this season that the boys cross country team had all of its top five runners at full strength.

Stow-Munroe Falls took advantage of that by capturing the title Oct. 1 at the 28-team Madison U Wanna Come Back Invitational. The Bulldogs finished with 77 points. Nordonia finished second with 111 points, and Twinsburg was third with 118 points.

“Nordonia didn’t run one of their best guys, so it would’ve been a lot closer had that been the case,” head coach J.K. LeSeure said. “You look ahead two weeks from now for the conference championship, it will probably be a little bit of a different story. Everybody ran really, really well. It was one of the fastest courses we run. It was also a recovery week for us, so the guys were pretty fresh.”

Senior Micah Bentley finished third out of 207 runners overall with a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 58.25 seconds. Zach Shawala, his classmate, finished fifth with a personal-best time of 16:25.31.

“Micah ran sub-16:00 for the first time ever. It was the third-fastest time in school history, less than 10 seconds off the school record, so that’s impressive,” said LeSeure. “He was really close to finishing in second place [just more than one second] over Nordonia’s Chris Turner. He’ll see him again in two weeks at sectionals. They’re 1-1 against each other this season.

“It was Zach’s second race back from injury. He took another big step forward to returning to full capacity.”

Senior Connor Scarberry finished 18th with a time of 17:03.7, senior Trent Macura placed 20th with a personal-best clocking of 17:10.31, and sophomore Gavin Rossman was 31st with a personal-best time of 17:29.01.

“Connor got trapped in some traffic, so he had a slow first mile,” LeSeure said. “He recovered from that, but he was already in a hole. It was a solid performance to get back to where he ultimately finished given what happened early on.

“Trent has had back-to-back personal bests, and Gavin is still coming back from being hurt, but it was another good step.”

The Bulldogs host the Stow Bulldog Invitational at Silver Springs Park at 9 a.m. Oct. 8.

Girls cross country: Atkinson overpowers the field to win title at Madison

Jayla Atkinson is such a great cross country runner that, out of 199 runners, she had pretty much no competition Oct. 1 at the Madison U Wanna Come Back Invitational.

Atkinson, a junior, captured the title with a time of 18:41.98.

“Jayla didn’t have anyone to race, so we weren’t too concerned about the time,” head coach Aaron Morris said. “She led from the gun. The second-place girl was well behind her [more than 30 seconds].”

Overall, Stow-Munroe Falls finished fifth out of 31 teams with 168 points. Shaker Heights won the competition with 48 points. Painesville Riverside finished second with 129 points, and Chardon was third with 158 points.

“It was OK for us, it wasn’t a great performance overall,” said Morris. “I felt like we probably could’ve run a little better there because the conditions were really good and the course was really fast and flat. We were a little stagnant.”

Junior Deena Ingrassia finished 10th with a time of 19:38.61.

“Deena ran pretty well,” Morris said. “She was only nine seconds off of her personal best, which was at the same meet last year.”

Junior Ellie Brosch finished 42nd with a personal-best time of 20:55.34, senior Lily Baker finished 67th with a clocking of 21:40.91 and senior Grace Decker placed 68th, right behind Baker, with a clocking of 21:42.37, a season best by a whole minute.

“Ellie ran pretty well,” said the coach. “Lily was also nine seconds off of her personal best, which was at the same meet last year. Grace ran really well. She was ill going into the race, so she really stepped up in senior Sydney Pitcovich’s place. Sydney was shut down due to injury.”

The Bulldogs host the Stow Bulldog Invitational at Silver Springs Park at 9 a.m. Oct. 8.

Girls tennis: Bulldogs cap regular season with victory over Fighting Irish

It was a happy ending to a frustrating regular season as Stow-Munroe Falls defeated St. Vincent-St. Mary 4-1 on the road Sept. 29 to improve to 2-12.

Senior McKenna Hofstetter lost 6-1, 6-0 at first singles.

Junior Leah Bentley was leading 6-3, 4-1 at second singles when her opponent retired with an injury. Freshman Kamryn Martin won 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 (match tiebreaker) at third singles.

“Leah has continued to get more and more consistent all season,” head coach Brian Banas said. “As her forehand has gotten more consistent, she’s been able to set up more points with her backhand, which is her weapon shot.

“Kamryn has been a newcomer at singles for us. She’s split time with senior Sophie Ing at third singles. Kamryn is quick on the court and steady. She keeps the ball in play.”

Junior Claire Goetz teamed with freshman Kaelyn McGovern to win 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) at first doubles. Junior Mikayla Witner joined forces with sophomore Sam Houlihan to triumph 6-1, 6-2 at second doubles.

“Claire and Kaelyn played a good match,” said Banas. “They had kind of a nice streak here. They were coming off finishing fifth at the conference tournament the previous weekend, so this was their third win in a row.

“Mikayla has been very steady towards the end of the season, and Sam is just a good all-court player, has improved her all-court game. It was nice to see them get a win here at the end of the year.”

Girls golf: Bulldogs play to third-place season finish in National Conference

The girls golf team finished right where head coach Scotte Rorabaugh thought it would finish – in third place with a score of 353 Sept. 28 in the fourth and final Suburban League National Conference Tournament at Brookledge Golf Course in Cuyahoga Falls.

Nordonia won the competition with a score of 323, and Hudson finished second with a score of 335. The same three teams finished in the same three spots in the overall final season standings.

“I thought we played OK,” Rorabaugh said. “Unfortunately, the first nine holes were played in pretty strong winds and rain the entire time, so it was challenging conditions for the girls to play in, but that’s golf in Northeast Ohio this time of year. The girls, though, held their own during the bad weather.”

Junior Gabby Berlingieri shot an 8-over-par 79, which tied for third place overall.

“Gabby played well,” said Rorabaugh. “She’s a very consistent player and doesn’t make too many mistakes. It was a good round for her.”

Freshman Olivia Berlingieri, Gabby’s sister, shot an 85, senior McKenzie Ickes fired an 88, and junior Julia Leffel-Elliott carded a 101.

A day later, on Sept. 29 on the par-35 front nine at Fox Den Golf Course in Stow, Stow-Munroe Falls lost 165-166 to Walsh Jesuit.

“I was a little disappointed,” Rorabaugh said. “We’d beaten Walsh in every tournament we played in this season. As a team, we missed eight putts inside of three feet. For our level of play, that’s certainly not up to our standard.”

Olivia Berlingieri shot a 39, Gabby Berlingieri shot a 40, Ickes carded a 43, and Leffel-Elliott had a 44.

Boys golf: Oh so close: SMF misses out on National Conference title on tiebreaker

It was a heartbreaking end to the regular season for the boys golf team.

Stow-Munroe Falls missed out on winning the overall Suburban League National Conference title by one stroke. The Bulldogs and Hudson both had a score of 320 in the fourth and final conference tourney Sept. 29 at Good Park Golf Course in Akron, but the Explorers won the fifth-place tiebreaker to win the tournament – and the overall season championship. Wadsworth finished third with a score of 323.

“Because Hudson finished first in this tournament, they won the overall conference championship and we tied Wadsworth for second,” frustrated head coach Chet Feldman said. “Had we won this tourney, we would’ve won the overall title.”

Seniors Ben Skirpac and Mitch Tyger both shot a 7-over-par 78.

“Ben was just grinding. He didn’t have his best stuff out there,” said Feldman. “Mitch was on pace to shoot a 74, but he ended up bogeying the last four holes.”

Freshman Eddie Norman, Jr., shot an 81, while sophomore Austin Wilhoit carded an 83.

“I was very proud of Eddie for coming in on the fourth league tourney and shooting an 81 with a lot of pressure involved,” Feldman said. “Austin was struggling to find his swing. He hardly hit any greens in regulation, but I was proud of him for grinding it out. He kind of found something on the last three holes. I just wish he could’ve found it a little sooner to shave off a stroke here or there.”