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Lakota West safety Dawson Fletcher officially signed to play football at Indiana University Feb. 1, 2012 on National Signing Day. Photo taken by Adam Kiefaber.

Unlike Lakota East, Lakota West High School hosts numerous signing ceremonies throughout the academic calendar. So far, there have been 32 seniors at Lakota West who have signed on to continue their athletic careers in college.

At Lakota East, there have been a total of 26 seniors recognized at two different signing day events in 2012.

Here is a list of all the Lakota West students who will be playing sports in college:

• Ali Zieverink – Shawnee State (basketball)
• Adrianna McNeal – Southwestern (basketball)
• Rachel Mills – Alderson Broddus Illinois College ((basketball)
• Summer Reeves – Morgan State University (basketball)
• Shabazz Reeves – Morgan State University (basketball)
• Jordan Darland – Olivet Nazarene (football)
• Blake Bell – California (PA.) (football)
• Dawson Fletcher – Indiana University (football)
• Cole Stalker – University of Findlay (football)
• Beau Odom – Georgetown College (football)
• Kayaune Ross – Fort Scott Community College (football)
• Bubba Williams – Lindsey Wilson (football)
• Evan Hodel – Wheeling Jesuit (lacrosse)
• Zach Crabtree – Wheeling Jesuit (lacrosse)
• Ali Green – Ashland (golf)
• Kim Love – Purdue University (soccer)
• Kelly Mack – Wright State (soccer)
• Lauren Pratt – Ohio Dominican (soccer)
• Malik Zuberi – Shawnee State (baseball)
• Zak Farmer – Walsh University (baseball)
• Davis Schafer – Bellarmine University (baseball)
• Mike Seaman – Trine University (baseball)
• Nick Billman – Mount St. Joseph (baseball)
• Jake Wagner – Miami-Hamilton (baseball)
• Amanda Lahti -  Ohio Northern (softball)
• Brooke Rowley – Lake Forest College (swimming)
• Brady Holmer – NKU (cross country)
• Amanda Shelby – Mount St. Joseph (cross country)
• Nathan Haynes – Navy (cross country)
• Mel Stewart – NKU (volleyball)
• Corri Muha – Georgetown College (volleyball)
• Nick Bloch – Lake Erie College (wrestling)

WestFirebirds.com, the school’s official athletic website, posts photos and details after signing ceremonies take place.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports, Spring sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Adrianna McNeal, Ali Green, Ali Zieverink, Amanda Lahti, Amanda Shelby, Beau Odom, Blake Bell, Brady Holmer, Brooke Rowley, Bubba Williams, Cincinnati football recruiting, Cole Stalker, Corri Muha, Davis Schafer, Dawson Fletcher, Evan Hodel, Jake Wagner, Jordan Darland, Kayaune Ross, Kelly Mack, Kim Love, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lauren Pratt, Malik Zuberi, Mel Stewart, Mike Seaman, Nathan Haynes, Nick Billman, Nick Bloch, ohio basketball recruiting, Ohio football recruiting, Ohio High School sports recruiting, Ohio preps recruiting, Ohio sports recruiting, Rachel Mills, recruiting, Shabazz Reeves, Summer Reeves, Zach Crabtree, Zak Farmer

Three senior Lakota West student athletes – Nick Bloch, Rachel Mills and Zach Crabtree – signed on to play sports in college Wednesday in the high school’s community room.

Bloch signed on to wrestle at Lake Erie College. He was also considering Northern Illinois, Appalachian State and Shippensburg, At Lakota West, Bloch was a four-time letter winner, two-time state qualifier, two-time sectional champion, Greater Miami Conference champion and was the Firebirds’ Most Valuable Wrestler in 2012.

“The things I liked about Lake Erie were the size, subjects, atmosphere, and the wrestling coach,” said Bloch, who plans on studying biology/pre-med. “Their wrestling program really has a vision for the future.”

Mills, who was honored as an all-academic athlete in the GMC, signed on to play basketball at Alderson Broddus. She was also considering Otterbein, Ursuline and Miami.

“Alderson Broddus has a really good nursing program and the style of basketball they play fit me best,” Mills said. “They also have an excellent job placement for nursing.”

Crabtree signed on to play lacrosse at Wheeling Jesuit. Crabtree, who is the Firebirds team captain, was also considering Otterbein, Thiel College and Hanover College.

“I really like the campus. The players are very close, and the coaching staff is very strong,” said Crabtree, who plans studying business administration. “It is a new and uprising team in a tough D-2 conference and they are doing very well.”

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Lakota West, Lakota West basketball, Lakota West boys' lacrosse, Lakota West girls' basketball, Lakota West lacrosse, Lakota West sports, Lakota West wrestling, Nick Bloch, Rachel Mills, Zach Crabtree

The athletic departments at Lakota East and Lakota West high schools recently named their athletes of the week. Seniors Alyssa Grevenkamp and Aleth Pashi received the honor at Lakota East, while senior Nick Bloch and freshman Lauren Martin were honored at Lakota West.

Grevenkamp recently finished her fourth straight year as a starter on the Lakota East girls’ basketball team. This past season, Grevenkamp averaged 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She also made 41.1 percent of her field goals, 70.6 percent of her foul shots and 35.3 percent of her 3-point attempts. Grevenkamp will continue her basketball career at The University of Findlay.

Like Grevenkamp, Pashi recently finished her high school basketball career as a four-year varsity letterwinner. This past season, Pashi led Lakota East and was fifth in the Greater Miami Conference in assists with 55 and assists per game with 2.8 per game. She also led Lakota East in assists her sophomore season. She also logged 418 minutes on the floor, fourth highest on her team in 2011-2012.

Bloch recently won the sectional championship in the 138-pound division at Centerville High School. The victory was Bloch’s second consecutive sectional title. According to WestFirebirds.com, he took just 25 seconds to pin his opponent in the championship match. The win raised Bloch’s career win total to 95, which ranks 12th on the Firebird’s all-time win list.

Martin was Lakota West’s only placer in the 17-team Cincinnati City Championship meet last Saturday at Cincinnati Country Day. In that competition, Martin finished 11th in the floor exercise. Earlier last week, Martin finished 3rd on the beam and 8th on floor at the Cincinnati Country Day Invitational. The district meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lakota East High School.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Aleth Pashi, Alyssa Grevenkamp, athletes of the week, Lakota athletes of the week, Lakota East, Lakota East athletics, Lakota East basketball, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West athletics, Lakota West basketball, Lakota West gymnastics, Lakota West sports, Lakota West wrestling, Lauren Martin, Nick Bloch

Lakota West senior Ty Davis, who will continue his wrestling career at Central Michigan University, ended his high school career with a third-place finish in the 135-pound class at the Division I State Wrestling tournament today, March 5.

Davis (47-2) defeated Mentor senior Alex Sweeney (45-9) in the semifinals of the consolation bracket this morning and then defeated Lakewood St. Edward junior Nick Barber (20-8) early this afternoon in the third-place match.

>>>PHOTOS FROM STATE WRESTLING MEET<<<

Meanwhile, Davis’ teammate Christian Estes (31-9) lost his seventh-place match against Clayton Northmont junior Jonah Newburg (36-4) today.

Lakota East senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class), Lakota West senior Vinnie Bradberry (160-pound class), Lakota East sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) and Lakota West junior Nick Bloch (130-pound class) all earned trips to the state tournament, but did not place.

For complete results, visit baumspage.com.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, state tournament, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Six wrestlers from the Lakota school district came to Columbus this week to compete in the Division I State Wrestling tournament. Two days and three sessions later, only two wrestlers remain and neither is competing for first place in their respected weight class.

Lakota West senior Ty Davis and Lakota West junior Christian Estes can still place at the meet. Davis, who was a top contender to win the 135-pound class, lost his second-round match of the championship bracket yesterday, March 4, afternoon. After the loss, Davis won matches in the second and third rounds of the consolation bracket. Today, he will take on Mentor senior Alex Sweeney (45-9) in the semifinals of the consolation bracket. If Davis (45-2) wins, he will face the winner of the match between Lakewood senior Nick Ramsey (39-3) and Lakewood St. Edward junior Nick Barber (19-7). The winner of that match will be awarded third place.

>>>PHOTOS FROM STATE WRESTLING MEET<<<

Meanwhile, Estes (171-pound class), who lost his first-round match in the championship bracket on Thursday, March 3, won his first two matches in the consolation bracket. Estes (photo) did, however, lose in the third round of that bracket yesterday night. Estes (31-8) will now wrestle for seventh place against Clayton Northmont junior Jonah Newburg (35-4).

In other results from Friday, Lakota East senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class) lost to Fairmont sophomore Matt Denlinger and Lakota West senior Vinnie Bradberry (160-pound class) lost to Gr. City Central Crossing junior Vince Pickett in the second round of their consolation brackets. Both are eliminated.

Lakota East sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) and Lakota West junior Nick Bloch (130-pound class) were eliminated on Thursday.

Davis will wrestle his match today, March 5, at approximately 10 a.m. while Estes will wrestle his match around 11 a.m.

For live results, visit baumspage.com.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, state tournament, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Overall, six wrestlers combined from Lakota East and Lakota West took part in the Ohio High School Division I State Wrestling tournament, which began yesterday, March 3, afternoon at Value City Arena in Columbus. From those six, only Lakota West senior Ty Davis (135-pound class) won his first match in the championship bracket.

Davis (43-1) defeated Cuyahoga Falls junior Colin Taylor (36-9) 12-2 and will face junior Ruben Burrow (35-4) of Canton McKinley in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket today, March 4. The Division I Championship quarterfinals are scheduled to begin at 11:20 a.m. during the second session of the state tournament. Officially, state tournament wrestling for Divisions I-III begins this morning at 10 a.m.

For his first-round accomplishment, Davis (photo), who will continue his wrestling career at Central Michigan University, was featured in this morning’s article on Cincinnati.com.

As a sophomore, Davis finished second at 130 but last season he was eighth at 135, a result he called “a fluke.”

Davis (43-1) will oppose Canton McKinley’s Ruben Burrows in the quarterfinals.

“I can’t get nervous and have to wrestle like I know how to,” Davis said.

Davis enters the tournament as the projected champion at 135 by the Brakeman Report, but he said he doesn’t focus on predictions.

“I don’t look at that – I don’t know who I have in the next round,” Davis said. “I didn’t even know who I had in this round coming in. There’s not a lot of pressure because I want to win for myself and I really don’t care about predictions.”

In other results from Thursday, Lakota East sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) lost both of his matches in the first round of the championship preliminaries and in the consolation bracket. East senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class) lost in the first round of the championship preliminaries, but won his first round match in the consolation bracket.

Lakota West junior Nick Bloch (130-pound class) lost both of his matches in the first round of the championship preliminaries and in the consolation bracket. West senior Vinnie Bradberry (160-pound class) lost in the first round of the championship preliminaries, but won his first match in the consolation bracket. Like Bradberry, West junior Christian Estes (171-pound class) also lost his in the first round of the championship preliminaries, but won his first match in the consolation bracket.

>>>PHOTOS FROM STATE WRESTLING MEET<<<

Miller, Bradberry and Estes will compete this afternoon in the Division I consolation bracket. The second round is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m.

A third session of the state tournament will start up tonight at 6:30 p.m. Davis, if he advances to the semifinals of the championship bracket will wrestle around 6:30 p.m. If Miller, Bradberry and Estes advance in the consolation bracket, they will also wrestle at around 6:30 p.m. There will be another series of consolation matches at 8:50 p.m.

On Saturday, March 5, the consolation semifinals and finals will take place at 10 a.m. and at 11 a.m. The first-place matches in the championship bracket will be wrestled at 5:45 p.m.

For complete results, visit baumspage.com.

For more from Cincinnati.com about local wrestlers, visit its story titled “Myers extends run of success with Reading.”

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, state tournament, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Over the weekend at the Division I Southwest Ohio district meets, multiple wrestlers and gymnasts from the Lakota school district automatically qualified to compete in this week’s state meets.

At the district wrestling meet at Fairfield High School, Lakota West finished in sixth place, while Lakota East finished in ninth. Individually, between the two Lakota high schools, six wrestlers finished in the top four in their weight class and automatically qualified to compete at the state meet March 3-5 at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Lakota West senior Ty Davis, who will continue his wrestling career at Central Michigan University, won the 135-pound class at the district meet for the second consecutive year. Davis’ teammates junior Nick Bloch (finished fourth in 130-pound class), senior Vinnie Bradberry (finished fourth in the 160-pound class) and junior Christian Estes (finished third in the 171-pound class) also qualified to compete at the state meet.

From Lakota East, sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) and senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class) both finished third in their respected weight classes at the district meet and both will compete at the state meet.

In gymnastics, two of the region’s top performers at the district meet came from the Lakota school district.

Lakota West senior Stephanie Powers (photo) finished in first place in the floor competition at the district meet at Lakota East High School. She also automatically qualified in the all-around competition where she finished fifth overall.

Lakota East freshman Natalie Potts automatically qualified to compete in three events (floor, beam and all-around) at the state meet. Potts finished in fourth in the floor, third in the beam and fourth in the all-around competition at the district meet.

The gymnastics state meet will take place March 4-5 at Hilliard Bradley High School near Columbus.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, district meet, gymnastics, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West sports, Laktoa West, Natalie Potts, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, Stephanie Powers, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

The Lakota West wrestling team finished in second place in the Southwest Ohio Division I Sectional wrestling meet at Elder Feb. 19. The Firebirds had four wrestlers win their respected weight classes and eight qualify to compete in this week’s district tournament Feb. 25-26 at Fairfield High School.

Senior Ty Davis, who will continue his wrestling career at Central Michigan University, won his second straight sectional title in the 135-pound weight class. Davis also won the 130-pound class in a sectional meet in 2009. Other 2011 champions from Lakota West include junior Nick Bloch (130-pound), senior Louie Allen (140-pound) and senior Vinnie Bradberry (160-pound). Bradberry won the 145-pound title in last year’s sectional.

Junior Jamie Keesling (152-pound) and junior Christian Estes (171-pound) finished as runner-ups. Junior Kevin Leonhardt (112-pound) finished in third place and Matt Reynolds (119-pound) finished in fourth.

All eight wrestlers will compete in the district tournament.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Central Michigan University, Christian Estes, Jamie Keesling, Kevin Leonhardt, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Louie Allen, Matt Reynolds, Nick Bloch, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Until last winter, the Lakota West wrestling program had won five consecutive Greater Miami Conference titles. In the past nine seasons, the Firebirds have won the conference championship seven times.

This season, head coach Tim Kessler, who has been on the Lakota West wrestling coaching staff for all of those past conference titles, hopes to win his first GMC title as a head coach. In his first season at the helm in 2009-2010, Lakota West finished third in the GMC.

Kessler sees his team’s enthusiasm as its strength and its depth as its weakness.

Kessler does return three-time state qualifier and two-time state placer Ty Davis (photo – 135 lbs.), who recently signed on to wrestle at Central Michigan University. Davis’ career 111 victories currently ranks him ninth in school history. Ryan Fields holds the record with 164 wins, which he accomplished in a career that started in 2005 and ended in 2008.

Davis’ fellow senior teammate Vinnie Bradberry (160 lbs.) is closing in on the 100-career win mark.

Lakota West also returns senior Matt Reynolds (119 lbs.), senior Louie Allen (140 lbs.) and junior Nick Bloch (130 lbs.).

Newcomers junior Drew Phillips (103 lbs.) and freshman Kevin Leonhardt (112 lbs.) are expected to make an impact this season.

Lakota West will be without former state qualifiers Craig McIntire, Devin Purkiser and Konner Blevins.

Lakota West will begin its season this Saturday, Dec. 4, at the Olentangy Tournament, which is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Louie Allen, Matt Reynolds, Nick Bloch, Ryan Fields, Tim Kessler, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling