Northwest Conference 2024

BirdDog10

BirdDog10

Well-known member
Couldn't find the other thread for the 2024 season, but it hasn't had any action since before the 2023 season was over.

Anyway, here we go. This will be an interesting season for the league. Bringing in LCC and Ft. Loramie makes the NWC the 2nd toughest Division 6-7 league in the state in my opinion. Grove and Bluffton both bring a ton back from last year, Crestview looks like they are trending up under their new head coach, Allen East will be tough, and LCC has established themselves as a consistent state contender in D7. Ft Loramie is a big question mark for me simply because I don't know much about them and they struggled a bit last year, but they've had some really good teams recently. Spencerville I think has improved over the last season, but this year's league schedule is going to be a monster for a rebuilding team to play through. Same can be said for Jefferson - could be a long year in the NWC for them.
 
 
My projections:

1) Grove - Until they show signs of falling off, they're the favorite. Trenton Barraza is back along with several huge contributors on offense. Defense returns 7/11 starters along with several kids who saw good chunks of playing time last year.

2) Bluffton - Similar to Grove, they return their bell cow on offense with some other contributors around him. I wouldn't be mad if the week 10 matchup against Grove decides the conference champ again this year.

3) LCC - Lost Parker but should still have talent especially on offense. I don't think they'll be able to match Grove or Bluffton's physicality

4-6 ) Allen East, Crestview, and Ft. Loramie could all end up at any spot here IMO. Crestview exceeded my expectations last year but lost quite a bit of senior talent. Allen East had a down year but they've still got big numbers in their program that have experienced a lot of success in the past. Ft. Loramie like I said is a big question mark for me but I don't think they'll be an easy out for anyone.

7) Spencerville - looked better last year than the year before but were very young and had a ton of injuries throughout the year. Could be improved again this year but could still be a long season.

8) Jefferson - Only team in the league with a new head coach this year. Struggled heavily with an extremely young roster last year, might surprise me but I don't think it'll happen
 
I agree with a lot of the above. Slight differences but overall a good starting point!

1) Columbus Grove - Best returning player Trenton Barraza. Great coaching and established program. Many great years coming as well.

2) LCC - Will be interesting without Parker. I do know they are returning 19 of the 22 starting positions (Parker being 2 of those positions). I believe half of their players last year were Freshman/Sophomores.

3) Bluffton - Similar to Grove in the coaching, especially on defense. Will they have enough on offense though? That is the big question because I believe there are several teams that will be pretty good on offense this year.

4) FL - Had bit of a down year last year but seemed to figure it out late. They have had several good years prior so I would expect them to get back to the 7-3/8-2 spot. They will be one of the better passing teams in the conference.

5/6) Crestview/Allen East - Both of these teams are coming off two very different years. Crestview's new staff and offense played well and earned some respect while AE had a little bit of a down year. I expect both of these teams to be in the 6-4/5-5 range.

7/8) Spencerville/Jefferson - Hope these two can get back to where they were 7-8 years ago but I don't think it'll be next year. Tough spot for the new coach at Jefferson (I believe he has been on staff though, so that should help).
 
LimaLand said:
7/8) Spencerville/Jefferson - Hope these two can get back to where they were 7-8 years ago but I don't think it'll be next year. Tough spot for the new coach at Jefferson (I believe he has been on staff though, so that should help).
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I'm pretty sure Jefferson's new head coach has been on the staff for the last several years, so even though it's a new man at the top they probably won't have much turnover overall
 
I've been waiting for this thread :)
I'm not going to type out all my thoughts, when basically BirdDog covered it. I can't say I know enough to comment on our 2 new members but I like the competition getting better and some new rivalries. I wish Leipsic and would have stayed. You see all these other leagues adding schools for stability; 8 football schools is on the bubble.
 
I know this is the football forum, but can we discuss how the sports gods love to see Grove vs Bluffton tournament rematches? Grove and Bluffton will play on the hardwood in a couple weeks in a sectional semi-final. This of course is soon after Grove upsets Bluffton.

Plus you add in this past football season, I just have to wonder about the higher power here.
 
Looking forward to the rematch! I will be honest, we will have to play very well again to beat them in basketball. Football I wasn't concerned I felt we were the better team top to bottom. The basketball win was an upset, but if we can do it again then its a different conversation.
 
Bulldog_Pride said:
Looking forward to the rematch! I will be honest, we will have to play very well again to beat them in basketball. Football I wasn't concerned I felt we were the better team top to bottom. The basketball win was an upset, but if we can do it again then its a different conversation.
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Not sure who's feeling more pressure to beat Grove. The players or their parents, fans, etc...
 
Bulldog_Pride said:
Looking forward to the rematch! I will be honest, we will have to play very well again to beat them in basketball. Football I wasn't concerned I felt we were the better team top to bottom. The basketball win was an upset, but if we can do it again then its a different conversation.
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Have they wrestled yet? If so, who won?
 
BirdDog10 said:
Not that I'm aware of. NWC meet is this weekend, 4 teams should have a shot for the first time in a while
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Ah, so they don't wrestle everyone in the conference in a dual setting, just some? I'm used to having everyone wrestle a dual in the conference and then have the individual tournament to end the season.
 
Basement Bias said:
Ah, so they don't wrestle everyone in the conference in a dual setting, just some? I'm used to having everyone wrestle a dual in the conference and then have the individual tournament to end the season.
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With the wrestling numbers fluctuating as much as they have in the NWC over its history it doesn't make sense to have a dual meet in a lot of years. We used to have a dual against Bluffton but somewhere along the line numbers dipped heavily for one of the teams and it was dropped and not picked back up. Now that Richards is in charge of the wrestling program at Bluffton hopefully they can both keep numbers up and get back to having a dual with close to full lineups each year. I know Grove went to Crestview this year, but hasn't had a dual with any of the other NWC schools.

In a perfect world each school would get a full lineup or close to one and we'd get a regular season dual championship
 
BirdDog10 said:
With the wrestling numbers fluctuating as much as they have in the NWC over its history it doesn't make sense to have a dual meet in a lot of years. We used to have a dual against Bluffton but somewhere along the line numbers dipped heavily for one of the teams and it was dropped and not picked back up. Now that Richards is in charge of the wrestling program at Bluffton hopefully they can both keep numbers up and get back to having a dual with close to full lineups each year. I know Grove went to Crestview this year, but hasn't had a dual with any of the other NWC schools.

In a perfect world each school would get a full lineup or close to one and we'd get a regular season dual championship
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Gotcha. I know one conference across the line does their dual tournament in 2 days but only has 7 members. Of the 7, usually 4 have full lineups or close to it. The other 3 are hit & miss every year. I believe the other conference does the old school way of a dual here & there as well as a tri meet for their 8 members. I could have missed where they changed it to a 2 day event. Be cool to see numbers grow to that in the NWC.
 
Basement Bias said:
Be cool to see numbers grow to that in the NWC.
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Each team has had its up's and down's for wrestling numbers. Crestview is obviously an almost brand new program but their growth looks promising. Lincolnview typically doesn't have a ton of numbers. Grove, Bluffton, Delphos, Spencerville, and even Allen East over the last 20 years have all had full rosters and all had years where they've only got a handful of wrestlers. The NWC actually lost a very good and consistent wrestling program when Paulding left for the GMC, plus they were replaced by Leipsic who has never had the sport
 
BirdDog10 said:
Each team has had its up's and down's for wrestling numbers. Crestview is obviously an almost brand new program but their growth looks promising. Lincolnview typically doesn't have a ton of numbers. Grove, Bluffton, Delphos, Spencerville, and even Allen East over the last 20 years have all had full rosters and all had years where they've only got a handful of wrestlers. The NWC actually lost a very good and consistent wrestling program when Paulding left for the GMC, plus they were replaced by Leipsic who has never had the sport
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Crestview's growth is very promising in the youth. The middle school has done well, but they need to get some of the kids over to an RTC. The older youth kids are doing OK but that 7-9 year old range has some promising kids. Hopefully they all stick with it. Crestview won't be the only one benefitting as we've had Van Wert, Antwerp, and 4 of the Indiana neighboring schools wrestling in the club at points as well. The RTC's in Ft Wayne have really helped a lot of those wrestlers.

As for Lincolnview, it seems they may be starting youth up in a year or 2. That will only help them as I believe many wrestle with Wayne Trace or Delphos Tri-County. As long as they do it correctly.

Paulding has great guys helping their youth. They are very consistent and normally start doing very well this time of year.
 
I know this is football, but seems to be the only yappi where the NWC guys are.
Bluffton has been completely owned by Grove, is boys track finally the season where Bluffton gets Grove?
Grove loses their throwers, 400 guy, and a distance runner
Bluffton loses 800 guys, mile, and 3200 guy, but returns the top HJ, top hurdler
 
Pirate Wishbone said:
I know this is football, but seems to be the only yappi where the NWC guys are.
Bluffton has been completely owned by Grove, is boys track finally the season where Bluffton gets Grove?
Grove loses their throwers, 400 guy, and a distance runner
Bluffton loses 800 guys, mile, and 3200 guy, but returns the top HJ, top hurdler
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Did Bluffton repent to God? If not, they won’t win. God has Bluffton on his bad side.
 
Pirate Wishbone said:
I know this is football, but seems to be the only yappi where the NWC guys are.
Bluffton has been completely owned by Grove, is boys track finally the season where Bluffton gets Grove?
Grove loses their throwers, 400 guy, and a distance runner
Bluffton loses 800 guys, mile, and 3200 guy, but returns the top HJ, top hurdler
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Might be a tighter race this year. Grove lost the 3 throwers obviously, not sure if any of their replacements will be competitive at the state level yet. The older Blankemeyer graduating will be a loss for the 400 and 4x4. Trent Koch is another big graduating loss for the 3,200, but there's a really good group of younger distance runners that should be able to step up. Other than those guys everyone is back. Reynolds is a multi-time state qualifier in both hurdles, and the younger Blankemeyer should be right with him. 3/4 of the 4x4 that was the first team out at regionals are back, Baxter won the league last year in the pole vault as a freshman, and Ellerbrock should be the heavy favorite in the 3,200 and 1,600
 
Thanks for the rundown, forgot about Reynolds, didn't see him on last year's conf results,,,,,our boys need something to build on before football season, sounds like Grove is becoming a huge mental block, especially after what happened in basketball
 
Pirate Wishbone said:
Thanks for the rundown, forgot about Reynolds, didn't see him on last year's conf results,,,,,
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I could be wrong but I don’t think Reynolds ran at NWC last year, he was dealing with a nagging injury and trying to heal up before state tournaments started
 
@BirdDog10 Z Martin did some damage to his knee. I'm not sure when he's going to return to football or wrestling action. Sucks because I had just mentioned to his & A Martin's dad about offseason wrestling before the injury. The hope was to get them in great football shape & put in more work to get to the next wrestling level. Hoping for a speedy recovery.
 
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