Top local and national sports stories of 2022

It was a year of high school sports milestones for individual athletes, coaches and teams in our area. Here's a breakdown of what we thought were the biggest local sports stories of 2022, listed in no particular order. We also break down our top national sports stories of the past year: Local sports Stimmel leads state track champions Margaretta's Kenna Stimmel won her third state pole vault championship in Division III at the OHSAA state meet in Columbus in June. She did it in style, clearing 14 feet, 6.25 inches to set a new state and NFHS girls pole vault record. After Stimmel set the tone on Friday of the two-day meet, four more titles were won by local athletes Saturday. Huron's Sean Kaminski cleared 6-6 to win the D-II boys high jump. Clyde's Brady Wilson ran to the 300-meter hurdles boys title in D-II. In D-III, Margaretta's girls (Jana Berg, Macyn Phillips, Olivia Saylor, Stimmel) repeated as 4x100 state champions. And the South Central boys won the 4x400 state championship (Carson Music, Trey Beverly, Parker Gray, Isaac Blair). Edison baseball finishes as state runner-up After losing in the regional semifinal in 2021, Edison surged past that round and all the way to the Division III state championship game in 2022. The Chargers won the state semifinal in dramatic fashion, 3-0 in eight innings over Cincinnati Roger Bacon. Bryce Michaelis preserved the scoreless tie by throwing out a runner at the plate before delivering the go-ahead hit in the eighth. Edison took the state final to an extra, eighth inning as well before Waynedale walked-off a 2-1 win. Monroeville volleyball reaches first state final The Eagles were 0-4 in state volleyball semifinals before the 2022 season. They flipped the narrative in a three-set sweep of Newark Catholic in the Division IV tournament. Kendra Snook's squad fell in the state final to powerful New Bremen. Elsewhere on the local volleyball scene, Vermilion pulled off an improbable district final comeback over undefeated Lake High School, falling behind 2-0 before rallying for a five-set victory to repeat as district champs. St. Paul coaches reach win milestones Nancy Miller and John Livengood both made history in the span of 10 days in the fall. Miller, the Flyers' volleyball coach, earned her 600th win as a head coach with a three-set sweep of New London on Sept. 27. Livengood, the gridiron leader, pulled off a wild 60-52 win at Edon on Oct. 7 for his 300th win. He was unofficially the 17th coach in Ohio history to get to that mark. Coaches retire, step down The local coaching carousel was busy in 2022. Two legendary Norwalk coaches, Steve Gray (boys basketball) and Wes Douglas (baseball) retired. At Perkins, both Scott McVeigh (boys basketball) and Heath Hamilton (volleyball) stepped down. Beau Carmon, Port Clinton's football coach, left his post in the first week of 2022 after leading the PC team to its first state final four in 2021. Sandusky girls basketball coach Richard Koonce and Vermilion girls basketball coach Jason Sockel also left their positions after the 2021-22 season. Familiar coaching faces in new places Coaching openings meant new hires. Eric Kochendoerfer took over the boys basketball position at his alma mater, and his vacated post with the Margaretta girls went to former Perkins girls coach Ray Neill. Neill was joined by his son-in-law Brian Heck as assistant after Heck stepped down at Perkins. Sandusky football filled its head coaching position early in the year, with Mike Franklin's former quarterback Lucas Poggiali taking the reins. Margaretta hired local stalwart Gary Quisno to lead the Polar Bears, which made it to the playoffs. Perkins also filled its girls basketball post, with former Bellevue coach Ryan Orshoski, and its baseball position with TJ Blanton. Norwalk boys basketball replaced Gray with Adam Kreischer, the principal at League Elementary in the district, and a principal in Danbury, Joe Miller, took over the girls basketball position there from the retired Dick Heller. Hermes, Caizzo win state wrestling titles The two smallest Division III wrestling weight classes at the 2022 state championships were dominated by local athletes. At 106 pounds, St. Paul's Casper Caizzo took home the title with a dominant 8-1 win in the final. Edison's Max Hermes took care of business at 113 pounds with a pin after a minute and 24 seconds. It was his second consecutive state championship after winning 106 the year prior. Now a senior, Hermes signed to compete collegiately in the Big Ten at Rutgers University. Margaretta boys basketball breaks 90-year drought Margaretta entered the 2021-22 season with two boys basketball district titles, all the way back in 1928 and 1932. The Polar Bears snapped the 90-year drought with impressive district wins over Monroeville and then South Central. The program's all-time leading scorer, Jake Leibacher, scored 23 of his 29 points after halftime to beat the Eagles and then scored 17 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to top the Trojans. It was part of a banner sports year for Margaretta, which also won 2022 team district championships in girls basketball and softball after having won in volleyball at the start of the 2021-22 school year. Ironman comes to Sandusky The ultra-triathlon series Ironman began its three-year contract of competition in Sandusky in late July. The Ironman 70.3-mile distance is what those from near and far took part in. The race began at Jackson Street Pier and ended downtown on Columbus Avenue. The first year, always viewed as a bit of a learning experience by the Ironman staff, featured nearly 2,000 competitors. St. Paul's Crabbs puts up huge numbers Quincey Crabbs played his own big part in the night Livengood won his 300th game. He ran for 408 yards and four touchdowns at Edon, the 12th player in Northwest Ohio history to top 400 rushing yards in a single game. Crabbs then became the fourth player in Flyers program history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a season, and was the fastest to do so. Football records fell elsewhere in the fall, too, most notably at Perkins. Senior WR Jayden Rowe became the program's receptions and receiving yardage record holder, while junior QB Logan Lesch already set the program's career passing TD mark. National stories Warriors back on top After a few down years, the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals for their fourth championship in eight years, and first since 2018.Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter in NBA history, won the NBA Finals MVP award that had eluded him as he led Golden State to glory. Browns trade for QB Watson, sign him to record contract Cleveland moved on from Baker Mayfield, shipping him to the Carolina Panthers, after acquiring Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans.Watson was eventually suspended 11 games for sexual harassment allegations. The Browns signed Watson to a five-year, $230 million extension. He made his team debut in a Week 13 win over his former team, the Texans. WNBA star Griner held in Russia American basketball player Brittney Griner was arrested and imprisoned in Russia on drug charges. The U.S. government worked for months to free her. A deal was finally reached in December, and Griner returned home after 10 months in prison. Messi, Argentina win winter World Cup The first-ever winter World Cup, held in November and December due to host Qatar's brutally hot climate, was won by Argentina.Lionel Messi scored two goals in the final, putting himself in the conversation of the sport's all-time greats as Argentina defeated France on penalty kicks to overcome Kylian Mbappe's hat trick. LIV Golf threatens future of sport professionally The Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour poured money into the sport to bring over several major players from the PGA and European tours.The final impact on professional golf has not yet played out, with the leagues likely to continue battling for position in 2023. Yankees' Judge puts on home run spectacle New York Yankees 6-foot-7 slugger Aaron Judge ended the 2022 season with 62 home runs. That broke Roger Maris' Yankees record, and in the process, the American League record. After an offseason dalliance with the Giants, Judge re-signed with the Yankees on a nine-year, $360M contract. Astros win World Series Dusty Baker got himself the World Series ring that had previously eluded him in 25 years as a manager. The Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. Rams beat Chiefs in Super Bowl The Los Angeles Rams became the second-straight team to win the Super Bowl at their home stadium. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20. It was the Rams' first Super Bowl title since their move back west. They had most recently won in 200 as the St. Louis Rams. Smart leads Georgia to national title The 2022 College Football Playoff concluded with Georgia's first championship in 41 years. Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs' head coach, had to defeat his former mentor Nick Saban's Alabama team to claim the crown. Krzyzewski retires from Duke The all-time winningest coach in Division I men's basketball, Duke's Mike Krzyzewksi, retired following the 2021-22 season. He announced his plans before the campaign, leading to a year-long period of recognition. Krzyzewksi finished his career with 1,202 wins. Brady retires, then unretires Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady retired after the 2021 season, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests outside of football. The retirement lasted 40 days before he announced he'd be back. The 45-year-old QB then led Tampa Bay to the NFC South title in the 2022 season.