Wooster athletes earn NESCAC sportsmanship honors

Any athlete who joins a high school or college team probably at some point dreams of making a game-winning play, setting a school record or earning a team MVP award.

Depending on how one looks at it, Wooster residents Henry Perkins and Ashton Dunlap earned honors that match or exceed any of the aforementioned feats.

Tufts University soccer player Perkins and Bowdoin College cross country and track runner Dunlap were named to the New England Small College Athletic Conference Fall All-Sportsmanship Team.

The team is comprised of one student-athlete from each NESCAC school for each fall sport the conference sponsors.

The duo took small-town values learned growing up in Wayne County to one of the country’s most highly regarded small-college leagues and set themselves apart as leaders.

And they’ve also enjoyed plenty of personal and team success.

Perkins helped Tufts win the Division III men’s soccer national championship while Dunlap was a runner on Bowdoin's Maine state title team.

“When I saw the (NESCAC sportsmanship) list posted online, there weren’t a lot of repeat towns or cities listed,” said Dunlap, a 2022 Wooster High graduate who holds the school’s 3,200-meter run record (9:23). “It was bigger cities like Boston with multiple winners because a lot of people in those bigger cities in the Northeast go to these prestigious liberal arts schools.

“It was kind of almost comical but also very much a point of pride that Wooster, Ohio was listed twice. I was very excited to see my name and also Henry on the list. We’ve been friends since preschool and grew up together.”

Perkins attended Central Christian High School from his freshman through junior years, helping the Comets to a state Final Four trip and two regional appearances. He then went to Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding school in Massachusetts, for two years before enrolling at Tufts.

During their time in college and over the summers, Dunlap and Perkins have remained friends. Their families are also close.

Winding up on the NESCAC Sportsmanship team together is something Perkins also cherishes.

“Of all the awards and the accolades I’ve received, my relationship with Ashton is one of the things that I'm most proud of,” Perkins said. “Ashton and I were best of friends growing up. We spent who knows how many hours together playing, whether it was board games inside or outside running around. Knowing our league and our conference, to both have success at this level is pretty special.”

Perkins might be the first Wayne County product to be on a college national champion soccer team. His journey started with the Ohio Strikers United, a Wayne County team, and lots of individual work with local coach Graham Ford.

Then being a part of outstanding programs at Central Christian and NMH helped him earn a spot on the prestigious Tufts team.

“I had three wonderful years at Central Christian,” said Perkins, who was a starting forward each year. “The athletic department, led by Zach Kooker, soccer coach Alex Steiner and his staff helped set me on a path for success.”

Although Perkins hardly ever came off the field for winning teams at Central, the biggest lesson learned was teamwork.

At NMH, Perkins played for a team that won the New England Prep School Athletic Conference tournament as he grew more as a student-athlete.

It all culminated with helping Tufts win the 2025 national title with a 2-1 overtime win over Trinity (Texas) in Salem, Virginia. The Jumbos (20-1-3) forced overtime after an incredible goal with 4 seconds left in regulation.

During the press conference after the championship win, Tufts coach Kyle Dezotell said, “(Henry Perkins) is the best human in our program. Henry is the only player I’ve ever coached who after a game gives me a hug and tells me he’s proud of me.”

The 6-foot, 190-pound Perkins scored five goals and had six assists during his championship senior season. 

“Tufts had won national championships in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019, but this was the first time in my four years there,” said Perkins, who plans on enrolling in medical school. “There were a lot of big expectations. The way we did it, we can all be proud.”

Dr. Jeff Perkins and his wife Mary Stockton, Henry’s parents, were both swimmers at Kenyon, where Jeff also was part of a national title team. Jeff is an ophthalmologist at Wooster Eye Surgery Center.

Ashton Dunlap holds Wooster High’s record in the 3,200 with a time of 9:23 and was a state qualifier. He led coach Doug Bennett’s cross country team to an Ohio Cardinal Conference title in 2021, its first since 2006, and was the OCC Runner of the Year.

While at Bowdoin, Dunlap has run the 5k (best time 15:33) in track and has a cross country best time of 24:43 (8k course).

“Since being under coach Bennett at Wooster High School, I've built my leadership skills,” Dunlap said.

Dunlap, whose younger sister Mattie also competes in the NESCAC in cross country for Hamilton College, was asked to explain his leadership style.

“The best thing you can do is lead by example and also build individual relationships with everybody on the team,” Dunlap said, “just showing that you care, even if it's a short conversation asking somebody how their day is going — building a relationship with everyone on the team, not just a few people.”

Dunlap is the son of Trevor and Sarah Dunlap. Trevor is the executive director of Camp Nuhop while Sarah is an administrator at The College of Wooster.

Dunlap has a double major in education and government/legal studies and plans to become a teacher.

Whatever teams Perkins and Dunlap join in the workforce one day, those organizations will be much better for it. The young leaders from Wooster are the kind of people anyone would want as co-workers, friends or neighbors.