Sports

Mason Sopher hits 15, Jared Piercefield 13, and Levi Hohenbrink 10

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By Cort Reynolds
KENTON - Visiting Bluffton won a 57-55 nailbiter at WBL foe Kenton in a non-conference boys basketball battle Saturday night.

The Pirates led 10-5 after the first period and held a 24-21 edge at halftime. They led 37-33 after three quarters.

Bluffton canned 11 of 17 free throws in the final stanza to stave off the Wildcats as Kenton's Jayden Cornell scored nine late points. 

The Pirates improved to 17-4 with the road win. Meanwhile, Kenton fell to 11-10 with their third straight defeat.

Landen Luginbuhl, Tayton Kleman, Jeremy Sturgeon and Thayne Kleman win titles

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By Cort Reynolds
COLUMBUS GROVE - Bluffton finished a strong third at the eight-team Northwest Conference championship wrestling meet hosted by Columbus Grove Saturday, February 15.

Defending champion Allen East won its ninth all-time NWC crown with 341 points to easily out-pace second-place Spencerville (223). Bluffton was a close third behind the Bearcats with 218.5 points.

Several Bluffton grapplers enjoyed fine tournaments.

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Bluffton High School scholar athlete, Kyle Koontz, will sign a letter of intent to kick for the Ohio Northern University football team beginning next school year.

Koontz plans to major in computer science at ONU, and pursue a career in informational technology.

While a kicker for the Pirate football team Kyle set a record for kicking the most extra points in a game, and kicked the second longest field goal in the school’s history.

Conference wrestling tournament Saturday at Grove

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The Northwest Conference wrestling tournament will be at Columbus Grove High School on Saturday, Feb.15, with both high school and junior high teams wrestling.  

NWC teams include Ada, Allen East, Bluffton, Columbus Grove, Delphos Jefferson, Lincolnview, Paulding and Spencerville.  Crestview will also compete in the JH tournament.

Allen East won the championship in 2019 with its 8th championship, followed by Bluffton and Columbus Grove. 

Bluffton defeats Kenton 45-18 and Grove 48-36

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By Cort Reynolds
BLUFFTON - The Bluffton wrestling team swept visiting Kenton and Columbus Grove handily in a three-team dual meet Tuesday evening.

The host Pirates whipped Kenton 45-18 and handled Grove 48-36 to win the event. CG also beat Kenton 46-24 in the third dual match.

Bluffton's Thayne Kleman (106) won at 1:55 by pin, and Tayton Kleman also triumphed via pin at 113 lbs. vs. the Wildcats. Landen Luginbihl also won by a 4-1 decision at 220 lbs.

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By Cort Reynolds
VAN BUREN - Visiting Bluffton lost 40-29 to Van Buren in a low-scoring non-conference girls basketball contest Tuesday night.

Bluffton trailed just 9-8 after one period, but VB doubled them up by halftime, 22-11. The teams battled evenly 18-18 after
intermission. 

The loss dropped the Lady Pirate record to 14-7 overall,  while VB improved to 12-9 with the win.

Bluffton junior Layin Garmatter led the Pirates with eight points and two trifectas. Senior Kayla White netted seven markers, and sophomore Kylie Monday added six.

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