Medina boys and girls soccer squads reach Division I Sweet 16; Bees cross country teams qualify for state

Medina sent two soccer teams to the state’s Division I Sweet 16 this week, with familiar faces awaiting each in the regional semifinals.

The boys team got some late heroics from Brody Gannon in a 2-1 victory over Canton GlenOak to win the Northeast 3 District championship, while the girls squad made the most of Abby Camlin’s second-half goal to top Rocky River Magnificat 1-0 and take the Northeast 2 District bracket.

The boys squad fell behind about 30 minutes into the game and didn’t get the equalizer until Cooper Fuller’s unassisted goal with inside of 18 minutes remaining. Gannon scored with 4½ minutes left. Medina, 13-2-3 after the district, outshot the Golden Eagles 7-3.

The boys team, which routed Canton McKinley 8-0 in the tourney opener, advanced to play on Oct. at Nordonia against St. Ignatius in a regional semifinal. The winner will play on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. against either Strongsville or Perrysburg with a trip to the state final four on the line.

Medina’s boys did not face St. Ignatius during the regular season but own a 1-0 victory over Strongsville if that rematch materializes. St. Ignatius took a 15-0-2 record and No. 1 state ranking into the regional. Medina was No. 8, while on the other half-bracket, Perrysburg and Strongsville were No. 4 and 5, respectively.

“If you're going to make it to Columbus, you have to beat them at some point,” boys coach Doug Coreno said. “They have an amazing program: a legendary coach combined with the ability to draw talent from all over Northeast Ohio. It will be a huge task, but my boys have battled and been resilient all year. We are looking forward to the challenge on Wednesday night.”

The girls team, which also scored in bunches against Canton McKinley in a 12-0 tourney-opening win, was to face archrival Strongsville on Oct. 28 at Streetsboro, with that winner moving on to play on Oct. 1 against either Walsh Jesuit or Perrysburg at Byers Field in Parma at a time to be determined.

In their win, the girls scored the game’s only goal midway through the second half. The Bees, who took a 15-0-3 record to the regional, managed only four shots on goal but held Magnificat to three.

For the girls, despite being the state’s lone unbeaten team, Medina was ranked just eighth. Strongsville was No. 11. Perrysburg was No. 1 and Walsh Jesuit was No. 7. The girls, who earlier tied Magnificat, also tied Walsh and Strongsville during the regular season.

“We appreciate reaching this point of the tournament and appreciate playing the top programs to advance for another game,” girls coach Jason Rutkowski said. “The shuffling of divisions for sure has adjusted the format, but that essentially has just removed sectional matches. The super-district adjustment in Northeast Ohio a few years back was another adjustment. I remember when not too long ago the top four teams in the state could be all within the same smaller single district.”

Volleyball

The Bees split a pair of district matches, winning in straight sets over Stow before seeing their season come to a close with a straight-set defeat against Mentor.

In beating Stow 25-16, 25-22, 25-21, Medina got 14 kills and three aces from freshman Kate Schellenberger, 17 digs from senior Leah McKinley, 26 assists from junior Laura Scherman and a pair of blocks each from seniors Bridget Campbell and Elaina Sabol.

In a 25-11, 25-15, 29-27 defeat to Mentor, Medina got seven kills from Campbell as it finished its season 12-11 after a 1-7 start.

Boys cross-country

With the top six teams advancing to the Division I state meet from the Boardman Regional, Medina’s boys weren’t exactly comfortably within that parameter, but the Bees were indeed within it. Totaling 190 points, Medina finished sixth in the 20-team field, edging out Greater Cleveland Conference rival Brunswick for the final qualifying spot. Medina was behind Perrysburg (57 points), which topped champion Mentor by a single point; Massillon Jackson (147), St. Ignatius (170) and Stow (172).

Senior Riley Dworzik was Medina’s top finisher, placing 28th in 16:52.09. Senior Joey D’Aurelio was just two spots and about five seconds behind. Senior Peyton Davis checked in 35th in 17:02.14. Junior Logan Butsko was next, coming in 47th in 17:14, three spots in front of senior Nate Fischer (17:15.48). Not scoring but among the 149 finishers were junior Trent Schirmer (68th, 17:38.94) and senior Liam Meade (72nd, 17:43.94).

The Division I boys final at the state meet at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Obetz, Ohio, is set for 4:10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Girls cross-country

Medina easily qualified for a trip to the Division I state meet, placing fourth at the Boardman Regional with 129 points, just three behind third-place Massillon Jackson. Avon won with 69, with Perrysburg’s 99 coming in second. Canton GlenOak (135) and Stow (173) grabbed the other bids.

Senior Alexis Warnement logged a top-five finish, placing fifth in 18:53.73 to lead Medina. Freshman Addison Joffre checked in 17th in 19:37.7; junior Alanya Yanmaz came in 27th in 19:58.01; sophomore Julia Black finished 38th in 20:21.19; and senior Julia Dietrich rounded out the scores, placing 42nd in 20:27.85. Also among the 135 finishers were junior Leah Bugner (50th, 20:40.56) and sophomore Ari Schwemley (59th, 21:14.41).

The Division I girls final at the state meet at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Obetz, Ohio, is set for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1.