Jay gymnasts top list

Playoffs. Championships. Runs at the state finals.
It was quite the year for local sports.
Jay County, Fort Recovery and South Adams high schools had their fair share of successful seasons in 2014, spanning from historic playoff runs to new school records.
A local squad even made a splash at the national level too.
With 2014 behind us, it’s time to put the past 12 months into the top 10 stories of the year. Deciding on the best stories brings to light many worthy candidates, and choosing 10 was not an easy task. Some championship-winning teams didn’t make the cut, as well as a couple of surprising coaching changes in the area.
The top 10, however, is chock full of firsts, leading off with the Jay County High School gymnastics team earning a berth in the state meet for the first time in program history.
The rest of the top 10 stories are:
2 — Jay County Panthers win bronze at Special Olympics USA Games
3 — Fort Recovery football makes playoffs for first time in school history
4 — South Adams football wins back-to-back sectional titles, advances to semi-state
5 — Patriot senior Eric Hemmelgarn becomes school’s first three-time state medalist in wrestling
6 — Jay County soccer teams win sectional titles on the same day
7 — Patriot girls track team wins fifth consecutive sectional crown
8 — JCHS boys hoops coach Craig Teagle wins 300th game
9 — Fort Recovery graduate Greg Kahlig signs to play professional basketball in Spain
10 — Jay County softball team sets new school record for wins in a season

1. State bound
Individuals represented Jay County in the past at the gymnastics state finals, but never an entire team.
That is, until the 2014 Patriots edged DeKalb by less than a quarter of a point to send the entire team to the state finals in March at Worthen Arena on the campus of Ball State University.
It was just the second time in school history any team from Jay County advanced to the state finals after the 2005-06 boys hoops team finished runner-up.
Led by senior Tasya Smith and freshman Lizzy Schoenlein, the Patriot tumblers placed ninth at the state finals.

2. Panthers bronze-d
The Jay County Panthers basketball team worked hard for 10 months preparing for the Special Olympics USA Games in Princeton, New Jersey.
Their preparation paid off.
The Panthers, also known as Team Indiana and comprised of basketball players from Jay, Randolph and Delaware counties, earned a bronze medal in the national games in June.
Indiana defeated South Dakota, Alabama and Missouri to finish 3-0 in pool play. Its only loss came against Minnesota in the medal round.
The Panthers were chosen to represent Team Indiana after winning sectional, semi-state and state titles in 2013.

3. Tribe-al success
The goal for the Fort Recovery football team entering the 2014 season was to make the playoffs for the first time in program history.
The goal was met. And then it was surpassed.
Fort Recovery not only made it to the playoffs, it won its first postseason game in convincing fashion. But it ran into eventual four-time state champion Marion Local in the regional semifinals, its second loss of the season to the Flyers. The Tribe finished with a 7-5 record, setting a new mark for wins in a season.
Coach Brent Niekamp and the Indians earned many accolades along the way, including Division VII co-Coach of the Year and other all-state honors.

4. Stars shine
The South Adams football team followed up an improbable sectional title in 2013 with an even more unlikely run to a regional championship this fall.
After the Starfires entered the postseason with a 3-6 record, they avenged regular-season losses against Adams Central and Southern Wells in the postseason to win back-to-back sectional titles.
Then, playing against defending Class 1A state champion Tri-Central at home, the Berne boys defeated the Trojans 14-6 to win the school’s first regional title since 1992. The Starfires held the Trojans to just six points, their lowest total in more than three years.

5. Hardware for Hemi
Jay County senior Eric Hemmelgarn will forever be remembered as one of the best wrestlers to compete for the Patriots.
The heavyweight finished fourth at the state finals to earn his third medal is as many years, after finishing third as a sophomore and fifth as a junior. He became Jay County’s first three-time state medalist.
Hemmelgarn, who now plays football at the University of Saint Francis, finished his senior campaign with a 42-2 record and as the Patriots’ all-time leader in wins with a record of 162-20.

6. Sectional sweep
Not only did the Jay County boys and girls soccer teams win sectional titles in 2014, they did it on the same field, against the same school and on the same day.
Oct. 11 saw both Patriot soccer teams defeat Yorktown to win championships at Yorktown Sports Park.
The boys started the winning day by looking like they were going to cruise to a victory, and then held on for a 2-1 win for their first title since 2010.
Hours later in the nightcap, Gabbie Mann created a turnover deep in the Tigers’ zone and buried a shot with 46 seconds remaining to give the JCHS girls team back-to-back sectional titles.
7. Five in a row
Jay County’s girls track team avenged a regular-season loss to Yorktown by finishing ahead of the Tigers at the sectional meet for its fifth straight sectional crown.
Senior Amber Huelskamp won the 800-meter relay and anchored the winning 4x400 relay team, and the Patriots picked up another win in the 4x100 relay.
Jay County lost the 2009 sectional by two-tenths of a point, and rattled off five sectional titles since.

8. Mister 300
Jay County boys basketball coach Craig Teagle treated the 49-35 victory Jan. 24 against Winchester just as he did any other.
But it wasn’t just another win.
As the Patriots defeated the visiting Golden Falcons, the win was the 300th career victory for Teagle, who is currently in his 17th year leading the Patriots.
He became the 36th active coach to reach the 300-win plateau, and nearly 75 percent (224) of those came leading the Patriots. He guided the Patriots to their deepest tournament run by taking the 2005-06 team to the Class 3A title game.

9. Kahlig overseas
Greg Kahlig left his mark on the Fort Recovery, University of Findlay and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record books.
Then he took his talents to Europe.
Kahlig, a 2010 FRHS graduate and the school’s career points leader, signed to play professional basketball for Forca Lleida, based in Lleida, Spain.
The 2014 Findlay product quickly cracked the Forca Lleida starting lineup, and is leading his team in scoring with 13 points per game, including a 31-point effort Nov. 21 in which he drained eight 3-pointers.

10. Stellar softball
Jay County’s softball team set a new school record for wins in a season in 2014, shattering the previous mark of 17.
The Patriots won the first 16 games of the season before splitting a doubleheader May 10 against Adams Central to tie the record set by the 2007 team. Five days later Chloe Steigerwalt drove in the winning run in the record-setting victory.
Jay County went on to finish the season 23-2, including a rout of Homestead in the opening round of the sectional tournament.
Larissa Boles led the Patriots, racking up a .515 batting average with 10 home runs. In the circle, she finished with an 18-2 record including 11 shutouts.