NR Boys Tennis Team Defeats Blanchester 4-1 To Open The Season

The New Richmond boys tennis defeated a good Blanchester team 4-1 to open the season.  Winners for the lions included;

2nd Singles: David Ohntrup: 6-1, 6-0
3rd Singles: Newton McCullom: 6-0, 6-0
1st Doubles: Matt Rydzewski & Zach Manning: 6-1, 6-4
2nd Doubles: Evan McKinley & Cody Kirschner: 7-6(3), 6-4

Henry Heidlage also played well losing a 3-set match at 1st singles to a player that was a district qualifier last year.  The lions open conference play today hosting Norwood.  The match should begin around 3:45 pm.

Lions football players meet their new coach

New Lions head football coach Josh Stratton talks to his team about the importance of character is this video filmed March 12. Statton comes to New Richmond from Lloyd High School in Erlanger, Kentucky, where he was twice named district coach of the year.

Click on the play button to watch the video:

Lady Lions softball Alumni Game is March 23

The 2013 New Richmond High School Lady Lions softball team will hold its annual Alumni Softball Game at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 23 at the high school softball complex.

"Any alumni interested in playing  contact Megan Kilgore at megboo1@fuse.net  or (513) 543-1996," said Lady Lions coach Jim Reaker.

The Lady Lions will host McNicholas at 4:30 p.m. April 1 in the 2013 season opener followed by home games April 2 against Anderson, April 3 against Norwood and April 5 against Amelia.

2013 Lady Lions Softball Schedule

April	Opponent	Location	Time /Result
Mon. 1	McNicholas		4:30 PM
Tue. 2	Anderson		4:30 PM
Wed. 3	Norwood *		4:30 PM
Fri. 5	Amelia *		4:30 PM
Sat. 6	at  Indian Hill		10 AM
Sat. 6	at  Indian Hill		Noon
Mon. 8	at  Bethel-Tate *		4:30 PM
Wed. 10	at  Western Brown *		4:30 PM
Thu. 11	at  Kings		4:30 PM
Fri. 12	Goshen *		4:30 PM
Mon. 15	at  Felicity-Franklin		4:30 PM
Tue. 16	at  Turpin		4:30 PM
Wed. 17	Batavia		4:30 PM
Thu. 18	at  Purcell Marian		4:30 PM
Sat. 20	Hillsboro		11:00 AM
Sat. 20	Hillsboro		1:00 PM
Mon. 22	at  Williamsburg		4:30 PM
Tue. 23	at  Wyoming		4:30 PM
Wed. 24	at  Norwood *		4:30 PM
Fri. 26	Wilmington	WBrown Invit.	4:15 PM
Sat. 27	at Western Brown		TBA
Mon. 29	at  Amelia *		4:30 PM
Tue. 30	Glen Este		4:30 PM
May
Wed. 1	Bethel-Tate *		4:30 PM
Fri. 3	Western Brown *		4:30 PM
Mon. 6	at  Goshen *		4:30 PM

Stratton named new Lions football coach

Joshua Stratton, a Columbus, Ohio native who has spent the last two years as the head football coach at Lloyd High School in Erlanger, Kentucky, has been selected as the new head coach of the New Richmond Lions pending school board approval.

“Coach Stratton stood out to us among a deep pool of candidates,” said Supt. Adam Bird in announcing the hire on Thursday.  “He will continue the NR tradition of excellent leadership from the football coach. “I believe that he will have an outstanding impact on the lives of our football players and on the students he has in class.”

Joshua Stratton

A graduate of Morehead State, Stratton replaces Scott Herman who coached the Lions for the 2012 season before deciding to return to Montgomery, Texas where he had coached for six years.

“I feel completely blessed with this opportunity,” said Stratton. “I’ve had my eye on New Richmond and when this job came up again, there was no way that I wasn’t going to pursue it. It’s not just football, it’s academics, commitment and everything that makes New Richmond a great place to coach and teach.”

Stratton was named the 2012 Owen Hauck Award recipient given by the Northern Kentucky Football Coaches Association given for turning around a struggling program after coaching Lloyd to an 8-4 record and a district runner-up finish. He was the Kentucky 2A District 6 coach of the year in 2011 and 2012.

“Josh will immerse himself into the community and the school and will be very supportive of all the programs at the High School,” said New Richmond athletic director Doug Foote, who led the coaching search which received more than 70 applicants. “I’m very excited to get to work with Josh as a teacher and a coach. Josh will bring great excitement and passion to the program and will continue the great tradition of winning football at New Richmond High School.”

“His enthusiasm for the classroom as well as the game of football will be extremely contagious with our students!” predicted New Richmond High School principal Mark Bailey. “Results of his work in the classroom show that he is a very knowledgeable and inspiring teacher.  Mr. Stratton's experience as a head football coach brings a wisdom and knowledge of the game that only comes from experience within that position.”

Stratton’s coaching experience also includes two years at Covington Holmes, where he coached running backs in 2009 and quarterbacks in 2010; two years at Herculaneum High School in Missouri where he was the offensive coordinator as well as the school’s varsity basketball coach in 2007 and 2008; three years at Grant County High School where he was quarterback coach and head freshman football coach as well as the freshman basketball coach. He was also freshman boys basketball coach at Gahanna Lincoln High School in Columbus from 2000-2002.

Lion football fans may see a few more passing plays next season, but Stratton doesn’t plan to do a major overhaul on offense.

 “I want to build on their prior success, but you can’t be one dimensional anymore in football,” said Stratton, who teaches social studies. “We will be very balanced and there may be games where we will pass more and other games where we will run the ball exclusively.”

Stratton’s defensive philosophy is to “cause destruction” which resulted in his Lloyd defense recording 19 interceptions last season.

“My philosophy is to get as much speed on the field as possible and get 11 hats on the ball,” said Stratton. “We will be aggressive and cause destruction. On each and every snap the goal of the defense will be to take the ball away from the offense.”

Nathan and JR take their final "Schott" at a state title!

  Seniors Nathan Dixon and JR Forsee wresteled in the State Chamionships this weekend at the Schottenstein Center on Ohio State's campus. Action started Thursday afternoon. Nathan wrestled well but came up a little short losing 8-1. JR wrestled a returning state placer and battled to the end but lost on points. Next round proved be be the Lions round, Nathan won 3-0 and JR had an 18 second pin!

   Second round consolation was Nathan Dixon's last match as a Lion. Nathan completed his senior season with a 5-2 defeat. Nathan finished the year with a 33-10 record and District Champion!

   JR extended his season with a 3-1 win over the District Champion from Miami Trace. In the consolation semi-finals he lost but qualified for the finals. JR wrestled in the fifth place match Saturday morning. He finished his senior season placing SIXTH in the STATE and a record of 31-8. JR is the first New Richmond wrestler to place in the State Tournament twice. He qualified for the State Tournament three times and finished with over 100 wins! WE ARE NR!!

Nathan Dixon, JR Forsee seek state mat titles

New Richmond High School seniors Nathan Dixon (220 pounds) and JR Forsee (285 pounds) will be competing in Thursday's Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II wrestling championships at Ohio State University. Lions head coach Deron Shinkle discusses their season and their chances of a podium finish in Columbus in this video.

State pairings

220 Weight Class: 
 1. GO-1 Nathan Dixon, New Richmond, (12), 32-8
 2. BG-4 Kordell Chaney, Sandusky Perkins, (9), 41-8
 3. HE-3 Austin Bentley, Carrollton, (11), 36-10
 4. AL-2 Logan Sharp, Beloit West Branch, (11), 22-6
 5. HE-2 Jalen Robinson, Columbus Mifflin, (12), 22-6
 6. AL-3 Mason Hilling, Peninsula Woodridge, (11), 36-10
 7. GO-4 Anthony Welty, St. Paris Graham Local, (12), 31-13
 8. BG-1 Zane Krall, Wauseon, (12), 38-3 (12:II-220-2nd)
 9. AL-1 Sean Rutherford, Norton, (10), 36-3 (12:II-182-7th)
10. HE-4 Troy Caldwell, Plain City Jonathan Alder, (10), 47-8
11. GO-3 Frank Heimkreiter, Hamilton Ross, (12), 43-6
12. BG-2 Bailey Faust, Lexington, (10), 47-2
13. GO-2 Brandon Davis, Greenfield McClain, (12), 44-6
14. BG-3 Beau Swank, Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan, (11), 20-4
15. AL-4 Billy Post, Conneaut, (12), 45-3
16. HE-1 Greg Moray, Steubenville, (12), 34-0 (12:II-220-4th)

285 Weight Class: 
 1. BG-1 Chase Henderson, Franklin, (11), 40-5
 2. HE-4 Jason Clinker, Dover, (12), 26-13
 3. GO-3 J.R. Forsee, New Richmond, (12), 28-5 (12:II-285-7th)
 4. AL-2 Connor Sharp, Beloit West Branch, (12), 33-3 (12:II-285-3rd)
 5. GO-2 Evan Loughman, Thornville Sheridan, (10), 39-10
 6. AL-3 Drek Brumley, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, (10), 34-6
 7. BG-4 Josh Rohrbacher, Sandusky Perkins, (11), 29-14
 8. HE-1 Alex Farrow, Whitehall-Yearling, (12), 48-1
 9. AL-1 Billy Miller, Perry, (11), 41-2 (12:II-285-4th)
10. GO-4 Kevin Phelps, Wilmington, (12), 41-13
11. HE-3 Alonzo Jewell, Columbus Hamilton Township, (11), 37-6
12. BG-2 T.J. Lawrence, Oak Harbor, (10), 31-11
13. HE-2 Dustin Kuhlwein, Plain City Jonathan Alder, (12), 44-4
14. BG-3 Beau Harmon, Bellefontaine Benjamin Logan, (12), 44-2 (12:II-285-8th)
15. AL-4 Travis Gosnell, Akron Coventry, (12), 46-7
16. GO-1 Hayden Bottorff, Washington C.H. Miami Trace, (11), 44-3

Two Wrestlers extend their season one more week!

Nathan Dixon and JR Forsee will be headed to Columbus Thursday to do battle for the State Championship! Nathan Dixon won the District Title at 220 lbs., he pinned every opponent he faced! Nathan is on a mission to win a State Title, which would be the first in NR Wrestling history!

JR finished third at 285 lbs. , he will be making his third trip to Columbus! JR is a seasoned veteran in Columbus and should be standing on the podium Saturday night! Good luck to both young men on their journey.

Now the hard part. We got to watch four seniors wrestle their last match Saturday. The toughest part of being a wrestling coach is watching your seniors step on that line for the last time. You don't know when it will happen, you just know it will happen. Seniors Clay Loadman, Kevin Reid, James White and Justin Patrick put on a Lions Wrestling singlet for the last time Saturday. They put forth an effort that would make any coach proud. These young men should have no regrets, they represented their school, family and team with pride and honor. The wrestling room will not be the same next year. Hold your heads high men, you are Lions forever! WE ARE NR!!