The Ashland area has an array of graduates in action during this winter sports season at a variety of colleges in and around Ohio.
Locals who graduated from multiple area high schools are performing for the Ashland University wrestling team, which on Monday was ranked No. 16 in all of NCAA Division II in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll.
One of the six Eagles ranked by the NWCA at his weight class is Mapleton graduate Brock Durbin. Crestview graduate Hayden Kuhn also has been a steady placer in events this season for AU and has scored the second-most team points for the Eagles so far.
Meanwhile, Ashland High School graduate Jada Baker has thrived for the Wayne State University bowling team and Hillsdale graduate Jordan Taylor is off and running impressively for the indoor track team at the University of Findlay.
Those athletes and more are featured below.
Area high school athletic directors and local readers have submitted names of current college athletes to the Source. Anyone with information on other former athletes from Ashland, Crestview, Hillsdale, Loudonville or Mapleton consistently in action this winter can send them to doughaidet19@gmail.com for inclusion in future College Notes.
Ashland
– Jada Baker was a key performer for a pair of state-qualifying bowling teams during her time at Ashland High School, and her career at Wright State University is off to a good start.
The freshman has helped the Raiders this season at multiple events, most notably claiming the individual title at the Ohio Bowling Conference’s Event 2, when she had a 221 average over four games. WSU finished first out of 16 teams at that competition.
The team then won the Ohio Bowling Conference’s Event 3 in November, with Baker’s 191 average landing her in 10th overall in the 16-team event. She also was on the lanes for WSU when it placed second out of 10 teams at Pikeville’s Orange & Black Classic.
– A junior member of the NAIA Spring Arbor University men’s basketball team, Eli White saw action in nine games this winter – starting three of them – before an injury halted his season.
The guard had back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the Cougars (10-3, 3-1 Crossroads League) in wins against Mount Vernon Nazarene and Marian. White also had a five-assist game at Great Lakes Christian.
For his career thus far, he has played in 67 games at SAU, totaling 737 points, 172 rebounds and 89 assists.
– On the wrestling mat at Division III Ohio Northern University, former Arrow Jayden Jones has kicked off his senior campaign with a 9-3 record at 157 pounds. He’s got three pins and four major decisions to his credit so far for the 22nd-ranked Polar Bears.
Jones was 3-1 during action in the Adrian (Mich.) Duals and 3-1 at the Mount Union Invitational, where he placed third at 157. Of his 69 career wins thus far, 28 have come via pin.
– Braden Welch has seen action for the Ashland University wrestling squad, including a second-place finish at 184 pounds during the Findlay Open earlier in the season.
The sophomore and former state runner-up for the Arrows, who previously attended Appalachian State, also nabbed fourth place in the Glenville State Invitational and is 7-3 so far.
Crestview
– A sophomore for the Ashland University wrestling team, Hayden Kuhn won a pair of matches during the 45th annual Midwest Classic in Indianapolis, both 15-4 major decisions at 149 pounds.
Kuhn also placed fifth with a 5-1 record at the Findlay Open, finished a perfect 4-0 in duals at the Carolina Clash, where the Eagles went 4-0 as a squad, and was third with a 3-1 record at the Glenville State Invitational.
The former CHS star is 16-4, with six of those wins coming via major decision.
Hillsdale
– Now a graduate student at the Division II University of Findlay, Jordan Taylor has continued her stellar career for the Oilers’ indoor track and field team.
Findlay kicked off its season in the two-day Oiler Open earlier this month and Taylor won the 200-meter dash in 24.36. The former Falcon also was part of the first-place 4×400 relay team (3:55.42) and took second in the 60 meters (7.49).
Taylor’s efforts in the 200 and 60 both were good enough for NCAA provisional standards and she was named the G-MAC Athlete of the Week for her efforts. As of that release, her 200 time was the fastest in Division II for the season.
Loudonville
– The Division II women’s basketball powerhouse at Ashland University is off to another solid start with an 11-3 record (3-1 G-MAC) and a No. 21 national ranking. Already a contributor as a freshman for the squad is former Loudonville star All-Ohioan Corri Vermilya.
She has seen action in 11 games for the Eagles and posted double-digit minutes in four of the team’s last five games.
Vermilya has 33 points, nine rebounds and six assists so far, with a season-high nine-point effort coming in a win at Northwood on Dec. 5.
– Another pair of former Redbird All-Ohioans are also playing this winter for the NAIA Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s basketball team.
Junior guard Shalen Guilliams has played in 12 games for the Cougars (8-4, 2-2 Crossroads League), turning in double-digit points in wins against Taylor (12) and Indiana East (11) this season. She averages 12.3 minutes per game.
Senior forward Grace Vermilya, meanwhile, has seen action in eight games and has 228 points and 157 rebounds for her career thus far.
Mapleton
– After back-to-back state runner-up finishes in high school, Brock Durbin has impressed as a freshman for the Ashland University wrestling team.
He’s ranked 15th nationally among wrestlers at 141 pounds while carrying a 17-10 record. He won a pair of matches during both the 45th annual Midwest Classic in Indianapolis and the Carolina Clash duals, and three of his wins came by technical fall.
– Another former Mountie grappler who has continued his career is Andrew Sas, now a junior at Otterbein College.
Listed at 149 pounds, he entered this season with 28 career victories and has added a 5-2 mark to that as a junior.
