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R.J. Simon drove "Drivers Wanted" to victory in the Super Semi Trucks class on Saturday at the NTPA Fort Recovery Grand Nationals at Ambassador Park. File photo.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Tractors and trucks tried to go the full-pull as the National Tractor Pullers Association concluded its Fort Recovery Grand Nationals on Saturday at Ambassador Park.
In the afternoon session, Martin Quigley took first place in the Region II 5.0 Pro Stock Tractor class with a top effort of 319.200 feet driving "Bad Decisions." Jeff Ahrens took second with "Gone Green" with a pull of 315.795 feet and Chris Cain and "Aces Wild" was third at 314.750 feet.
In Region II West Light Pro Stocks, Dave Armstrong and "Rowdy Red" won with a pull of 333.190 feet, followed by Jansen Laux and "Terminal Velocity" at 328.710 and then Hunter Beasley and "Power Hound" with 323 feet even.
In the Super Semi Trucks division, R.J. Simon proved to be the driver for "Drivers Wanted," pulling 342.850 feet for first place honors. Friday's winner Brian Elithorpe and "Nikki's Nightmare" was second at 330.900 with Chris Jeffries and "General Stupidity" taking third at 313.855.
Another Region II event, Southeast Modifieds, had Galen Barga driving "The Judge: Next Generation" to victory with a pull of 332.645 feet. Todd Feiss and "S'no Farmer" was second at 321.455 feet with Don Deane and "Plumbers Nitemare" third at 289.570.
In the night session, Brandon Hunt drove "Liv'n a Dream" to victory in the Super Stock Diesel Tractors class with a top pull of 289.650. Kent Payne repeated his runner-up finish on Friday with "Super Rooster" with a pull of 283 feet even with "Bone Twister" and Travis Schlabach taking third at 270.360.
"Liv'n a Dream," driven by Brandon Hunt, won Saturday's Super Stock Diesel Tractor class at the NTPA Fort Recovery Grand Nationals at Ambassador Park. File photo.
Robert Gansemer took the Super Stock Open Tractor class for a second straight night as he drove "Ruttin' Deere" to victory with a pull of 326.440 feet. John Strickland and "GALOT II"was second with 324.135 feet with Terry Blackborn driving "Extremely Armed & Dangerous" to a third-place finish of 315.350 feet after finishing third on Friday.
In the Region II West Light Pro Stock Tractors, Laux and "Terminal Velocity" moved up to the top spot, beating Armstrong and "Rowdy Red" 340.130 feet to 335.375. Jeff Mikloiche and "Demented" placed third at 334.640 feet.
Ray Heeren, who won Friday's Region II 4.1 Pro Stock Tractors class, drove "Red Express" to the sweep on Saturday night with a top pull of 341.115 feet. Jacob Ohl and "Just Add Dirt" was second with 331.665 feet and Jerry Martin and "John Deere 5020" was third at 330.320 feet.
Ken Veney completed his sweep of the Grand National Modified Mini class, adding to Friday's win with "Funny Lil' Farmall" with a top Saturday pull of 337.590 feet. Kim Quamme and "Well Oiled Machine" was second at 328.690 feet with Bryan McDonald and "Very Lil' Sanity" taking third with a pull of 328.525.
Adam Bauer finished third in the Unlimited Modifieds on Friday, but moved to the top spot as he drove "Cross Threaded" to victory with a pull of 334.465 feet. Friday's winner Joe Eder and "Emax" was Saturday's runner-up with a pull of 328.360 feet and Ricky Rose and "Giddyup" placed third with a pull of 313.555 feet.
Ohio Northern teammates Ian Ackenhausen and Jared Swartz finished 1-2 at Saturday's Lake Festival 5K in Celina as part of the Mercer Health 5K Challenge.
Ackenhausen crossed the line in 15:56.3, nearly 12 seconds ahead of Swartz, who finished in 16:08.1. Van Wert's Drew Laudick was third, followed by another ONU runner in Aaron Guzman, with Laudick's Van Wert teammate Johan Gemmer taking fifth.
Coldwater resident and former Parkway and Wright State standout Ashley Lefeld was the top female finsiher, placing 20th overall with a time of 18:33.9. Ohio Northern teammates Abby Matthews (26th) and Katie Prusnek (33rd), Sophia Angelopoulos (39th) and Kara Buschur (42nd) rounded out the top five ladies.
The final race of the Mercer Health 5K Challenge will take place this Saturday in Coldwater with the Buzzards Glory 5K.
Host New Bremen outlasted a field of 18 teams to win the eighth-annual preseason tournament named for the late Daily Standard sports writer and New Bremen resident.
The Cardinals were the top seed of the Gold Bracket (top 12 teams after round robin play) and took a first round bye before beating Defiance in the quarterfinals and Leipsic in the semifinals. Leipsic was the fourth seed and beat New Knoxville after the Rangers beat Minster in the first round.
Awaiting New Bremen was second seed St. Henry, which had a bye and awaited the winner of Carey and Crestview. The Redskins beat Crestview, then beat third seed Shawnee to reach the final.
New Bremen took the bracket with a win over the Redskins.
In the Silver Bracket for the six teams that didn't make the top 12, West Liberty-Salem beat Parkway in the opening round, then defeated St. Marys to reach the final over Ben Logan, which had beat Wapakoneta and Fort Recovery. West Liberty-Salem won over Ben Logan to take the bracket.
The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League announced its last round of weekly honors and all-league honors.
Grand Lake pitcher Hayden Bush was named Pitcher of the Week after his six-hit shutout of Bath on July 22 in his final game of the season. Bush did not walk a batter and struck out a season-high seven in the win to finish his summer with a 1-1, a 3.85 ERA and 22 strikeouts.
Lima's Sebastian Alexander was named Player of the Week after going 14-for-22 in a six-game stretch, including going 4-for-4 in a win over Grand Lake.
The Locos took three of the four postseason player honors in All-GLSCL voting released over the weekend. Third baseman Blake Bowen was named the Gary Henschen Player of the Year after batting .364 with three home runs, 29 runs and 29 runs batted in. Lima starting pitcher Mateo Pare was named the Lou Laslo Pitcher of the Year after going 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA. Outfielder Brooks Wright received the Ron Miller Top Player Prospect Award. Wright batted .278 with 10 runs and 10 RBI.
Hamilton pitcher Kyle Kesel was named the Tony Lucadello Top Pitcher Prospect Award after going 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 21 innings. Hamilton manager Tyler Thamann was named Manager of the Year in guiding the Joes to a 26-9 regular season title and advancing the team to the GLSCL championship series after sweeping Lima in two straight games in the semifinals.
Grand Lake's Drew Emerson was named to the first team as a utility player while AJ McAninch was a first team selection at relief pitcher. Second team honors went to catcher Ty Davis and outfielder Jackson Rains while third baseman Stefan Di Corrado was named to the honorable mention.
