Sports Round-Up by Paul Beitler

Undefeated Knights roll on
Norwell improved its boys’ tennis record to 6-0 with a 4-1 victory over Columbia City in Northeast Hoosier Conference action on Thursday at Columbia City.
Kyle Fillman, Reid Imel and Thye Petty won their singles matches to lead the Knights, while the No. 1 doubles tandem of Kyle Reinhard and Ross Mathews notched a win for another Norwell point.
The Knights also captured the junior varsity match 5-0 to rise to 6-0.
NORWELL 4, COLUMBIA CITY 1
At Columbia City
VARSITY SINGLES: Kyle Fillman (N) d. Dylan Hinen 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Reid Imel (N) d. Matt Sewell 6-3, 6-4; Thye Petty (N) d. Travis Johnson 6-2, 6-4.
VARSITY DOUBLES: Kyle Reinhard/Ross Mathews (N) d. Alan Murphy/Andy Moog 6-0, 6-4; Derrick Hinen/Gabe Boles (CC) d. Jasson Werling/Kyle Isch 6-3, 6-1.
NORWELL 5, COLUMBIA CITY 0
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Mitchell Wilson (N) d. Cole Craven 8-3; Tanner Mathews (N) d. Ryan Flauding 8-5; Sean Cole (N) d. Devin Moore 8-5; Damon Gerber (N) d. David Petterson 8-0.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Brandon Taylor/Tanner Bowen (N) d. Craven/Petterson 6-0.

Tiger netmen fall to Blackhawk
Blackhawk Christian defeated Bluffton 3-2 in boys’ tennis Thursday by sweeping the singles matches.
Jackson Bates and Cameron Gerber were the No. 1 doubles winners for Bluffton, while teammates Chandler Okey and Michael Vanderkolk won their No. 2 doubles match.
Bluffton won the junior varsity match 6-0.
BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN 3, BLUFFTON 2
At Fort Wayne
VARSITY SINGLES: Brennan Wieland (BC) def. Cody Cochran 6-2, 6-3; Jake Brauner (BC) def. Nick Huffman 7-5, 7-5; Caleb Targgart (BC) def. Bryan Bowman 6-1, 6-1.
VARSITY DOUBLES: Jackson Bates/Cameron Gerber (B) def. Ben Eimer/Aaron Rachlow 6-2, 6-1; Chandler Okey/Michael Vanderkolk (B) def. Jon Eimer/Andrew Anguiano 6-2, 6-0.
BLUFFTON 6, BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN 0
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Carlos Vergara (B) def. Andrew Schnurr 8-0; Dillon Myers (B) def. James Valmassi 8-0.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Zach Mezera/Alex Penrod (B) def. Justin Matthews/Andrew Miller 8-0; Luke Bertsch/Josh Buckland (B) def. Jacob Hoover/Justin Matthews 8-0; Matt Dann/Brendan Baumgartner (B) def. Valmassi/Miller 8-0; Austin Okey/Seth Thompson (B) def. Hoover/Matthews 8-1.

Homestead golfers down Knights
Homestead defeated the Norwell Knights girls’ golf team 187-200 in a Northeast Hoosier Conference match on Thursday at Timber Ridge golf course in Bluffton.
Brianna Blumenhurst shot a 44 on the back nine to lead the Spartans and take medalist honors. Taylor Lamphier added a 46 for Homestead, while Ally Stanley shot a 48 and Jasmine Jennings bagged a 49.
Cassie Herndon led the Knights with a 48. Kristen Springer and Megan Evans each shot a 50 and Hannah Porrata netted a 52. Olivia Shapley added a 57.
Homestead also won the junior varsity match, topping Norwell 207-251. Jennifer Sirleuis led the Spartans with a 44. Haley Toliver and Kristie Morgan each shot a 62 for the Knights.

Starfires surpass Leo, SW golfers
The South Adams Starfires defeated Leo and Southern Wells in a three-way girls’ golf match on Thursday at Dogwood Glen golf course in Warren.
Tricia Crider shot a 50 to lead South Adams, which tallied a team score of 210. Emily Barker led Leo, tying Crider with a 50, and the Lions posted a 212 team score. Southern Wells finished with a 232, led by Sadie Herr with a 52.
Morgan Perry added a 57 for Southern Wells, while Acacia Herr shot a 60, Kendra Mounsey a 63 and Jayde Sills a 64.

Jay County girls blank Knights
Mallory Poole scored two goals to lead the Jay County Patriots girls’ soccer team to a 2-0 victory over the Norwell Knights on Thursday at Portland.
Norwell (1-5) had seven shots on goal by Tasia DeLeon and Lauren Johnson. Caitlin Ailor had five shots and Morgin Imel four Jay County goalkeeper Mollie May blanked the Knights with 18 saves. Norwell goalkeeper Haley Heller had seven saves.

Norwell girls second at conditioner
The Norwell girls’ cross country team continued to make progress with a second-place performance at the Bellmont Conditioner on Tuesday in Decatur.
The Knights’ sophomore combination of Kaitlyn Best and Jami Reinhard finished third for the second year in a row with a total time of 25:12.
Each team is split up into pairs of runners, with each member running a mile loop in relay fashion until each member has completed two loops.
Homestead was the winning team with a total time of 74:37. Norwell posted a time of 81:06. Bellmont was third in 82:55 and Fort Wayne Bishop Luers fourth in 87:25. New Haven did not have a complete squad.
The next Norwell duo of Kelsey Worrel and Halle Sweet was 10th in 27:14, followed by Alexis Searles and Alex Wall, 14th, in 29:46 and Katherine Gordon and Corinne Eckert, 19th, in 29:46. There were 31 pairs of runners.

Norwell freshmen beat Heritage
Tailur Szarenski scored on runs of 14 and three yards to lead the Norwell Knights’ freshman football team to a 20-7 victory over Heritage Thursday night.
Grahm Smith added a four-yard touchdown run and Szarenski scored the two-point conversion. Szarenski ran for 163 yards, Smith 97 and Luke Rinkenberger 53. Offensive linemen Cameron Dohrman, Spencer Newell, Drew Giltner, Heath Bumgarner and Dan Wood opened up holes for the running backs.
On defense, the Knights were led by Alex Mills with an interception, and Jordan Retherford, Cale Schumm, Blake Wyatt, Max Morgan, Rinkenberger and Newell.

Lose U.S. Open doubles match
J.T. Sundling and David Nguyen, two 18-year-old tennis players from California, came up short in their first experience in the U.S. Open Thursday.
Sundling and Nguyen lost their first-round men’s doubles match to Maximo Gonzalez and Juan Monaco of Argentina 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Sundling is the grandson of David and Carol Dale and Mary and the late Lester Sundling of Bluffton, and the son of Jennifer and Tom Sundling of Thousand Oaks, Calif.

SW Jr. High girls run to victory
The Southern Wells Junior High School girls’ cross country team defeated Hartford City 18-44 on Thursday at Hartford City.
Ivy Maddox won the girls’ 3,000-meter race for Southern Wells in 13:17. Other Southern Wells finishers were: 2. Meghan Yencer; 4. Timber Tucker; 5. Chloe Maddox; 6. Brooke Penrod; 7. Autumn Stevens; 9. Carissa Carter; 10. Jordan Sills; 11. Ashton Prible; 13. Ashley Lefebvre; 14. Chloe Elam; 17. Kennedy Rhodes.
Hartford City won the boys’ meet 26-31, while Southern Wells’ Taylor Thompson took first place in the 3,000-meter race in 11:47. Other Southern Wells finishers were: 5. Kedrick Barr; 6. Josh Markley; 7. T.C. Perry; 14. John Harris.

Tigersharks needs diving coach
The Bluffton High School Athletic Department is seeking candidates and taking applications for diving coach. Applicants should have a strong background in the technical skills of diving, along with the leadership abilities to work with student-athletes and coaches. Interested applicants should contact Athletic Director Steve Thompson at 260-824-3724 as soon as possible.

Bluffton boosters to be tailgating
The Bluffton Athletic Boosters will be having a tailgate party on Friday before the football game against South Adams from 5:30 p.m. until game time. Anyone is welcome and should bring a side dish and lawn chairs. Sandwiches will be provided.