Dover rides wave of success with regional and state berths across multiple sports

Just when Dover fans thought things couldn’t get much better after the Tornadoes’ heart-stopping last-second victory over archrival New Philadelphia on the final Friday night of the football season, the rest of the student-athletic body did nothing but pile on.

Outstanding performances throughout the day on Oct. 25 saw Dover send three teams to regionals and a runner to state.

First was the second-seeded boys soccer team, which won the East 1 Division III District championship with a 3-0 win over No. 4 New Philadelphia. Gavin Burrier led the way with a pair of goals. Cayden Escusa had the other.

The Tornadoes got into that game by beating No. 5 Zanesville 8-1 in a district semifinal. They took a 14-5-1 record into a regional semifinal on Oct. 29 against Jackson at Logan Chieftain Stadium. The winner of that will face either Columbus Bishop Watterson or Columbus St. Francis DeSales in a Nov. 2 regional final at a time and location to be determined.

Next came Chase Daniel in cross country. The senior’s 10th-place finish in the Pickerington Division II Regional earned him a trip to Obetz for the state meet. Daniel finished in 16:00.10 to grab one of 10 individual berths, which went to the fastest finishers not on qualifying teams

The Tornadoes placed 12th among 24 teams in the Pickerington Division II Regional on Oct. 25. A top-five finish was needed for a team trip to the state meet.

Dover’s girls placed 17th among 21 teams and did not get a berth in the state meet. They were led by sophomore Bethany Hutchison, who finished 57th among 160 runners.

After that it was the Tornadoes’ state-ranked volleyball team taking care of business in the Southeast/Est Division III District final, where top-seeded Dover defeated South No. 4 Washington Courthouse Miami Trace in three mostly easy sets.

Dover improved to 23-2 with its two district wins, the latter by a 25-21, 25-12, 25-19 score. Senior Carolin Hanner had a huge match with 21 kills, nine digs and two blocks. Senior Chera Schmidt led with 14 digs and senior Quincey Werntz had a team-best 31 assists.

Earlier, Dover easily beat East No. 2 Tri-Valley 3-0 in a fairly lopsided match in the district semis.

The win put the Tornadoes in an Oct. 30 regional semifinal against Jonathan Alder at Hilliard Darby. The winner will play Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. at Darby against either Lima Shawnee or Bloom-Carroll with a trop to the state final four on the line. Dover headed to the final four ranked ninth in the state coaches poll with one first-place vote. Alder was No. 4, with Bloom-Carroll at No. 2 with four votes.

Finally, Dover’s girls soccer team, seeded third in the East District, won the final 3-0 over Tri-Valley. Serenity Blickensderfer’s goal in the 61st minute broke a scoreless tie. Moments later Bridgett McCrate added another goal and Cashlyn Harmon cashed in on a corner kick for the final tally of the night.

That win came on the heels of a 2-1 semifinal upset of No. 1 John Glenn on Oct. 20 and gave Dover an 11-7 record heading to regionals, where the Tornadoes were going to be underdogs, which was probably fine with them.

They were set to take on Marietta in an Oct. 28 regional semifinal at Zanesville. The winner will play at a time and place to be determined against either Medina Buckeye or Akron Archbishop Hoban in a regional final. Hoban is the state’s top-ranked team in the MaxPreps rankings. Buckeye is No. 4. Marietta is No. 13, while Dover is No. 30.