Karen Kase reaches 200 wins

Medina girls basketball coach Karen Kase hit a major milestone Dec. 20 in the Bees’ 72-47 victory over Cleveland Heights. Now in her 13th year as head coach of the program she started with in the mid-1990s, Kase notched career win No. 200.

She is the all-time leader in coaching victories at Medina and one of just four coaches in Medina County history to reach the 200-win mark. She took over the program prior to the 2013-14 season, replacing current Medina boys coach Chris Hassinger, who had a year off before assuming the boys role.

Kase coached as a member of Hassinger’s staff for two seasons before taking over. She has led the team to regional berths in each of the past two seasons, along with two prior regional trips.

Kase was a four-year varsity player at Medina, starting at guard on the Bees’ 1992-93 team that went undefeated in the regular season and advanced to the Division I regionals, where it lost to eventual Final Four participant Wooster and future Ohio State starter Marcie Alberts.

She also was a standout goalkeeper for Medina’s state-power girls soccer team and went on to pursue that sport at Xavier University. Kase was an Academic All-Ohioan in basketball in 1995, an honor not again achieved by a Medina player until 2021.

Gymnastics

The Bees opened their final Greater Cleveland Conference season with a second-place finish at the league’s regular-season meet Jan. 4 in Brunswick. Medina totaled 135.3 points, trailing Strongsville’s 140.15 and finishing just ahead of Brunswick’s 132.555.

Hailey Hoffman was Medina’s top all-around performer, placing fourth on vault, fifth on uneven bars, third on balance beam and sixth on floor exercise to finish runner-up in the all-around with a score of 34.6, less than a point behind Strongsville’s Lauren Poznonyi.

Bethany Hoffman finished fourth in the all-around with a 33.2, followed by Caitlin Oehlers at 33.1 and Brianna DeBow at 32.9, according to published results. Oehlers was Medina’s lone event winner, tying for first on the beam with a 9.1 alongside Strongsville’s Brooke Eckert.

Wrestling

Buckeye captured the team championship at the Medina Invitational Tournament in the closing days of 2025, one of the premier wrestling events in Northeast Ohio. The Bucks totaled 141.2 points to edge Clarkston, Michigan, which finished with 133.5.

Host Medina turned in a strong two-day performance, placing seventh among 48 teams with 106 points, just behind Avon Lake’s 108.6.

For the Bees, Cliff Nicholson won the 285-pound title to claim Medina’s lone championship. Teagan Gilmore placed third at 126 pounds, while Dominic Difilippo finished fourth at 113.

Buckeye placed wrestlers throughout the brackets, led by tournament MVP Blake Bartos, who won at 138. Ryan Wilhelm was runner-up at 190. Collin Bartos (120), Brenden McKee (126) and Justin Augustine (215) each placed fifth. Logan Letner finished sixth at 144, and Brody Zoul placed seventh at 165.