FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

Started by admin, August 16, 2005, 05:05:01 AM

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formerd3db

Impressive synopsis Wally.  Also, sound reasoning smeds.  +k for both of you! :)
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

sigma one

Very impressive, Wally.  I  have been thinking about the 04-13 possibles.  But I've spent more time thus far on the decade 01-10.
     Tough calls at all positions.  Here is my First Team for the decade, with no disrespect to all those fine players I do not list and who were on the edge, and someone else might.  So, contributors, take your own crack at it.  I've included only players who were seniors in 01, only players who were seniors in 10 (no carry overs to later years, or else Fioroni would be right there, as I expect he will be with many listers), and because of my own weaknesses I've listed more than the standard number at a couple of positions.
     Here goes:
QB:   Knott, Wabash
RB:   Sutton, Wooster; Murray, Wittenberg; Morris, Wabash (Capone, Ohio Wesleyan, right there, too)
WR   Aljancic, Witttenberg; von Kaan, Kenyon; Casper, Wabash (LeMond would be here, but he was injured his senior season)
TE:   Short, Wabash
OL:  Drushal, Wooster; Thompson, Wittenberg; (center) Holman, Wittenberg/Fleming, Allegheny; Kassner, Wittenberg; Isascs,
       Wabash
K:    Porter, Wittenberg
P:    Thomas, Wittenberg
P/K  Polack, Allegheny/Finley, Wabash
Ret: Schubert, Obderlin

DL    Blair Hammer, Wabash; Vallery, Wittenberg; Clervoix, Ohio Wesleyan; Howard, Wittenberg; Kearney, Wooster; Kennon,
        Wabash
LB    Pope, Wittenberg; Pynenberg, Wabash; Goldsbury, Wittenberg; Boulais, Wabash; Case, Wohio Wesleyan
DB   Hajjar, Wooster; Albani, Wooster; Brown, Wittenberg, Johnson, Wabash; Sherman, Ohio Wesleyan (Foster, Wabash, as a
       hybrid--rover-LB/S)

      No players from Denison or Hiram.  Their best, in my view, Hull, Hiram at LB, and Roe, Denison at TE.  Neither made my first of second team.  Though Earlham is no longer with us, Rummel at QB and White at WR were special players. 

wally_wabash

While I continue to mull the QB of the decade (2004-2013), I'll spend a few 'graphs talking about running backs.  Picking two is pretty easy, I think, but I'll list my top four "finalists":

Tony Sutton, Wooster (2002-2004) - You could write 2,000 words on how great Sutton's career was.  I'll try to keep it short...Tony is the NCAC career leader in: all-purpose yards, rushing yards (500 yards clear of #2), rushing TDs, and total TDs.  Tony has the top two single seasons in all-purpose yards, rushing yards, and rushing TDs.  He won the Gregory Award twice and was everybody's first team all-American in 2003 and 2004.  He's one of the best players to ever play Division III football, let alone NCAC football. 

Tristan Murray, Wittenberg (2004-2006) -  Like Sutton, Murray was a transfer from a different division and played just three years.  Three very good years.  Murray finished his career fifth all time in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.  Those marks are good for second all time in Wittenberg history behind only the great Casey Donaldson.  Murray also rushed for 100+ yards in 9 straight games in 2006 which is a fun stat.  Murray did win the Gregory Award in his senior season. 

And now, I think I'm done.  These are, IMO, clearly the two best backs that we've seen in the last 10 years in the league.  RV Carroll at Oberlin won the 2007 Gregory Award and deserves mention, but RV did not accumulate the career numbers that Sutton and Murray did.  Alby Coombs of Kenyon also had a very good career, and in fact had more career rushing yards than Tristan Murray (with an extra year of NCAC play).  Sam Fioroni twice led the league in rushing and is Denison's all time leader in all-purpose yardage and should be recoginized as one of the top 5 or so RBs in the league in the last decade. 
"Nothing in the world is more expensive than free."- The Deacon of HBO's The Wire

Bishopleftiesdad

Well not much is going on in the NCAC football wise, I know that at least OWU is on the recruiting trail.

I was watching my son wrestle at an OCC quad. Kieth Rucker was there watching a couple of kids form two of the other schools. I talked to one of the fathers and the son is looking at OWU, Kenyon and Hillsdale. There was one other school but I cannot remember it now. The kid was an offensive Lineman.

Now if only the NCAC had wrestling. Oh well.


wally_wabash

Quote from: Bishopleftiesdad on January 18, 2013, 12:40:27 PM
Well not much is going on in the NCAC football wise, I know that at least OWU is on the recruiting trail.

I was watching my son wrestle at an OCC quad. Kieth Rucker was there watching a couple of kids form two of the other schools. I talked to one of the fathers and the son is looking at OWU, Kenyon and Hillsdale. There was one other school but I cannot remember it now. The kid was an offensive Lineman.

Now if only the NCAC had wrestling. Oh well.

Wabash has a fairly successful wrestling team.  That the NCAC doesn't sponsor a wrestling championship doesn't prohibit any individual NCAC institution from having a team.  Is Wabash the only NCAC school that sponsors wrestling?  I get the sense that they are the only one. 
"Nothing in the world is more expensive than free."- The Deacon of HBO's The Wire

Bishopleftiesdad

Yes they are. I have been on campus and seen the facilities. If my son is interested in Wabash, and Wabash wrestling is interested in him it will be high on the list, as it was on my baseball son's list.

No other NCAC team has wrestling. I believe it goes back to the founding of the NCAC and the equal opportunities. If a school even wanted to start a wrestling I believe they would have to find a womens program to add.

With the NCAC it is more that just the number of athletes, I believe they need to have an equal number of sports too. Football is balanced by Volleyball I think.

The OAC school has some schools with wrestling teams. Academic wise I am not sure that those schools match up for my son as well as the NCAC schools do.

Oh well.

formerd3db

Quote from: wally_wabash on January 18, 2013, 12:50:17 PM
Quote from: Bishopleftiesdad on January 18, 2013, 12:40:27 PM
Well not much is going on in the NCAC football wise, I know that at least OWU is on the recruiting trail.

I was watching my son wrestle at an OCC quad. Kieth Rucker was there watching a couple of kids form two of the other schools. I talked to one of the fathers and the son is looking at OWU, Kenyon and Hillsdale. There was one other school but I cannot remember it now. The kid was an offensive Lineman.

Now if only the NCAC had wrestling. Oh well.

Wabash has a fairly successful wrestling team.  That the NCAC doesn't sponsor a wrestling championship doesn't prohibit any individual NCAC institution from having a team.  Is Wabash the only NCAC school that sponsors wrestling?  I get the sense that they are the only one.

In our MIAA, Olivet has been the leader in wrestling for decades.  The MIAA dropped wrestling as a sport in 1984, however, Olivet continued their program as an independent since then.  They wrestle DI teams in non-conference, non-DIII tournaments (U of Michigan, Michigan State and Eastern Michigan for example) and have 43 members on the teams this year. 

The only other two MIAA schools that sponsor wrestling are Trine and Alma, the latter just bringing it back in 2011.  I have not heard talk as to whether or not any of the other MIAA member colleges will do so.  But at least we have three.  I think that wrestling will continue to be a stable sport, just as lacrosse has developed into.
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

Bishopleftiesdad

Quote from: Bishopleftiesdad on January 18, 2013, 01:24:25 PM
Yes they are. I have been on campus and seen the facilities. If my son is interested in Wabash, and Wabash wrestling is interested in him it will be high on the list, as it was on my baseball son's list.

No other NCAC team has wrestling. I believe it goes back to the founding of the NCAC and the equal opportunities. If a school even wanted to start a wrestling I believe they would have to find a womens program to add.

With the NCAC it is more that just the number of athletes, I believe they need to have an equal number of sports too. Football is balanced by Volleyball I think.

The OAC school has some schools with wrestling teams. Academic wise I am not sure that those schools match up for my son as well as the NCAC schools do.

Oh well.
Actually OWU has 11 women's sports vs. 10 men's sports But that probably just balances it out after you take Football into consideration. Also as Formerd3db alludes to you need lots of bodies to be successful in wrestling. So even if OWU wanted to add it they would probably have to up the number of women playing.

formerd3db

Bishoplefties...:
I know what you mean re: the Title IX aspects.  For our MIAA, it was somewhat easier to add lacrosse since a couple of the schools had women's club-collegiate lacrosse teams already along with the men's teams. Hope had lacrosse since 1974 as a club-collegiate team and played the likes of Ohio State, Johns Hopkins, Clemson, U of Michigan, Michigan State back then.  Trine, Adrian and the Albion followed by Alma went full varsity first, although Hope and Calvin were basically virtual varsity for the past several years (like U of Michigan and Michigan State) before it became officially varsity this year.

Same aspects apply to hockey in our MIAA.  Adrian College has NCAA DIII varsity hockey for both men and women PLUS 2 club-collegiate teams which all fill their on-campus arena.  Hope and Calvin have club-collegiate hockey teams, which really should be varisty for all practical purposes they are as the college pays for all the ice time and head coach, school team buses are used, uniforms supplied (although the players still have to pay a fee also), yet have full houses for all their games.  So one of the "problems", in part, in proventing them from going full varsity is the Title IX.  With just adding men's and women's lacrosse, for example, Hope would have to add a women's sport (women's hockey would probably not be an option) so perhaps bringing women's field hockey back would probably be the only option (that used to be an MIAA sponsored sport also several years ago) as trying to bring back women's archery I don't believe would meet the requirements regarding the "equality".

Anyway, it is good to see that some of the schools like Wabash and Alma have brought back wrestling (and in the case of Alma also added lacrosse).
"When the Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He'll write not 'won' or 'lost', But how you played the game." - Grantland Rice

smedindy

Wresting never left Wabash. For years, it was a sport that gave Wabash 'glory' (all of those years of consecutive winning seasons...)

Bishopleftiesdad

I know now Wabash is an Independent. Did the IAC(?) sponsor wrestling or was Wabash always an Independent?

smedindy

They do have a conference, the Mid-States wrestling conference.

sigma one

Wabash lists 52 wrestlers on its roster.  I think they have lost a few, but in recent years they have had a roster size of 45+  Tomorrow is the only big tournament Wabash will host this year.  The Little Giants will field two complete teams, filling all weight classes.
    Brian Anderson, the Wabash head coach, sponsors a large summer wrestling camp with over 300 wrestlers on campus for most of a week.  He brings in several big names each year as guest instructors.  Dan Gable was there two years ago.  Olympic wrestlers and Olympic hopefuls are always featured.  All-Americans fill out the instructor contingent. 

cave2bens

Quote from: smedindy on January 18, 2013, 02:47:15 PM
Wresting never left Wabash. For years, it was a sport that gave Wabash 'glory' (all of those years of consecutive winning seasons...)

Good cradle, Smed.  ;)  There is quite a history, even predating Max Servies (as competitor and coach).  Recall watching Mike Tipton and Dr Shelbourne rule the upper weight classes and beating ND in 1971 (only loss that year was to University of Cincinnati) and Little State Runner-Up.  Dam*, Buddy Guy's "Done Got Old" ringin' in the ears as fingers pound away...

For anyone interested, here's the latest DIII rankings -
http://www.themat.com/rankings.php?page=ranking_details&RankingID=1453 
"Forever more as in days of yore Their deeds be noble and grand"

Bishopleftiesdad