Thursday, September 7th, 2017

Wendel a pioneer in area men's volleyball

Curtain Call

By Robb Hemmelgarn
As the decades pass in the Mercer and Auglaize counties' area, there is little doubt how athletics continue to flourish at the high school level year in and year out.
While local teams continue to pile up state championships and produce future college standouts, a couple of aspects of our area's athletic heritage have slowly gone by the way side.
For Mercer County native Verne Wendel, one of those pieces of his past that has methodically dwindled are the church volleyball leagues.
"There used to be a time in our area where every small church had a volleyball court nestled nearby," said Wendel, a former volleyball superstar who grew up between Rockford and Celina. "In the late 1950s and through the 1960s, there were as many as 130 teams in Mercer County alone. There are still a few teams out there, but it is nothing like it was when I was growing up."
Wendel got his first taste of the sport before he was a teenager, playing all across the county several times a week, a worthwhile escape for him as a youngster, especially when life dealt some difficult blows. When his mother passed away at the age of 32 in 1954, his family, which included six siblings, was turned upside down. He attended school in his early years at Celina and later in Rockford, but in 1959 he and his brothers and sisters were sent to live at the Marsh Foundation in Van Wert.
"We were only allowed to play one sport while we were there, so I played basketball for a year and then ran track for a couple of years, but neither of them really interested me like volleyball did," Wendel said. "I wasn't a real strong basketball player, and although I was a decent runner, I didn't really enjoy it all that much. One thing I could really do well was jump, so that definitely helped me to excel on the volleyball court."
When it was time for Wendel to head to college, he wound up at the Ohio State University in Columbus in 1962 and soon realized his extra-curricular calling.
"They were starting a club volleyball team for men during my first year, and there was an open invitation for players to try out and I ended up making the team," Wendel said. "They played a completely different style by running a 6-0 offense, and although that was something I had never really done before, I was able to adjust rather quickly."
Although it was a club team, Wendel was quick to point out that the competition they faced on a regular basis was quite fierce.
"We played all over the Midwest against schools like Michigan State, Bowling Green, Ball State, and Kentucky," Wendel said. "We were playing against those colleges' varsity teams and still probably managed to win 70 percent of our games. It was definitely hard work, but it was a lot of fun."
Following college, Wendel did a stint in the military before returning to the area and bringing a new style of the sport he loved back with him.
"The church leagues around here were at their peak by the time I returned and they definitely weren't used to the 6-0 style of offense," Wendel said with a chuckle. "I ended up also getting involved with the YMCA in Van Wert and we started a league there as well. Volleyball was still a huge part of my life and I wanted to continue to see it grow in our area."
Wendel's career on the courts lasted until he was 50 years old before he finally gave it up for good, but unfortunately he witnessed the sport, which was so big for so long, start to falter later in his career.
"I'm not really sure what caused it all to slow down so much," said Wendel with a twinge of disappointment in his voice. "I suppose those who were always big in organizing it, stopped doing so and there was just no one around to pick things up and keep it going."
Although he is no longer a competitor, Wendel still keeps busy today watching his grandkids play sports, and even though none of them play volleyball, that doesn't keep him from the excitement of watching them compete.
"Just about all of them play soccer," Wendel said. "Even though there aren't any volleyball players in the family, it is still so neat to watch them do something they love. A few times a year, I run into old friends whom I haven't seen in decades and they bring up the stories of the days from when we used to play volleyball. There are a lot of great memories for me and looking back, I had a very good life with it and honestly that is all you can ask."
Additional online story on this date
Mercer stands No. 4 among Ohio counties
CELINA - Mercer County Engineer Jim Wiechart's office, while jockeying among much larger counties', has brought home oodles of federal funds over the last several years to help pay for road and bridge projects. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Razz-Eye View
I can almost hear the beautiful music of Dave Loggins' "Augusta" playing as Jim Nantz utters the classic line "A tradition unlike any other."
No, I'm not talking about The Masters. I'm talking about the 50/50 raffle at the Coldwater-Marion Local football game.
Coldwater versus Marion Local.
It doesn't get any bigger than this.
When these two teams meet, two things are guaranteed: 1) The 50/50 raffle and crowd will both be huge. 2) And the game itself will be highly entertaining, too.
Computer Points In Review
Let's face it. After only two weeks, the computer points do not mean very much. Each team has only played 20 percent of the games which affect its first-level points, and only two of the potentially 90 results which could affect second-level points have been factored in.
Elida at CelinaCelina Stadium
Last meeting: Celina, 12-7. Ryan Harter's second touchdown of the game with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter sent Celina past Elida in the WBL opener at Kraft Stadium in Elida.
Players of the Week:


Offense

Ryan Luttmer, RB/K
St. Henry
Nine carries for 92 yards and three touchdowns and 6/6 on points-after in the Redskins' 42-0 win over Eaton.
CELINA - The jury trial of a Celina man facing drug and weapons charges continues today in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
Scott A. Stein, 47,
MONTEZUMA - The woman who had been freed from a submerged vehicle early Monday morning died at a Fort Wayne hospital, an Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokesperson confirmed this morning.
Girl taken by helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital
ST. MARYS - A seriously injured St. Marys teen was taken by medical helicopter to a Dayton hospital after her car had collided head-on with a dump truck late Wednesday morning near St. Marys.
Village planning 2,200-square-foot plant to replace current aging facility
CHICKASAW - Village council members agreed Wednesday to pursue another loan to help pay for the upcoming water treatment plant project.
Access Eng
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP - Two people suffered incapacitating injuries in a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Frahm Pike and State Route 118 just before 10 a.m. Wednesday.
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. - John Mayer proved to the thousands of fans at Klipsch Music Center on Sunday night that he is without a doubt one of his generation's most exciting and talented musical voices, a man willing to follow his muse wherever it may take him across the popular music spectrum.