Sports Round-Up by Paul Beitler

Norwell spikers douse Starfires
The Norwell volleyball team beat the South Adams Starfires 3-0 on Thursday night at Berne.
The Knights (9-3) won the games 25-13, 25-13, 25-11.
Amanda McAfee and Olivia Geiger led the Knights’ hitting with nine and eight kills, respectively. Lauren Klansek added six, while Emily Gresley and Jessica Louison each had four.
Louison led Norwell’s serving with seven aces and Elizabeth Ault had three. Louison and Ault each had 11 digs. Ault also had two kills. Laken Chaney had 27 assists and four digs.
Taylor Farlow led the Starfires with seven kills and 10 digs.
Norwell beat South Adams 2-1 in the junior varsity match with scores of 25-13, 24-25, 15-9.
In a C-team match, Norwell won 25-22, 25-16.

Knights stay unbeaten in tennis
The Norwell boys’ tennis team extended its unbeaten record Thursday with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Columbia City Eagles in the first Northeast Hoosier Conference match for the Knights.
At Norwell, the Knights improved to 8-0 overall. Meanwhile, the junior varsity Knights (7-1) topped the Eagles 4-2.

NORWELL 3, COLUMBIA CITY 2
At Norwell
VARSITY SINGLES: Reid Imel (N) d. Dylan Hinen 6-1, 6-0; Kyle Fillman (N) d. Travis Johnson 6-4, 6-2; Derek Hinen (CC) d. Ross Mathews 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
VARSITY DOUBLES: Alan Murphy/J.T. Biggs (CC) d. Kyle Isch/Tanner Mathews 6-1, 6-3; Tanner Bowen/Brandon Taylor (N) d. Cole Craven/Gabe Boles 6-1, 7-5.
NORWELL 4, COLUMBIA CITY 2
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Mitchell Wilson (N) d. Devin Moore 8-5; Ryan Flauding (CC) d. Drew Shively 8-7 (7-3); Jake Price (N) d. Dalton VanHouten 8-3.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Matt Rethlake/Austin Funk (CC) d. Damon Gerber/Tyler Smith 8-7 (8-6); Jordan Dickey/Luke Hunter (N) d. Clayton Verberkmoes/Blake Fearnow 8-3; Dickey/Hunter (N) d. Lucas Kumfer/David Peterson 8-0.

Blackhawk Christian nips
Bluffton in boys’ tennis
The Blackhawk Christian Braves edged the Bluffton Tigers 3-2 in boys’ varsity tennis on Thursday at Bluffton.
Bluffton won the junior varsity match 3-1.

BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN 3, BLUFFTON 2
At Bluffton
VARSITY SINGLES: Jake Brauner (BC) d. Damon Kuhlenbeck 6-2, 6-2; Caleb Targgart (BC) d. Jackson Bates 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2; Jake Fielder (BC) def. Zach Mezera 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
VARSITY DOUBLES: Chandler Okey/Michael Vanderkolk (BL) d. Aaron Rachlow/James Valmassoi 6-1, 6-0; Alex Penrod/Brendan Baumgartner (BL) d. Alex Beechy/Justin Matthews 6-1, 6-0.

BLUFFTON 3, BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN 1
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Carson Addington (BL) d. Wyatt Osborn 8-0; Got Jutarmontree (BL) d. Nick Berry 8-0.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Matt Dann/Stephen Vanderkolk (BL) def. Trevor Smith/Nick Berry 8-3; Wyatt Osborn/Trevor Smith (BC) def. Keith Cochran/Alex Miller 8-2.

Knights blank Jay County in soccer
Four different players scored Thursday night to lead the Norwell boys’ soccer team to a 4-0 victory over the Jay County Patriots at Portland.
Briar Bolinger, Luke Batdorff and Aaron Seman gave the Knights (4-3) the lead in the first half and Paxton Lehman added a goal in the second half. Seman also had two assists. Drew Burch and Jason Miskin also had assists.
Norwell goalkeeper Justin Eberle had three saves in recording the shutout. Seth Ainsworth was the Patriots’ goalkeeper.

Knights, Patriots play to tie
in girls’ soccer
The Norwell Knights and Jay County Patriots played to a 1-1 deadlock Thursday in girls’ soccer at Norwell.
Caitlin Ailor gave Norwell a 1-0 first-half lead, but Leann Horn knotted up the score with a goal for Jay County in the second half.
Norwell’s record is now 0-3-2. Jay County is 0-3-1.
Ailor had 10 shots on goal and Tasia de Leon had six shots and an assist. Kylee Byerly and Lauren Johnson each had five shots for Norwell. Haley Heller had 13 saves in goal for Norwell. Mollie May had 15 saves for Jay County.

Leo girls top SA, SW golfers
The Leo Lions girls’ golf team defeated South Adams and Southern Wells on Thursday. The Lions had a team score of 182, while South Adams shot a 233 and the Raiders netted a total of 259.
Sadie Herr led the Raiders with a nine-hole round of 59. Acacia Herr shot a 62 and Jayde Sills a 66. Kendra Mounsey shot a 72.

Norwell freshmen blank Heritage
The Norwell freshman football team defeated Heritage 22-0 Thursday night. David Vogel ran for a touchdown and threw for another to lead the Knights.
Vogel had a five-yard run and 25-yard pass to Graham Stoppenhagen. Vogel also threw a two-point pass to Stoppenhagen. Jonah Patten scored on a 15-yard run and Vogel passed to Patten for two points.
Other top players on offense were Justice Reed, Ethan Stoppenhagen, Aaron Harris and Brent Bales. Defensive standouts were Isaac Delgado, Justin Branstrator, Isaac James, Cody Felger, Reed and Patten.

SW Jr. High girls beat Blackford
Seven members of the Southern Wells Junior High School girls’ cross country team finished in the top 10 to lead the Raiders to a 16-47 victory over Blackford on Thursday at Southern Wells.
Sam Ramseyer led the Southern Wells girls. She finished the 3,000-meter course in 12:42. Meghan Yencer was second, Chloe Maddox third, Shelby Skidmore fourth and Timber Tucker sixth to account for the team score. Brooke Penrod was seventh and Chloe Elam eighth. Other Raider finishers were Tori Wiese 13th, Jordan Sills 14th and Kennedy Rhodes 16th.
In the boys’ meet Blackford edged the Raiders 28-29, but Paul Renner led the Raiders by winning the 3K race in 12:31. The other Raider finishers were Wyatt Maddox third, Nick Childers fifth, Ian Klowetter eighth and Ian Abney 12th.

Bluffton MS spikers post wins
The Bluffton Middle School volleyball teams defeated Blackford Thursday. The 8th-grade girls won 25-17, 25-20 and the 7th-graders won 24-25, 25-22, 15-8.
Kennedy Johnson had two kills, three aces and 12 service points for the 8th-graders. Erin McKinley had one kill, one block, two aces and six points. Morgan Corle had nine points and two aces. Siera Gregg and Lauren Stauffer each had two aces and five points. Emma Thompson had three points and one block.
Sara Baumgartner had five aces for the 7th-graders. Kaitlyn Hart had three aces, Kendall Mechling and Danielle Biberstein two aces apiece, and Sydney Longenberger and Caroline Mettler one ace apiece.

7th-grade Crusaders beat DeKalb
The Norwell Crusaders’ 7th-grade football team opened its season Wednesday with a 25-12 win over visiting DeKalb.
Bray Wilson threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Ingle. Ingle added a five-yard touchdown run. Wilson also added a short touchdown run and Ingle added an extra-point run. Cody More opened the second half with a 70-yard kick return.
The defense was lead by Trevor Eichler, Austin Miller, Jaron Stoppenhagen, Zach Kintz, Conner Nash, McGerran Clouser and Chase McGrew.