Wittenberg’s football coach Fincham retires
After 25 seasons, Wittenberg football coach Joe Fincham is retiring, calling an end to a career that includes a 224-51 record (.815 win percentage) and a North Coast Athletic Conference best 165-24 record.
Fincham, a three-year starter at Ohio University, spent two years as a graduate assistant with the Bobcats and one year as offensive coordinator with Urbana before joining Wittenberg as an assistant for six seasons.
Since 1996, he has earned 10 NCAC Coach of the Year awards, 15 NCAC championships and 13 Division III tournament appearances. He helped produce 77 All-americans and ranked ninth in win percentage and 10th in total victories among active coaches across all Divisions.
“Joe Fincham is the winningest coach in the tradition-rich history of Wittenberg University football," said Brian Agler, vice president and director of athletics and recreation. "His long tenure brought conference championships and other on-field success to our university. He has also impacted numerous lives of student-athletes.”
Philip Alston scores 72 points in two games
California University of Pennsylvania
sophomore forward Philip Alston (Westerville North) was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Athlete of the Week after producing back-to-back double-doubles.
Alston scored a career-high 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Franklin Pierce (N.H) and had 35 points with a career-high 16 rebounds in a loss to No. 22 Fairmont State. He is the first Cal U player in 25 years to score more than 30 points in consecutive games and the only player in Division II to have multiple 35-plus point games this season.
Alston, who earned second-team all OCC and honorable mention All-district honors his senior season at Westerville North, scored 70 points total his freshman season with Cal U.
Ayers GMAC DPOY
Ashland University linebacker Michael Ayers (Walnut Ridge) was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Ayers, who also earned GMAC firstteam honors, led the Eagles with 100 tackles (52 solo) and forced fumbles (two), adding three sacks and a fumble recovery and ranks 15th in NCAA Division II in total tackles per game (10).
He led Walnut Ridge in both tackles and interceptions his senior year, earning first-team, All-ohio honors.
Milestones for OSU women’s hockey
Ohio State sophomore goalie Amanda Thiele made 19 saves and earned her first career shutout as the Buckeyes blanked visiting Minnesota State 9-0 on Saturday. It is her fifth career win (2-0 last season) while serving as a backup to Andrea Braendli.
Thiele has won all three starts this season, allowing four goals over four games and has a .929 save percentage.
In the same game, graduate senior forward Clair Degeorge had two goals and an assist, giving her 100 career points. Degeorge, who scored 79 points during her first four years at Bemidji State, has eight goals and 13 assists this season, including five goals and 10 assists over the past six games.
OSU wrestling surging early
Tate Orndorff 's takedown of Virginia Tech's Nathan Trexler with under a minute remaining helped secure a 3-2 victory in the heavyweight division Friday and the visiting Buckeyes (2-0) defeated No. 10 Hokies 17-13 in a top-10 showdown at Blacksburg, Virginia.
Malik Heinselman (125 lbs), Dylan D'emilio (141), Sammy Sasso (149, Carson Kharchla (165) and Gavin Hoffman (197) also earned victories for No. 7 OSU, which has beaten two ranked opponents in just three matches — No. 14 North Carolina and No. 10 Virginia Tech. aconn@dispatch.com #ajconn95