Kenton Ridge pitcher Luke Mamer decided to accept an 80 percent scholarship to attend Division I Wright State University. He was one of seven area athletes to accept offers from D-I schools, and the second Cougar baseball player to go D-I in two years. Derek Toadvine is at Kent State.
Mamer was 6-2 with a 1.93 ERA last season, with 70 strikeouts in 58 innings, and is 18-4 for his KR career.
“I’m very excited,” said Mamer, who had narrowed his choices down to the Raiders, Evansville, Miami and Tiffin. “I’m glad to get the decision over. It was stressful over the summer. I didn’t want to be stressed through basketball and school. And I didn’t want to take the risk of getting hurt and anyone not wanting me in the spring.”
Ten-time defending state champion Graham will send four wrestlers to D-I schools. And two of them will follow the family ties theme. Matt Stephens, a returning state runner-up and third-placer and three-time state qualifier, will join his older brother Brian at Virginia Tech on a 60 percent scholarship.
“They can call (Virginia Tech) Graham East,” said Matt Stephens, 43-5 last season, adding that former Graham standout Zach Neibert is also a Hokie. “I think I would have gone there regardless if he (Brian Stephens) was there or not. I think they are a young and up-and-coming program. That sort of fits my mentality of wrestling.
“I’ve always felt I was an underdog, sort of underrated. I want to show some of the schools who didn’t recruit me that they missed out.”
Returning champ Nick Brascetta, who was 44-2 and a state runner-up as a junior and third as a freshman, will join the Stephens brothers at Virginia Tech on a partial scholarship.
“It’ll be great,” said Brascetta. “I was glad to get it done. It (the family ties) really didn’t come into play as people thought. But one of the factors was having Brian (Stephens) as a workout partner. It’s good to have people you know there, and every school I looked at did. Being able to be with my good friends is just a plus.”
Kyle Ryan, a returning state champ and runner-up for Graham, has accepted a 90-percent scholarship to attend Edinboro University in Pennsylvania
“I really liked the coaches,” said Ryan, 32-6 as a junior. “They were just down to earth, and very compatible with my personality. It seemed they would care most about me in the long run, and help me get the job done in the classroom and on the mat.
“That was a big thing for me. I wanted to go to a school that was good in wrestling, and that fit for me academically. They have a good physical therapy program.”
A new wrestler at Graham this season, senior Rusty Maness, who is a West Virginia three-time state champ, will be heading to Purdue.
Graham golfing standout Jessie Jordan, a three-time top 10 placer in the state who had a 36.7 stroke average for nine holes as a junior and 38.2 as a senior, made no bones about why she chose Wisconsin. Big brother Ben, a standout wrestler, is already there.
“It’s just really nice to have him on the campus,” she said. “He’s my big brother, and we’re really close. Plus my parents went there and my uncle went there.”
But family wasn’t the only reason.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “The national champions (Purdue) came from Big Ten. (The Badgers) have a good program. Last year, they finished fourth in the Big Ten. They are a young team, and have a lot of good talent.”
Jordan will get somewhere near a 50 percent athletic and some scholarship help for her academics.
“I can work that into a full scholarship if I play well,” she said. “Oh well, I guess that gives you something to work for.”
West Liberty-Salem softball slugger Kaitlyn Kite chose D-I Youngstown State, receiving a full scholarship.
“I loved the campus,” said Kite, who hit .446 with 8 homers and 43 RBIS in 2010. “It was very close together. Coming from West Liberty, I was very used to that. The coaches are great, the education program, which I’m majoring in, is very good and the team is coming along very well. They are very competitive.”
All-Ohio volleyball second-team selection Kayla Peterson of WLS, the Tigers’ all-time assists leader, will be signing her letter of intent to play at D-II Alderson-Broaddus College in West Virginia on Monday.
Greenon senior Haley Larson, district qualifier this fall, will continue her golf career at D-II Indiana Tech.
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