Top 10: Luke Raley's breakout season highlights banner year in county sports

Finding enough Medina County sports stories to compile a top-10 list for 2023 was a piece of cake. Narrowing it down to 10 wasn't so easy. The Wadsworth and Medina baseball teams reaching the Division I regional semifinals was certainly notable, but that didn't crack the top 10, as chosen by The Gazette sports staff. The Cloverleaf softball team's Cinderella run to the D-II, Northeast 3 District final was certainly exciting, but the Colts also were unable to crack the top 10. Ditto for the Highland girls tennis team, which won its eighth straight Suburban League American Conference title, and the Highland, Wadsworth and Brunswick volleyball teams, which all won league crowns. The Wadsworth girls cross country team finished fifth at the D-I state meet and the Medina boys were sixth. In most years, that would have been a lock to land a spot in the top 10, but not in 2023. Even a great weekend at the state track and field meet, where Medina's boys took second in the D-I 4x800-meter relay, Black River's boys were fourth in the D-III 4x2, the Bees' Tino Ramos and Mia Heine were fourth in the 800, Wadsworth's Ellie Zuro was fifth in the 300 hurdles, Cloverleaf's Riley Evans was sixth in the 400 and Highland's Sierra Podolan took sixth in the shot put, didn't quite make the top 10. All the above were noteworthy accomplishments, but 2023 was just that kind of year. So, without further ado, here are The Gazette's top 10 sports stories for the calendar year: 1. Hitting the big time To lend perspective to what 2013 Highland graduate Luke Raley accomplished with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023, consider this: The last county position player to play Major League Baseball was 1976 Wadsworth graduate Scott Fletcher, who spent 15 years (1981-95) in the bigs. The 29-year-old Raley, who was inducted into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame in June in his first year of eligibility, appeared in 118 games for the Rays and hit .249 with 19 home runs, 49 RBIs, a .490 slugging percentage, .824 OPS and 14 stolen bases as an outfielder/first baseman. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Raley would have put up even bigger numbers, but his breakout season came to a premature end due to a freak injury. On Sept. 16, Raley was chasing a fly ball during batting practice when he collided with Spanish language interpreter Manny Navarro and suffered a neck injury. He tried to pinch-hit four days later, but complained of feeling weak, underwent an MRI and was diagnosed with a cervical strain, which ended his season. Though unable to play in the postseason, it did not detract from a remarkable year for Raley, who played minor league baseball in places like Ogden, Utah, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Tulsa, Okla., Chattanooga, Tenn., Salt River, Ariz., and Durham, N.C. "Not many people make it to the major leagues, but I never considered myself as much of an underdog as some other people did," he said. "I knew what I was capable of and I was willing to put in the work." 2. Pin to win Entering the final Division II match of the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals, Buckeye trailed powerful St. Paris Graham by three points, but 285-pounder Todd Allen recorded a pin in 30 seconds to give the Bucks the championship with a 35-32 victory. Wadsworth was nearly as good while finishing third in D-I. That proved to be just a tune-up for the Ohio High School Athletic Association state tournament, where Buckeye's Colyn Limbert (113) and Kaden King (157) won D-II crowns and Wadsworth's Jaxon Joy (132) repeated in D-I. The Bucks, who finished third in the D-II team standings, also got a third-place finish from Eddie Neitenbach (175) and a fourth from Blake Bartos (106), while the Grizzlies, who placed fifth in D-I, got second-place finishes from defending state champ Chris Earnest (157) and Aaron Ries (285) as well as a fourth from Coen Grimm (190), a sixth from Jake Keirn (150) and an eighth from Jack Dinwiddie (120). Medina had top-six finishers in Andrew Supers (3rd, 157) and Blaine Chrisman (5th, 175). Meanwhile, Cloverleaf's Tristan Craddock (150) took seventh and Highland's Lukas Stiles (190) placed eighth. 3. Tumbling to the top The state gymnastics team championship came down to the final participant in the final event of the final rotation. Brecksville (148.825) ultimately secured its 20th straight team title, but not before getting a huge challenge from Olentangy Berlin (148.050), Medina (147.025) and Brunswick (146.675). The individual competition the next day at Hilliard Bradley High was just as exciting, as Brunswick's Bree Vargo won a state title on the balance beam and took third in the all-around. Teammate Lauren Eyssen was fifth in the all-around, while Medina's Macy Maxworthy took second on beam and Kendall Perfect was fifth on the uneven parallel bars. Medina, which had a legitimate shot at the team title going into the final rotation, also counted scores from Colleen Johnson, Maddy Todorovich, Anna Schork and Hailey Hoffman, while the Blue Devils received contributions from Lili Kotar, Alaina Timko, Aubrey Mueller, Delaney McKelvey and Alexis Narolewski. 4. Kicking it If the OHSAA handed out public school state championships, the Medina boys soccer team probably would need another trophy case. For the fifth straight year since winning their lone state title in 2018, the Bees were eliminated from the postseason by St. Ignatius. For the fifth straight year, the Wildcats went on to win a D-I state title. In that span, St. Ignatius beat Medina four times in the state semifinals and once in a regional final. Led by Gazette fall coach of the year Doug Coreno and Gazette MVP Cole Turchyn, it capped a remarkable four-year run for Medina's 15 seniors, who compiled a 20-1-1 record in their final season. On the other end of the history spectrum, the Highland girls soccer program wrote the first chapter of what could become a remarkable story. Playing in their first regional semifinal, the Hornets (18-1-2) led five-time D-I state champion Strongsville 2-0 before the seasoned Mustangs rallied to force overtime and then won 4-2 in penalty kicks. The future remains incredibly bright for Bill Zufall's team, which will graduate Gazette MVP Jillian Miller but return star players Grace Shondel, Vanessa Zufall, Grace Madison, Hailey Trzaska and a number of others in 2024. 5. Airing it out Five county football teams combined to win 10 playoff games, with Medina and Highland falling one win short of reaching the state semifinals. Led by Mr. Football finalist and repeat Gazette MVP and D-I co-Offensive Player of the Year Danny Stoddard, the Bees downed John Marshall, Wadsworth and Cleveland Heights before losing to eventual state champion St. Edward in the Region 1 championship. Highland beat Midview, North Ridgeville and Whitehouse Anthony Wayne before falling to Avon in the D-II, Region 6 final, while Buckeye recorded thrilling D-III, Region 10 victories over Sandusky and Norton. Wadsworth and Black River notched one victory apiece. Along the way, the Bucks' Greg Dennison became the winningest coach in county history. In 30 years he owns a lifetime record of 216-105, including 205-96 in 28 years as the head coach at county schools Wadsworth and Buckeye. Stoddard left his name all over the county record book while setting career marks for passing yards (9,713) and passing touchdowns (111),while receiver Austin Knowles set county records for receiving yards in a career (3,168) and season (1,786). 6. Par for the course Highland senior Isabella Goyette capped a remarkable career that saw her win four Gazette MVP awards by finishing in a four-way tie for second place at the D-I girls state golf tournament, helping Highland take fourth in the team standings for the second straight year. Goyette was at even par through 33 holes before closing with three bogeys to finish seven shots behind individual champion Mia Hammond of New Albany. She finished at 70-73-143 as the Hornets shot 629 as a team to finish 32 shots behind state team champion Dublin Jerome. Highland also got solid efforts from Elizabeth Coleman (81-74-155), Paige McKendry (88-78-166), Kavya Chada (81-91-172) and Kendall Sprutte (83-89-172). 7. Filling it up The county girls scoring record of 40 points, set by Cloverleaf's Helaina Limas against Springfield on Dec. 16, 2017, had stood for almost six years. Then it got broken twice in less than two weeks. On Dec. 11, Black River senior Riley Kubitz exploded for 45 points as the Pirates beat Mansfield Temple Christian 78-69. Repeatedly finding seams in Temple Christian's 2-3 zone and pulling up for 8-foot jumpers, Kubitz went 17-for-33 from the field, 2-for-7 on 3-pointers and 9-for-12 at the line while adding seven rebounds and four assists. Eleven nights later, on Dec. 22, Brunswick senior and reigning Gazette MVP Journey Hildebrand matched the record by pouring in 45 points as the Blue Devils beat Amherst 57-48. Hildebrand, a Kent State signee, went 14-for-23 from the field, 5-for-8 on 3-pointers and 12-for-12 at the line while pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds. Earlier this season, on Nov. 27, Medina junior Olivia Klanac tied a school record with 36 points in a 75-44 victory over North Ridgeville. The mark was originally set by Shelly Miller in 1981-82. On the boys side, Wadsworth's Maxx Bosley had a school-record 47 points in a 78-67 win over North Royalton on Jan. 10, breaking the mark of 46 set by Ben Falkenberg against Hudson on March 6, 2004. Bosley went 16-for-19 from the field, including 10-for-10 while scoring 31 points in the second half, and added 10 rebounds. Now a senior, Bosley had 40 points Wednesday in a 61-58 victory over Woodridge. He scored all 16 of the Grizzlies' points in the fourth quarter. 8. National impact Turn on your television on a Saturday in the fall and there's a good chance you will see Drew Allar or Mitchell Evans. Allar, a 2022 Medina graduate who earned Ohio's Mr. Football award as a senior in 2021, recently finished his second season at Penn State As a sophomore, the 6-foot-5, 243-pounder completed 214-of-350 passes (.611) for 2,336 yards, 23 touchdowns and just one interception as the Nittany Lions went 10-2 and earned a Peach Bowl date with Mississippi. Allar also rushed 69 times for 170 yards and four TDs while adding one catch for 4 yards. Evans, a 6-5, 260-pounder who graduated from Wadsworth in 2021, exploded onto the scene in his third year as a Notre Dame tight end. He was leading the Fighting Irish in receiving yards (422) prior to suffering a season-ending ACL injury on Oct. 28. Evans had seven catches for 75 yards in Notre Dame's 17-14 loss to Ohio State and six receptions for 134 yards in a 21-14 victory over Duke. Though he doesn't play a position that receives a lot of TV time, Brunswick graduate Tomas Rimac, the 2021 Gazette Senior Male Athlete of the Year, is a redshirt sophomore who just completed his second season starting at guard for West Virginia. The 6-6, 298-pound Rimac missed two games in the 2023 regular season due to a leg injury and the Mountaineers lost them both. They were 8-2 when he played and earned a spot in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. 9. Olympic hopeful Ella Nicholson, a 17-year-old Medina junior who trains at Root 18 CrossFit, is determined to compete for the United States weightlifting team at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Don't bet against her. Competing in the 76-kilogram division (167.6 pounds) in November — against athletes as old as 20 — at the International Weightlifting Federation World Junior Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, the 5-foot-6 Nicholson earned a gold medal in the snatch (231.5 pounds), a bronze in the clean and jerk (269) and a silver in combined total (500.5). At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Nicholson's lift in the snatch would have placed her sixth in the world in her weight class. Her clean and jerk would have been 10th and her total would have tied for sixth. 10. Behind the wheel When Hinckley Township native Matt Tifft suffered a seizure prior to a NASCAR race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in 2018, he thought his driving career might be over. Now that he and partners B.J. McLeod and Joe Falk have sold Live Fast Motorsports' NASCAR charter to Spire Motorsports, the 27-year-old is back behind the wheel. Tifft is remaining flexible while mapping out his racing plans and is open to competing in sports cars and on oval and dirt tracks, but it didn't take long for the thrill of competing to return. "It's hard to take the driver piece out of racing," he said, "especially when you've been a driver." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.