Sports Round-Up by Paul Beitler

Norwell netmen down DeKalb
The Norwell Knights swept both doubles matches and took two of the three singles matches to defeat the DeKalb Barons 4-1 in a Northeast Hoosier Conference boys’ tennis meet at Norwell on Tuesday.
Norwell improved its overall season record to 9-0 and climbed to 2-0 in conference play.
The junior varsity Knights won 4-2 to up their season mark to 8-1.
NORWELL 4, DEKALB 1
At Norwell
VARSITY SINGLES: Reid Imel (N) d. Braden Bassett 6-2, 6-1; Mitch Hart (D) d. Kyle Isch 6-4, 6-3; Tanner Bowen (N) d. Wade Hantz 6-3, 6-1.
VARSITY DOUBLES: Kyle Fillman/Ross Mathews (N) d. Matt Helmkamp/Brandon Fruits 6-0, 6-0; Tanner Mathews/Brandon Taylor (N) d. Landon Miller/Ben Lancaster 6-0, 6-0.
NORWELL 4, DEKALB 2
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Mitchell Wilson (N) d. Nate Helmkamp 8-7 (7-4); Tyler Smith (N) d. Dylan Liddell 8-5; Jake Price (N) d. Quinten Johnson 8-3.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Gabe Taylor/Damon Colbart (D) d. Damon Gerber/Drew Shively 8-3; Connor Helmkamp/Warren Travis (D) d. Jordan Dickey/Luke Hunter 8-1; Dickey/Hunter (N) d. Greg Hathaway/David Bruce 8-3.

Norwell girls beat Eagle golfers
Kristen Springer and Megan Evans led the Norwell girls’ golf team to a Northeast Hoosier Conference victory over the Columbia City Eagles on Tuesday at Timber Ridge Golf Club in Bluffton.
Springer and Evans finished the par-36 back nine each with a 43. Hannah Porrata added a 46 and Cassie Herndon shot a 50 to give the Knights a team score of 182. Kelsey Beer finished with a 53.
Columbia City posted a 213 team score, led by Rachel Hazelet with a 49 and Mckenzie Smith with a 50. Olivia Western shot a 53 and Lauren Holloway had a 61.
The Eagles’ junior varsity team edged Norwell 232-234. Kailey Thiele had a 52 for Norwell and Kristine Morgan shot a 56. Jackie Leeuw led the way with a 47.

Raiders’ spikers clip Starfires
Southern Wells outlasted South Adams 3-2 in Allen County Athletic Conference girls’ volleyball Tuesday night at Berne.
The Raiders won the five games 25-23, 25-21, 18-25, 17-25, 15-8.
South Adams won the junior varsity match over Southern Wells 25-10, 25-19.

Saints overcome Norwell spikers
The Bishop Dwenger Saints pulled out a 3-2 victory over the Norwell Knights in girls’ volleyball Tuesday night at Norwell.
The five-game match scores were 19-25, 25-22, 15-25, 25-16, 15-8.
Maddie Mayers had 22 kills, five blocks and three aces for the Saints. Katie Rosswurm had 10 kills. Brie Rahrig had five blocks. Courtney Heddens had 18 assists and Nicole Freiburger 17.
Jessica Louison had 15 kills and two aces for Norwell (9-4). Lauren Klansek had 14 kills, six blocks and two aces. Amanda McAfee had 10 kills and Olivia Geiger nine. Laken Chaney had 40 assists. McAfee also had 18 digs, Geiger 15, Klansek 13 and Elizabeth Ault 13.

Railroaders roll past Tigers’ spikers
Jordyn Knott and Megan Getts led the Garrett Railroaders to a 3-0 win over the Bluffton Tigers in Allen County Athletic Conference girls’ volleyball Tuesday night at the Tiger Den.
Knott had 13 kills and Getts 12 to help Garrett post scores of 25-20, 25-16, 25-19. Getts also had three blocks and Knott two aces. Jessica LaTurner also had three aces. Kirsten Warfield had 11 digs. Katie DePew had 29 assists. Garrett is 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the ACAC.
Wabash netters nip Tigers
The Bluffton Tigers’ tennis team lost to the Wabash Apaches 3-2 in boys’ varsity action Tuesday at Wabash.

Bluffton won the junior varsity match 4-1.
WABASH 3, BLUFFTON 2
At Wabash
VARSITY SINGLES: Justin Middleton (W) d. Damon Kuhlenbeck 6-0, 6-0; David Driscoll (W) d. Jackson Bates 6-4, 6-1; Logan Hettmansperger (W) d. Zach Mezera 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
VARSITY DOUBLES: Chandler Okey/Michael Vanderkolk (B) def. Trevor Patton/Nate Price 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6); Alex Penrod/Brendan Baumgartner (B) def. Matt Henderson/Jack Stein 6-1, 6-0.
BLUFFTON 4, WABASH 1
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Edward Dillard (W) d. Jake Garrett 8-6; Jackson Lambert (B) d. JD Boone 8-4; Trey Mettler (B) d. JD Boone 8-4.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Dillon Myers/Austin Okey (B) d. Stephen Eilts/Matt Levine 8-3; Jacob Antrim/Nathaniel Clark (B) d. Derrick Hughes/Thomas Grier 8-3.

Raiders, Jets split in MS cross country
The Southern Wells Junior High School cross country teams split with the Adams Central Jets on Tuesday at Southern Wells.
Meghan Yencer led the Southern Wells girls to a 15-50 victory, while Adams Central won the boys’ event because the Raiders did not have enough runners.
Yencer won the 3,000-meter girls’ race in 13:29. The other top-five Raider finishers were Chloe Maddox, Autumn Stevens, Brooke Penrod and Timber Tucker. Rounding out the Southern Wells finishers were: 6. Shelby Skidmore; 7. Chloe Elam; 9. Jordan Sills; 11. Tori Wiese; 12. Kennedy Rhodes. Bailey Liter was eighth for the Jets in 16:03.
In the boys’ race, Gavin Kaehr won for the Jets in 11:44. Paul Renner was second for the Raiders in 12:19. Other Southern Wells finishers were: 4. Wyatt Maddox; 8. Nick Childers; 12. Ian Abney. Calvin Isch was third for the Jets in 12:21.

Bluffton MS boys split races
The Bluffton Middle School boys’ cross country teams split with Garrett and Leo on Tuesday.
The Bluffton boys beat Garrett 26-32 and fell to Leo 18-37. Jared Reckard finished the 3,000-meter course in 12:39 for first place, followed by Eli Kitt fourth in 13:58, Colton Anderson sixth in 14:25, Kevin Moser seventh in 14:36 and Chance Anderson eighth in 14:43.
The girls lost to Garrett 19-36 and Leo 15-46. Krysten Mossburg was second in 15:23, Morgan Huffman seventh in 17:56, Ashley Smith eighth in 18:23, Haley Craig ninth in 19:22 and Brynn Yonker 10th in 21:30.

Norwell beats Bluffton MS spikers
Norwell defeated Bluffton in middle school girls’ volleyball on Tuesday. The Crusaders won the 8th-grade match 25-20, 25-23 and the 7th-grade match 25-16, 25-19.
Stephanie Stronczek had three aces and four assists for the 7th-grade Crusaders. Kassidy Beckstein had one kill.Mackenzie Sawyer had four aces and one dig. Quinn Shelton had five kills and five aces. Jessica VandenBoom had three assists and six aces. Makayla Tipton had five aces.
Rylee Werling had two digs for the 8th-grade Crusaders. Chloie Williams had one dig, five assists and two aces. Arissa Moser had one ace. Arianna Cruz had one dig and one kill. Erika Thornton had one dig and one assist. Liara Isnogle had two kills. Jordyn Shaffer had four aces. Halie McMillan had two digs, two kills and one ace.
Lauren Stauffer had four kills for the 8th-grade Tigers. Morgan Corle had two kills, Emma Thompson one and Kennedy Johnson one. Erin McKinley and Thompson each had one block.
Sydney Longenberger had nine serves for the 7th-grade Tigers, Sara Baumgartner six, Danielle Biberstein four, Kaitlyn Hart three and Caroline Mettler two.
Carroll jayvees blank Norwell
The Carroll Chargers defeated the Norwell Knights junior varsity football team 12-0 Tuesday night.
Norwell’s Beau Burke had a fumble recovery. Joe Rasdorf caught a 53-yard pass from Nathan Shelton.

Sign up for Squires Basketball League
Any girl or boy in grades 3-6 in the Northern Wells Community School district may register for the Norwell Squires Basketball League by Friday, Oct. 1. Registration forms have been distributed to all schools. Games will be held on Saturdays in the Norwell High School auxiliary gym beginning Oct. 30. For further information, please call girls’ varsity basketball coach Eric Thornton at 543-2213 (ext. 7233) or boys’ varsity basketball coach Randy Hawkins (ext. 7235).

Trio leads senior golfers
Bob Gilliom, Jack Decker and Jim Smith were the individual leaders for the Tuesday Senior Golf League at Green Valley Golf Course in Bluffton.
Gilliom and Decker tied for the low gross score each with a 42 and Smith had the low net score of 30.
Members of the winning team were Gilliom, Decker, Smith and Fred Pernell. Decker also made the longest putt. Bill Fuller was closest to the pin. The senior tournament is Sept. 14 at 9 a.m.

Kentucky stiffens drug tests for horses
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky horse racing officials have extended the state’s power to drug test horses, passing a measure that will allow them to test any horse eligible to race in the Bluegrass anywhere at any time.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission unanimously approved an aggressive random testing measure in hopes of further curbing blood doping and drug use in the sport.
The policy has been tabbed as an emergency regulation by the KHRC, speeding up the ratification process. It will go into effect once signed by Gov. Steve Beshear, which should happen well before the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs in early November.