The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lillstrung
GOODBYE NEWBURY — AND THANK YOU
On Route 87 eastbound at the outskirts of Newbury Township, a sign was posted long ago honoring Newbury’s 1986 Class A state championship wrestling team.
Between tree branches and overgrowth, the sign has unfortunately been obscured over time.
Such a fate will hopefully not meet the legacy of the school that occupied the corner of Route 87 and Auburn Road since 1928.
There are a litany of aspects that have made the cancellations and significant alterations to everyday society caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic over the last few months sad.
One of them is likely to not occur to most observers, but it merits noting.
We already knew this was it for Newbury — this was its final school year due to declining enrollment, a merger with West Geauga coming for the 20202021 year.
Only due to the pandemic, the end came in a way no one could have expected.
There was no final baseball or softball game, no last track and field athlete seeking to keep the school’s name in the postseason.
There was no typical graduation ceremony or prom — not to mention the type of celebrations the community would have savored.
What a shame, because Newbury deserved to wind up more on its own terms.
It is comforting to know its athletic history will be preserved, though.
Far too many stories have emerged in recent years of schools that carelessly discard trophy-case contents. Trophies or awards get scrapped or are given away without regard for who won them, in favor of digital displays or — even worse — purely to create space.
Thankfully, that won’t be happening with Newbury. According to the district, its state awards will head to West G for display, and individual awards will be given to the people who earned them.
There will also be final school building tours June 27 and 28, and a last day parade was held June 4.
Smiles and sorrow, triumphs and trials — it has all come flowing back.
Here’s to all the great things that have happened to Newbury in sports:
To the unbeaten football teams in 1951 (9-0), 1955 (9-0) and 1962 (7-0-1).
To arguably Newbury’s gridiron peak, a threeyear stretch from 196769 in which it went 24-3 and capped a run of seven straight league championships.
To Justin Yates’ workhorse 1998, when he ran for 2,266 yards on 275 carries.
To the first-team AllOhioans: Dennis Day (1975), Todd Evans (1979), Mike Gerber (1988), Yates (1998), Joe Nagle (2007), Johnny Chambers (2016), Alex Lampert (2016 and 2017), Mitch Sanders (2018), Noah Arnold and John Tropf (2019).
To the Mental brothers and more who shaped that program before 1970.
To the football teams that thrilled the community in search so diligently for that elusive first playoff berth.
To the 1985 boys cross country team that was Class A state runner-up, paced by Chris Rulison (fourth) and Matt Boddy (ninth).
To the volleyball teams of 1980 and 1983 that got to state in Class A.
To the state boys golf team qualifier in 1986.
To the state wrestling individual champions: George Ohman (1976), Robert Pastor (1977), Joe Dahlhausen (1977 and 1978), Scott Arrigoni (1982), Keith Edmonson (1982), Mike Barton (1986) and Jeff Edmonson (1987). And of course, to the 1986 Class A state team champions on the mat.
To the 25 different track and field athletes in individual events and 10 relays that have advanced to state since 1945 for the Black Knights.
To the seven top-four placers and three state champions: Dennis Boyd (1966 and 1967 Class A 440), Dawn Arrigoni (1986 Class A 800) and Michelle Eatough (1998 Division III 400).
To the track and field athletes who gave Newbury one last appearance at state, both in high jump: Kyle Chapman in 2009 and Katie MacPherson in 2013.
To every team in cross country, football, golf, soccer, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, baseball, softball and track and field that aspired as well.
To the league champions, district finalists and regional qualifiers.
To the coaches who left their mark, such as George Cervenka, Debbie Noble, Cliff Radie, Bob Johnson, Art Glass, Ryan Williams and so many more.
To Athletic Director Anthony Forfia, his coaching staff and the families and friends who worked to ensure the last Black Knights had a memorable experience amid the uncertainty of the last few years.
Suffice to say, it goes beyond merely success on the state’s biggest stages.
That mural of a Black Knight in the hallway just outside the gym, and the knight’s armor in the cafeteria nearby, are symbolic in a sense.
Because even as its student body numbers decreased over time, Newbury always did its utmost to display grit and tenacity and punch above its weight.
The football teams that showed up with 15 players or less, still ready for action on Friday night.
The soccer sides of recent years, down to 13 players in its 2018 swansong, winning 52 matches in its last four seasons led by prolific attackers Julian Surckla and Mario Puletti.
The female studentathletes, such as Hannah Grubbs and Hanna Rose Brastoff, who gamely competed predominantly against boys in soccer and football in order to help keep their programs afloat from a depth standpoint.
The improvised boys track and field squad of 2019, with Surckla, Puletti and Tino Johnson coming out for the sport as seniors, scoring seven points from a sixth and two sevenths in D-III regional competition. They honed their craft daily on the area’s last cinder track.
An unfortunate aspect of small-school perception is the stigma it carries, that somehow it is lesser than purely because of its size and resources.
The problem is, it’s not just the large-school juggernauts and privateschool powers that forge a broader area identity — despite some of them thinking it does.
The small schools are an integral part of that backbone as well.
In recent years, we’ve lost two — Ledgemont and, now, Newbury — and in the process, a piece of our identity has gone with it.
It’s one that won’t return, but one that should not be forgotten.
Losses and lack ultimately won’t define Newbury.
Rather, it will be in the strength of the people who carried that tradition, the ones who took their small but proud school to the masses during their formative years and beyond.
There’s a reason there were tears in those hallways after that last wrestling dual. Or amid the fireworks after that last home football game.
Or, likely, as those hallways are traversed one more time when those building tours commence later this month.
Because it was the same names and same families year after year, decade after decade. It was the school their parents and grandparents and siblings knew best.
It was an experience all their own, one they’ll treasure for its closeness and sense of community.
Simply put, it was theirs.
That sign on Route 87 may be obscured, but that legacy will undoubtedly shine on.
For contributing to the fabric of area high school sports as we know it.
And for all those days of yesteryear all the way to the end, never forgetting along the way the core of your identity regardless of the adversity you faced.
Goodbye Newbury — and thank you.
Lillstrung can be reached at CLillstrung@NewsHerald.com; @CLillstrungNH on Twitter.