Local Sports 2023

ONTARIO, OH - In this episode of Inside the ONT, host Brian Weaver sits down with Ontario's Matt Bayes for a conversation about tennis.Inside the ONT is a collaboration between WMFD-TV and Ontario Local Schools. Check out new episodes of Inside the ONT exclusively on WMFD.com for in-depth interviews on Ontario Athletics and everything in between. ... Continue Reading

LEXINGTON, OH- At Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, President Craig Rust gives a preview about The Mid-Ohio's upcoming events this summer. "We had a really busy season here coming up... said Craig Rust, especially compared to what we did last year. We are really excited to have IMSA coming back, The Weather Tech Series isn't coming, but the Michelin Pilot Challenge is going to do a four-hour race on Sunday. (The weekend of June 7-9), So that is new for us." "There is also going to be five series on that weekend (June 7-9)... said Rust Ford is introducing The Mustang challenge, So we are the inaugural race for the Ford Mustang challenge. A great sports car weekend, and it's great to have IMSA come back."Craig Rust was asked if The Honda Indy 200 is still a big weekend at Mid-Ohio?"Yeah they are all getting big, The Honda Indy 200 is the event we are most known for... said Rust We are interested to see how The motorcycle coming back, this used to be a huge motorcycle market, so we are interested to see how that is done for us." The Honda Indy 200 right now with our partnership with Honda being right down the road in Marysville is really a key event for us." Rust talks about Track improvements at Mid-Ohio"Well the biggest thing is we paved the entire track... said Rust, that is something we have been talking about the last three or four years, so we were able to get that done this past fall." "The entire 2.25 mile track has all been paved, excited about that. "We had early reviews with some of our club racing, everyone says it's really smooth and fast. That is the biggest improvement we made that people will notice."Upcoming Events For Summer 2024 At Mid-Ohio June 7-9 IMSA Michelin Sports Car 4-Hour Classic at Mid-OhioJune 21-23 Permco Vintage Grand Prix at July 5-7 Honda Indy 200July 26-28 Permco AMA Vintage Motorcycle DaysAug 16-18 MotoAmerica SuperBikes ... Continue Reading

ASHLAND, OH- At Jack Miller Stadium, The Ashland Eagles football team Purple and Gold Spring Game was on Saturday Afternoon. Team Purple scored a couple of touchdowns to come away with a 14-6 victory.During Halftime Shelby's Football Head coach Rob Mahaney was awarded The Fred Martinelli Coaches Award. Coach Mahaney talks about winning the award,"Coach Geiser called me in the other day, The award goes to an Ashland U Alumni. This place shaped me of who I am as a coach, and I feel pretty honored to get this award." said Mahaney "When Coach Geiser called it was an awesome feeling to know that some of the stuff we have done and being an alumni here got to this point."After the game, Head Coach Doug Geiser has thoughts about the Spring game."I was extremely happy with the energy...said Geiser and the competition, and guys getting after each other a little bit it was a clean game." Ashland Eagles 2024 Football Season Starts on Thursday, September 5 at home against IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) Crimson Hawks at 7:00 p.m. ... Continue Reading

ONTARIO, OH - In this episode of Inside the ONT, host Brian Weaver sits down with Ontario's Payton Dzugan for a conversation about baseball.Inside the ONT is a collaboration between WMFD-TV and Ontario Local Schools. Check out new episodes of Inside the ONT exclusively on WMFD.com for in-depth interviews on Ontario Athletics and everything in between. ... Continue Reading

ashland, ohio, The Ashland Arrows boys track team is hoping to keep their streak alive in conference action having won the last seven in a row the team is looking to win their 8th straight. Head coach Ryan Stackhouse says it won't be easy. "we are really excited to just to be able to compete again Lexington is very good this year, New Phladelphia is new competittion. this year they have turned in some good times. For Jayden Goings it's a matter of like father like son. "I got into track. I got into track because of my dad he was a hurdler at Ashland U and a sprinter. We are excited we know this is what Ashland looks forward to during the spring time." For sprinter jacob Holbrook My freshman year just before track season coach Dan Fuller asked me if I would be interested in running track because I'm fast. so I said I would talk it over with my parents and grand parents. I decided to come out and give it a year to see how things went and it went really wel and I just stuck with it said, holbrook. "We do alot of high-speed work and conditioning." said Holbrook ... Continue Reading

MANSFIELD, OH - Local area teams had a very good day and set some very good times at the Mehock Relays on Saturday afternoon, April 13.Cecelia Chase of Colonel Crawford won the girl's 1600m run with a final time of 5:28.0.5.Galion's Makayla Halbisen finished third in the girl's 1600m run with a time 5:37.77. Crestview's Alina Durbin finished fifth place in the 1600m run with a time of 5:45.30Lexington's Latrell Hughes won the boys 400m dash with a time of 49.50.Lexington's Will Perkins finished in second place in the boys 400m dash with a time of 50.58.Shelby's Marshall Moore and Indy Mayer finished first and sixth in the 800m run.Crestview's Logan Fridges and Cooper Brockway finished in second and fourth place as well in the 800m run Lexington won the boys 4x400 race with a time of 3:27.11. The team consisted of Will Perkins, Carter Newman, Bryston Hess, and Latrell Hughes.Crestview finished second place in the boys 4x400 with a time of 3:35.01, and the Ashland Arrows in third place with a time of 3:35.05. Lexington won the overall team title with Ashland coming in second. on the Girls side colonel crawford was second followed by Galion who was third. ... Continue Reading

LEXINGTON, OH - Of the many tennis teams that were at Lakewood Racquet Club in Lexington, Ohio on Thursday evening was Ontario. Coach Cary Carcione talks about who is back. Carcione told WMFD, that we have four returning players who are pretty strong the Sanchez brothers, Pablo, and Hector. Pablo was the MOAC Player Of The Year last season and his brother is a very strong player too. She also highlighted Matt Bays who is a junior. She said he spends a ton of time down here at Lakewood. Carcione said there are also new members to the team. Some of the strong competitors in the MOAC are Marion Harding, River Valley, and Shelby is very competitive. She said they hope to win the league again, but we will see how that goes. ... Continue Reading

ONTARIO, OH - In this episode of Inside the ONT, host Brian Weaver sits down with Ontario softball player Autumn Taylor to talk about getting back in the swing with the new season.Inside the ONT is a collaboration between WMFD-TV and Ontario Local Schools. Check out new episodes of Inside the ONT exclusively on WMFD.com for in-depth interviews on Ontario Athletics and everything in between. ... Continue Reading

Ashland univesity, Ashland, Ohio The Ashland University football Eagles are putting themselves through Spring Drills as they prep for theer nnual spring game coming up on April 20th at 1pm. Over all I thought the defense took it to the offense . At end i think the offense found themselves a little bit, but over all I twas the defense that got the better of thing today." ... Continue Reading

Bellville, ohio Clear Fork high school. The clear fork track team continues to prep for the season under head coach Eric Beck. " We had alot of success last year with Joe Stepka three podium appearances at state. football did a number on his shoulder we are trying to bring him back slowly" said Beck "We hope to have him back some by the MOAC, but we'll see I don't like to push my runners if they are injured. I would rather have him healthy and Alot of it is programming we do rill with the punches we want two to happen our program is built around peaking at two places Mehock and State. " ... Continue Reading

SHELBY, OH - Blue skies overlooked Shelby's Copperweld Field on Friday, as area landscaping companies Flashover Maintenance and RiverRun Solutions fixed up Shelby's five existing little league fields. RiverRun President Josh Horst talked about what went into the cleanup effort to get the field ready for the season."We're here reconditioning the baseball fields for the youth baseball program - baseball and softball," said Horst. "Usually after a hard winter - and as baseball season ends [at] the fields, everybody gets done taking care of them. We always come in every year and get the fields reconditioned by raking them out. We bring guys in, we re-edge the baseball field, rake it out, pull all the weeds, clean out the dugouts, pick up trash, anything that's overgrown in the last six months or so since the previous baseball season, we come in and just get it up to par for the community."Each of the workers present at the field on Friday was a volunteer - the field maintenance was done for free, as many of the crew members spent their youth playing sports and fondly look back on it."All of us came together and donated our time for the community," Horst said. "We want to be able to give back to the youth in the community to make sure that they have a great place to play baseball and softball. Riverrun has about six guys here today, we joined up with [Flashover Maintenance]."Maintenance workers could be seen trimming the lawn, cleaning up dugouts, pulling weeds, re-edging the dirt on the field during the volunteer effort."We always like to give back to our community. It doesn't matter if it's Shelby or Crestline," said David Taylor, Vice-President of Operations at Flashover Maintenance. "We're always about volunteering - for kids, especially."The maintenance work wasn't the only thing that was donated for free - Daniel King of the Change-Up Charity presented the little league coach with some new equipment to distribute to players who were unable to purchase their own gear."The Change-Up Charity's based [on] helping little kids who can't really afford to play baseball or softball," King said. "We just kind of take one for the team and help them out there. Our goal for this year will be to, help out as many kids as we can, who are can't afford anything or do anything. So, I like to get out there as best we can." ... Continue Reading

ONTARIO, OH - With the basketball season recently wrapped up, Ontario athletic director Jeff Fisher spoke with WMFD about what a school does when hosting a high school basketball tournament game."We knew back in October once that the potential was there that we could host the District Basketball Tournament here," said Fisher. "As a Division II school, we couldn't host if we were in the District Tournament so once we got the phone call on that Friday that Mansfield Senior beat Bellevue that we were gonna have the lights on here and host, it just kind of getting all of our hands on deck and ready to get the logistics down of hosting a great basketball tournament."Fisher said that the stadium was "full house.""Based on the finals being a sell-out I think we had four basketball communities that anticipated great basketball," said Fisher. "That's where it comes down to, I think we had exceptional basketball play, great coaching, great athletes, competitive ball games, and I think the environment was just right for excitement and a full house here in the O-Rena."Fisher also felt hosting a tournament match was something Ontario was due."Ultimately, we felt like Ontario was due to host a tournament of that magnitude," said Fisher. "We loved every piece of it from servicing our teams, the officials, our gatekeepers, it was all-hands-on-deck here to make it an enjoyable event."Ontario's gym is approaching 25 years old and can seat 2,000 people. Fisher said, "From a hospitality standpoint, our kids are safe, and our fans are comfortable and watching basketball." ... Continue Reading

Lexington ... Continue Reading

DAYTON, OH - Despite a Herculean effort by Alex Bruskotter (34 points), the Shelby Whippets' historic season came to an end at the hands of the Maysville Panthers in Dayton on Saturday, March 23, in the OHSAA Division II Boys State Semifinals, 65-68. Bruskotter had some support from fellow Whippets Casey Lantz (12 points) and Issaiah Ramsey (9 points).The loss in Dayton marks the furthest Shelby's season has lasted, one match away from claiming a State title. ... Continue Reading

TODAY at 2pm: SHELBY in the State Semi-Finals!Listen in live here on WMFD.com or on WRGM 106.7FM! ... Continue Reading

Shelbyhigh school shelby, ohio the Shelby basketball team got a huge send -off on Friday morning as they prepare for their state semi- final against Maysville which is coming up on Saturday at 2pm. The Whippets will play their semifinal on Saturday. should they win their final will be on Sunday at 5:15 against. the winner of the Kerttering archbishop alter who is 25-3 or Youngstown Ursaline who is 24-3. that game would be played Sunday at 5:15pm. The Whippets go into the weekend at 25-2. ... Continue Reading

shelby, Ohio the shelby boys basketball team getting set for their first ever trip to the state semi final in program history. head coach Gerg Gallaway. says it's quite an honor to be the first team to get their in program history. "With all the tradition that has been here at Shelby you are talking about guys who have won NBA championships." said Gallaway. for Shelby senior forward. Issiah Ramsey he the team needs to stay condident,but not cross the line and be arrogant. we to go in being confident, but not arrogant. we are confident, but we can't cross that line and become arrogant everybody here at state is good. if shelby is able to win they will be matched up against the winner of the ... Continue Reading

ONTARIO, OH - In this episode of Inside the ONT, host Brian Weaver sits down with Ontario's Taylor Counts for a conversation about basketball, recovering from injuries, and everything in between.Inside the ONT is a collaboration between WMFD-TV and Ontario Local Schools. Check out new episodes of Inside the ONT exclusively on WMFD.com for in-depth interviews on Ontario Athletics and everything in between. ... Continue Reading

BOWLING GREEN, OH - The Shelby Whippets made history Saturday afternoon by winning the Regional Finals at Bowling Green State University, something the school hasn't done in quite some time.The match certainly wasn't one-sided, as the two teams flipped the lead numerous times throughout the match.Shelby ended up pulling ahead near the end, leading by 11 points off of some free throws by Alex Bruskotter, which confirmed the Whippets' victory.UP NEXT:The Whippets (25-2, 14-0 MOAC) will next compete for a state title on March 23 at 2 p.m. against Zanesville Maysville at the University of Dayton. ... Continue Reading

BOWLING GREEN UNIVERSITY - The Shelby Whippets will be moving onto Division-II Regional Finals after defeating Lima-Shawnee at Bowling Green State University on Thursday night. Brian Weaver of WMFD Sports spoke with Shelby's head coach, Greg Gallaway, after Thursday night's game to get his perspective on Lima-Shawnee and where the team has to be when they face Rocky River Lutheran West on Saturday.BRIAN WEAVER: We're here with Greg Gallaway after a regional semifinal victory by nine points over Lima-Shawnee: Coach, you jumped out to a big lead at the end of the first quarter, you knew it was far from being over.GREG GALLAWAY: I mean, you know, if you get complacent after like a 10-0 run in the first, then you're not really an experienced basketball team. So we knew they were going to make their runs. We got off to a quick start, but credit to our guys for challenging themselves at halftime and in the time-outs to get stops when we needed to, and, you know obviously stopping those runs against Shawnee, they're a good basketball team. They're young, too. They're going to keep playing in these games here for a while. I'm just proud of our guys.BRIAN WEAVER: Beckett Berke, 41, tonight for Shawnee. He's only a sophomore, and I'm sure you had a game plan for him. 41 points is a lot for for a player. Did you think that he was going to be that much of an impact on the game?GREG GALLAWAY: I mean, I don't think any coach expects 41, you know, to be a number before a game. But we knew he was a really good player, and we just wanted to make him work for everything. Credit to him, he's a really good basketball player. I thought we did a good job making some of those shots tough that he made. That's what good players do, they find ways to get the ball and they want it in their hands in big games like this. But, you know, despite that, I'm just proud of our guys and how we rallied together on the defensive end and finished the game.BRIAN WEAVER: You have such a fine culture at Shelby for basketball, and I'm sure they're going to have a big send-off when you come back here on Saturday. You're going to take this victory and kind of enjoy it for the moment and get back after work tomorrow and try to game plan for Lutheran West?GREG GALLAWAY: Yeah, just a moment. Like you said, we left the locker room saying, you know, this is awesome. Embrace this. You know, not a lot of teams can say they play in an environment like this and win a regional game. But it's a quick turnaround against a really good team. We left that locker room saying, hug your families, you know, give high fives to them. But no, we got business to take care of Saturday. ... Continue Reading