Hoover High Winter Sports Season Hits Home Stretch

With the month of March now upon us, both  boys' and girls' basketball teams have their sights set on deep tournament runs, and senior wrestler Ryan Teis is aiming for a state wrestling title this weekend in Columbus.

Coach Randy Montgomery's boys' basketball team was forced to cancel their regular season finale and senior night Friday because of snowy weather. With their recent win over Youngstown Chaney, the 13-7 Vikings face Canton McKinley for the sectional title Friday night at Canton's Memorial Civic Center. Game time is 6:15 p.m.

Coach Tim Vick and his Lady Vikings defeated Lake 62-39 Thursday night to win a sectional title. The 18-4 Lady Vikings now face Louisville at 6 p.m. Thursday night at Alliance High School in a District-level tournament game.

Vick is proud of how his team has dealt with losing its leading scorer Hannah Romano to a knee injury.

"It is a credit to our kids that we have kept on winning, because most teams would fold until that type of adversity," Vick said.

Senior wrestler Ryan Teis advanced through the Mentor District tournament this past weekend and will compete in the state wrestling tournament in the 160-pound class. Teis' teammates Andy Fausnight (112), Sam Wakser (125), Spencer Keeler (140) and Joe Howard (152) had also advanced to Districts.

Swimming coach Matt Johnsen had a total of 11 Hoover swimmers compete this past weekend at the State Swim Meet at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton.

Top Hoover finisher was junior Mitch Alters, who finished second in the 200-yard freestyle and broke the Stark County record in the event. The Hoover boys' team finished 17th out of 46 teams and were the only Stark County team to score.

Senior Jacquelyn Misanik completed a successful Hoover career as part of the girls' 200 medley relay that finished 14th in the state.

Hoover's hockey team finished post-season play with a season-to-date record of 12-13-2, but put together a seven-game winning streak starting the middle of January.

They lost in the semifinals of the Baron Cup playoffs and won a district tournament game over Twinsburg 8-4 before losing to Gilmour Academy. The hockey team concludes its season this weekend at a tournament in Wooster.

Senior Becca Maj qualified for the district gymnastics tournament this past weekend in Painesville. Maj had a sixth-place all-around finish at the sectional level.

Hoover's boys' and girls' bowling teams both qualified for district competition this past weekend in Lorain. The boys' team finished third and the girls finished fifth at sectionals.

Congratulations to all the Hoover winter athletes for their hard work and successes this season. Best of luck to the basketball teams in tournament play and to Teis this weekend in Columbus.