Sports Round-Up by Paul Beitler

Norwell girls stroll over Starfires
Tasia de Leon had a “Texas hat trick” and Lauren Johnson added a regular hat trick to lead the Norwell girls’ soccer team to a 10-1 victory over the South Adams Starfires on Thursday evening at Berne.
De Leon had four goals and Johnson three, while Mariah Hoger, Kim Sterrett and Sophie Gerber each scored one goal. The win ups Norwell’s record to 2-4-2.
Sterrett also had two assists and de Leon one. Johnson had 12 shots on goal, while de Leon had five. Starting goalkeeper Haley Heller had two saves for the Knights. Britney Caldwell and Kierstin Bailey each split time in net during the second half. Bailey allowed the Starfire goal.
South Adams’ Olivia Turner broke up Norwell’s bid for a shutout with a goal late in the second half.

Knights blank Bulldogs in boys’ soccer
Jacob Meyer scored a first-half goal to lead the Norwell boys’ soccer team to a 2-0 victory over New Haven in a Northeast Hoosier Conference match at New Haven on Thursday.
Norwell upped its record to 5-4 and 2-1 in conference.
Meyer scored in the 21st minute with an assist from Briar Bolinger. Adam Lambert scored an unassisted goal with five minutes left in the second half to complete the Knights’ scoring.
Justin Eberle had seven saves to record the shutout for Norwell. Zac Brown was the losing goalkeeper.

Bluffton netmen top Jay County
The Bluffton boys’ tennis team won both doubles matches and Damon Kuhlenbeck and Dillon Myers won singles matches to lead the Tigers over Jay County 4-1 on Thursday at Portland.
Bluffton won the junior varsity match 7-4.

BLUFFTON 4, JAY COUNTY 1
At Portland
VARSITY SINGLES: Damon Kuhlenbeck (B) d. Brad Leuthold 6-0, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4); Derek Smith (JC) d. Brendan Baumgartner 6-0, 6-1; Dillon Myers (B) d. Morton Garringer 6-3, 6-1.
VARSITY DOUBLES: Chandler Okey/Michael Vanderkolk (B) d. Chance Fuller/Jordan McBride 6-1, 6-1; Zach Mezera/Alex Penrod (B) d. Joe Imel/Drew Wood 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.
BLUFFTON 7, JAY COUNTY 4
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Landry Inman (JC) d. Jake Garrett 8-7 (9-7); Jackson Lambert (B) d. Josh Martin 8-4; Trey Mettler (B) d. Shawn Homan 8-2; Tony Schwieterman (JC) d. Nathaniel Clark 8-4; Got Jutarmontree (B) d. Matt Shrack 8-4; Matt Dann (B) d. Preston Overholser 8-2; Kody Degler (JC) d. Alex Miller 8-2.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Luke Bertsch/Josh Buckland (B) d. Nick Leuthold/Jake Schwieterman 8-4; Austin Okey/Carson Addington (B) d. Kody Degler/Darren DeRome 8-4; Jacob Antrim/Stephen Vanderkolk (B) d. Dylan Franks/Colby Cline 8-6; Blake Boughman/Josh Lykins (JC) d. Keith Cochran/Pavlos Panagiotidis 8-1.

Knights clip Bellmont netmen
The Norwell boys’ tennis team pulled out a 3-2 victory over the Bellmont Braves Thursday at Decatur to up its Northeast Hoosier Conference record to 3-0.
The Knights (10-1) won both doubles matches and Reid Imel defeated Payton Selking in the No. 1 singles match.
In the junior varsity match, the Knights won 7-1 to improve to 9-2.

NORWELL 3, BELLMONT 2
At Decatur
VARSITY SINGLES: Reid Imel (N) d. Payton Selking 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Kodee McIntosh (B) d. Kyle Isch 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; Phil Bauman (B) d. Tanner Bowen 6-4, 6-3.
VARSITY DOUBLES: Ross Mathews/Kyle Fillman (N) d. Matt Stidam/Garrett McCord 6-0, 6-0; Brandon Taylor/Tanner Mathews (N) d. Dave Baker/Aaron Thieme 6-1, 6-2.
NORWELL 7, BELLMONT 1
JUNIOR VARSITY SINGLES: Mitchell Wilson (N) d. Mason Selking 8-1; Tyler Smith (N) d. Nick Huffine 8-4; Jake Price (N) d. Connor Busick 8-6; Wilson (N) d. Greg Larrabee 8-1; Smith (N) d. Nathan Brune 8-0.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOUBLES: Kyle Smith/Nick Faurote (B) d. Luke Hunter/Damon Gerber 8-6; Jordan Dickey/Drew Shively (N) d. Caleb Averill/Dalton Mann 8-7 (7-4); Hunter/Gerber (N) d. Austin Mann/Isaac Corrall 8-0.

AC spikers defeat Southern Wells
The Adams Central girls’ volleyball team defeated Southern Wells 3-0 Thursday night in Allen County Athletic Conference action at Monroe.
The Jets, 8-4 and 2-0 in conference, won the games 25-20, 25-14, 25-13.
Hali Wendel powered the Jets with 15 kills, six blocks, two aces and 12 digs. Alyssa Keller had 20 assists, five kills, one ace and eight digs. Bess Fiechter also had five kills and Chelsie Eads four. Sarah Soldner, Jenae Blackburn and Alexa Baller each had two aces. Soldner also had 11 digs.
The junior varsity Jets won 25-9, 25-9 to improve to 9-3 and 2-0.

SW golfers come up short
The Southern Wells girls’ golf team dropped a pair of matches this week.
Southwood defeated the Raiders 225-234 on Thursday at Dogwood Glen in Warren, while on Tuesday Madison-Grant beat the Raiders 201-230 at Walnut Creek.
Sadie Herr shot a 48 to lead the Raiders with medalist honors against Southwood. Jayde Sills added a 57, followed by Acacia Herr with 65, Kendra Mounsey 64 and Emily Oswalt 75.
Southwood’s Jessica Pegg led her team with a 49. Anna Farlow added a 56 and Courtney Simpson a 57 for the Knights, while Emily Airgood finished with a 63.
Madison-Grant was paced by Laura Carey with a 41 and Gail Runyan shot a 49. Allison Alcala tacked on a 50 and Chelsea Raharr posted a 61.
Mounsey posted a 55 against Madison-Grant. Sadie Herr finished with a 56, while Acacia Herr was next with a 57. Sills ended up with a 62.

7th-grade Crusaders beat New Haven
The Norwell 7th-grade football team defeated New Haven 16-6 Wednesday night.
Brody Myers scored the Crusaders’ first touchdown on a 70-yard run with four minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Hunter Ingle’s kick gave Norwell the 8-6 lead.
A minute later Myers picked up a New Haven fumble and ran 40 yards for the winning touchdown. Ingle added the kick.
Trevor Eichler, Conner Nash, Bailey Wright, Jaron Stoppenhagen, Brad Kelley, Zach Kintz, Ingle and Myers led the Crusaders’ defense.

Tailgate party before Bluffton game
Bluffton football fans are invited to a tailgate party before Friday’s game against Woodlan at Fred F. Park Field. The party will be located in the parking lot near the practice field, starting at 5:45 p.m. Meat and table service will be provided. Fans should bring a dish to share.

Crusader girls win conditioner
For the second year in a row, the Norwell Middle School girls cross country team won the Bellmont Conditioner. Norwell edged the host school by one point.

South Adams tops young Tigers
The Bluffton Middle School 7th and 8th grade volleyball teams fell to the South Adams Starfires Thursday. In the 7th grade match, South Adams woon in three games, 25-19, 17-25, 15-7. Danielle Biberstein led the Tigers with 3 aces; Sydney Lngenberger socred 2 and Kendra Mechlin added one.
In the 8th grade match, Bluffton lost in two games, 25-13 and 25-18. Kennedy Johnson had 4 aces and 1 kill while Morgan Corle added 4 aces.