Thursday, March 20th, 2025

Riders have four sign

By Gary R. Rasberry

Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry

St. Marys had a busy signing day with four athletes signing in four different sports.

VINCENT HOLTZAPPLE

MUSKINGUM SOCCER
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard

Vincent Holtzapple, seated center, will attend Muskingum University this fall and play soccer for the Fighting Muskies.

After helping the Roughriders to an 11-win season, Holtzapple will look to help the Fighting Muskies move upward in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Muskingum finished 4-13-2 on the season, a one win improvement from a season ago, but went winless in their nine OAC matches, scoring just eight goals in conference play.

Holtzapple, coached by his father James, had 10 goals and eight assists this past fall for the Roughriders as they finished 11-6-2 before losing in the opening round of the Division III playoffs.

The younger Holtzapple earned first team All-Western Buckeye League honors as a junior and second and was first team All-District the same years.

"I'm extremely proud of Vincent (as) his coach and even more proud of him as his father," wrote coach Holtzapple.

JACOB KAISER

RIO GRANDE BASEBALL
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard

Jacob Kaiser, seated center, will attend the University of Rio Grande and compete for the Red Storm baseball team next season.

Kaiser will head to Southern Ohio looking to help the Red Storm in any way possible.

Rio Grande, an NAIA program, finished 20-31 last season and 9-15 in the River States Conference. The Red Storm are off to a better start this season, standing 12-14 overall after an 8-7 win on Tuesday against Bluefield (Virginia) and 4-2 in the RSC heading into a three-game conference series at Midway University in Kentucky.

Kaiser played infield, outfield, with center field his primary position, and pitched last season for the Roughriders, who reached the Division II district finals last season after bouncing back from a 2-9 start to finish 11-15 and 4-5 in the Western Buckeye League.

Kaiser batted .305 with seven doubles, three RBI and 16 runs scored. On the mound, Kaiser went 3-2 with a 4.09 earned run average with 22 strikeouts to just 19 walks.

Kaiser earned postseason honors, taking third team All-WBL and second team All-District as a utility player.

KOBY REINEKE

OHIO NORTHERN FOOTBALL
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard

Koby Reineke looks down after signing to attend Ohio Northern University and play football for the Polar Bears next season.

The 6-6, 315-pound offensive tackle heads to Ada to join a Polar Bears squad that reached .500 after three consecutive losing seasons.

ONU was 5-5 last season and 4-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Polar Bears averaged 224.8 rushing yards per game last season, with sophomore Jordan Pettaway leading the team with 1,003 yards.

Reineke should help with the run blocking as the Roughriders averaged 298.92 yards on the ground in the Wing-T offense with 50 touchdowns. St. Marys finished 10-3 last season after starting the season 2-2 then winning eight straight before losing in the regional semifinals to London.

REGHAN PUTHOFF

COLLEGE OF MOUNT ST. JOSEPH TRACK AND FIELD
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard

Reghan Puthoff, seated center, will attend the College of Mount St. Joseph and will join the Lions' track and field team.

Puthoff heads to Delhi Township in the Cincinnati area to join a Lions squad that finished sixth at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference indoor championships and was fifth last spring in the HCAC outdoor championships.

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Puthoff handled sprints, pole vault and high jump chores over her career, finishing ninth at the WBL meet in the high jump last season.

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