2025 HS Season

MatchPoint

Active member
Any thoughts on front runners for next season? Seems obvious, but I’m thinking Ignatius and X (young talent with Ragon and Taggart) are the major players in D1, with McNick (Only losing one senior) the favorite in D2.
 
 
My dark horse next year is Massillon Jackson. The majority of their team was Sophomores and Juniors this year. They may still be a year away, but they will be contenders in 2025 and 2026.
 
In D1, I think Elder could get back into that top tier. Part of that is X and Moe rebuilding a bit, but the vast majority of their lineup returns and Brady Kelly got valuable time this year on Varsity in a 6-2. They need their MHs to make a leap, but you can’t discount experience. Iggy also has to be up there with their young guys they have coming back. X will be good with guys like Taggart, Schulte, Soloria, etc., but they have a lot to replace and I’m not sure who the next setter is? Dark horse is Walnut Hills. Their entire core is back from a solid season, but would like to see them schedule tougher OOC. They can’t help their conference, but can ratchet up the intensity outside of that.

In D2, it’s gotta be McNick and McNick’s to lose. Fenwick, St. Charles and Roger Bacon all lose a ton and those seemed to be the next teams after McNick (obvious on St. Charles). My dark horse in D2 is Chaminade-Julienne. Very young team this past year with underclassmen at almost every position and have an absolute stud in Blumenstok. Realistically, don’t think they get past McNick, but could give them a hard time and will face them twice in conference play
 
Elder will be dealing with the same issues they dealt with this year. Undersized OH1 and 2, inconsistent Middle play, and they will have to replace there libero. I think they will have a couple more wins than this year but still a step below X and Moe.
 
Elder will be dealing with the same issues they dealt with this year. Undersized OH1 and 2, inconsistent Middle play, and they will have to replace there libero. I think they will have a couple more wins than this year but still a step below X and Moe.
Counting on some off-season progression from all of those guys a bit to iron out inconsistencies and hitting smart despite being undersized. Libero is the most interesting position to me for them
 
Some pretty big changes in divisional alignment this year. No teams moved from D2 to D1, but I’m counting 18 that moved from D1 to D2 for an even split between divisions at 62 apiece.

Some notable schools that moved to D2:
Loveland
Brecksville
Mount Vernon
Briggs
Walsh Jesuit
LaSalle

In the Central region, normally dominated by St. Charles, SFDS and Watterson, they now have to deal with Mount Vernon and Briggs. I’d expect MV to come out of the region this year.

In the Southwest, which already includes McNick, Roger Bacon, Chaminade, Badin, Taylor, Alter, Carroll and Fenwick, they now add in Loveland, Edgewood and LaSalle. This region is gonna be a bloodbath this year. McNick should still be the heavy favorite, but adding in LaSalle and Loveland along with Alter and CJ being improved should make things interesting.

In the Northeast, which has sent new programs to state the past 2 years in Independence, they now add Brecksville, Steele, Firestone and Walsh Jesuit. This feels like Brecksville’s to lose.

Some big initial changes and always a chance other schools will add programs this year too! Will be interesting to see who adds programs and if that’ll change divisional alignment at all. Exciting times!
 
In the Southwest, which already includes McNick, Roger Bacon, Chaminade, Badin, Taylor, Alter, Carroll and Fenwick, they now add in Loveland, Edgewood and LaSalle. This region is gonna be a bloodbath this year. McNick should still be the heavy favorite, but adding in LaSalle and Loveland along with Alter and CJ being improved should make things interesting.
👆Whoa Whoa Whoa. Be careful with those words. 😉
 
Some pretty big changes in divisional alignment this year. No teams moved from D2 to D1, but I’m counting 18 that moved from D1 to D2 for an even split between divisions at 62 apiece.

Some notable schools that moved to D2:
Loveland
Brecksville
Mount Vernon
Briggs
Walsh Jesuit
LaSalle

In the Central region, normally dominated by St. Charles, SFDS and Watterson, they now have to deal with Mount Vernon and Briggs. I’d expect MV to come out of the region this year.

In the Southwest, which already includes McNick, Roger Bacon, Chaminade, Badin, Taylor, Alter, Carroll and Fenwick, they now add in Loveland, Edgewood and LaSalle. This region is gonna be a bloodbath this year. McNick should still be the heavy favorite, but adding in LaSalle and Loveland along with Alter and CJ being improved should make things interesting.

In the Northeast, which has sent new programs to state the past 2 years in Independence, they now add Brecksville, Steele, Firestone and Walsh Jesuit. This feels like Brecksville’s to lose.

Some big initial changes and always a chance other schools will add programs this year too! Will be interesting to see who adds programs and if that’ll change divisional alignment at all. Exciting times!
Whoa. Very interesting shake up.

That's gotta sting for the LaSalle team from last year who probably could have gone to state in D2. LaSalle was D2 for a long time prior to OHSAA, then here comes the best team they've had in awhile and they have to play D1 for two years. Then after Hausfeld and the other seniors graduate, they're back to D2 again. lol

Similar to Mt. V, probably could have been a top contender in D2 last year.
 
Whoa. Very interesting shake up.

That's gotta sting for the LaSalle team from last year who probably could have gone to state in D2. LaSalle was D2 for a long time prior to OHSAA, then here comes the best team they've had in awhile and they have to play D1 for two years. Then after Hausfeld and the other seniors graduate, they're back to D2 again. lol

Similar to Mt. V, probably could have been a top contender in D2 last year.
I think the issue is that there were schools the last 2 years that declared an intent to field a team, but then never did, so the cutoff number for D1/D2 was lower than it is now. That, and attendance numbers being different now. LaSalle still should compete, but they obviously lost a lot and McNick only lost 1 lol
 
Centerville Elite field this year looks like:

St. Xavier
Moeller
Elder
St. Ignatius
Darby
Thomas Worthington
Olentangy Berlin
Centerville

If true, that means 3 Columbus teams and only 1 team from Region 2. Liberty and Brecksville were replaced from last year's tournament after graduating a lot of talent.
 
I'm really interested in what Fenwick accomplishes this year. The stigma around them is that they lost a lot of seniors who were integral to their success the past few years (Snyder, Kiser, Morris, Wagner) and it is true that they lose some high caliber power in those guys. However, from what I know about Fenwick's program as a whole is that the younger guys who have paid their dues playing JV or on Varsity bench are ready to step into much bigger roles. Fenwick maintains defensive studs Josh Sabin and Hugh Lenz, and Jake Long (OH) and Dempsey Ptaszkiewicz (MB) will lead the front row. Both showed lots of promise and potential in their junior season, and both are set to take huge leaps as Fenwick's primary hitters.
 
I agree with most of this post besides a few points. Though I do think Fenwick has some promising players, they likely will not be very good this year.
 
I agree with most of this post besides a few points. Though I do think Fenwick has some promising players, they likely will not be very good this year.
I would have to agree with this. However, Dempsey Ptaszkiewicz is NOT an established player. I have heard that he is injury prone as well. Dempsey will have to earn his stripes at the Varsity level, and prove that he is 6'7" for a reason. We also may be looking at a breakout season for Fenwick senior Tucker Houndshells. This kid was a "JV Demon" as a junior, and did not get any Varsity playing time. I have heard that he made a decent club team and is looking to earn his stripes for Fenwick Varsity as well.
 
Roughly 4 weeks til the season (practice) officially begins. With that in mind, any thoughts on this year?

Has anyone surprised on the club scene that now we need to look out for in HS season that may have been under the radar?

A few major players to watch:
Joe Taggart, OH, St. X (OSU commit)
Finn Rubin, MB, Thomas Worthington (Loyola Commit)
Jack Ragon, OH, St. I (OSU commit)
Grant Simer, OPP, Lakota East (NKU Commit)
Gavin Gerhard, OH, McNick
 
I think my main takeaway is that it’s hard to know for sure who has what and how the usual suspects will look; particularly in D1. The guys listed above are all fantastic players, but who do they have around them this year? It feels like last year was a weirdly heavy senior class across the board. It might take a little longer than usual to know who the top teams are. But it looks like the GCL teams will be playing each other earlier than usual this year so that’ll be some fun early season action.

In D2, if McNick doesn’t win state again then something has gone wrong during their season. New coach, but I think you’d have to actively try to mess that up. That’s all I’ve got on that.
 
Last edited:
Roughly 4 weeks til the season (practice) officially begins. With that in mind, any thoughts on this year?

Has anyone surprised on the club scene that now we need to look out for in HS season that may have been under the radar?

A few major players to watch:
Joe Taggart, OH, St. X (OSU commit)
Finn Rubin, MB, Thomas Worthington (Loyola Commit)
Jack Ragon, OH, St. I (OSU commit)
Grant Simer, OPP, Lakota East (NKU Commit)
Gavin Gerhard, OH, McNick
Does anyone know what kind of offers Gerhard (or any other McNick players) have? There's probably 3 or 4 guys on that team that I'd think should be getting looks
 
Some pretty big changes in divisional alignment this year. No teams moved from D2 to D1, but I’m counting 18 that moved from D1 to D2 for an even split between divisions at 62 apiece.

Some notable schools that moved to D2:
Loveland
Brecksville
Mount Vernon
Briggs
Walsh Jesuit
LaSalle

In the Central region, normally dominated by St. Charles, SFDS and Watterson, they now have to deal with Mount Vernon and Briggs. I’d expect MV to come out of the region this year.

In the Southwest, which already includes McNick, Roger Bacon, Chaminade, Badin, Taylor, Alter, Carroll and Fenwick, they now add in Loveland, Edgewood and LaSalle. This region is gonna be a bloodbath this year. McNick should still be the heavy favorite, but adding in LaSalle and Loveland along with Alter and CJ being improved should make things interesting.

In the Northeast, which has sent new programs to state the past 2 years in Independence, they now add Brecksville, Steele, Firestone and Walsh Jesuit. This feels like Brecksville’s to lose.

Some big initial changes and always a chance other schools will add programs this year too! Will be interesting to see who adds programs and if that’ll change divisional alignment at all. Exciting times!
Some exciting news for the growth of the game I’ve heard recently. In the Cincinnati area, I’ve heard that Anderson, Turpin, Kings, Wyoming, Indian Hill and Finneytown are all starting programs this year! Sounds like some schools could be gauging interest as well. I have no idea about any school’s enrollment, but I’d assume most, if not all, will be D2 so could see some more divisional realignment in the area again in the near future.

I’m pretty ignorant to other areas so does anyone know of any schools in other regions starting programs?
 
Some exciting news for the growth of the game I’ve heard recently. In the Cincinnati area, I’ve heard that Anderson, Turpin, Kings, Wyoming, Indian Hill and Finneytown are all starting programs this year! Sounds like some schools could be gauging interest as well. I have no idea about any school’s enrollment, but I’d assume most, if not all, will be D2 so could see some more divisional realignment in the area again in the near future.
Do you know if they are going all in with Frosh/JV/V? Or just starting this year with a JV/Frosh thing?
 
Some exciting news for the growth of the game I’ve heard recently. In the Cincinnati area, I’ve heard that Anderson, Turpin, Kings, Wyoming, Indian Hill and Finneytown are all starting programs this year! Sounds like some schools could be gauging interest as well. I have no idea about any school’s enrollment, but I’d assume most, if not all, will be D2 so could see some more divisional realignment in the area again in the near future.

I’m pretty ignorant to other areas so does anyone know of any schools in other regions starting programs?
There is a pretty familiar name running the helm at Kings this year... Should be a pretty great start to their program.

 
There is a pretty familiar name running the helm at Kings this year... Should be a pretty great start to their program.

Good hire! Interesting career path for him the past few years. Can't imagine how much of a challenge it is for anyone to start a program, but I have to think they'll get some kids with experience from any nearby private grade schools. Will be fun to see all of these public schools getting into the mix.
 
Top