The Human Side of No Sports

“Day 4 Without Sports: Looked over across the couch and noticed a strange woman sitting there. Apparently we’re related, along with these two kids running around. Strange. They seem nice though.“

It’s a variant of a constantly updated meme circulating throughout social media about what sports fans have been doing since athletic competitions from the professional level down to youth sports came to a grinding halt as the battle to contain the coronavirus wages across the country.

Sure, they are funny, and for some, might be downright cathartic. But there’s a human element to the canceling of sports, and it’s not just the professional athletes it’s affecting. After all, nearly all of them will be back for another season, whenever sports resume.

For high school and college amateur athletes, though, that next chance may never come. Some who are eagerly awaiting the prospect of starting back up spring sports are hoping against hope. Others had their championship dreams dashed right as they were about to reach them.

LEDENews wanted to put a human face to this decision and asked four area athletes, three high school seniors and one collegiate athlete, just how they felt when they had a dream, a goal they’d worked for their entire careers suddenly ripped away.

She Was Right There

Danielle Stewart spent her first two collegiate seasons at Notre Dame College in Ohio. The first two seasons, she won the Mountain East Conference’s pole vault title. But following her sophomore season, NDC opted to drop its track program, necessitating a change of scenery for the Strongsville, Ohio native.

She found Wheeling University, then still known as Wheeling Jesuit, and made the transfer. While she came up short in the conference meet her junior year, finishing second, Stewart returned atop the podium her senior season, setting multiple PR marks along the way.

“It was definitely a change being this far from Strongsville, but I love it,” Stewart said. “It was the best move I could have ever made. I’ve PR’d by over a foot since coming here and I’ve got to experience so many new things. I love the school, my teammates and my coaches.”

Another on that list is qualifying for the NCAA Division II Track & Field Indoor Championship Meet. Stewart’s mark of 3.93, her PR to date, at a meet in Youngstown earned her the qualifying mark. She equaled that mark later in capturing the MEC title. Stewart was pumped when she learned of her automatic qualification. After all, she and another athlete each finished with the same height, 20th best, last season. They took her and left Stewart at home. 

“I had to hit a big height this year to guarantee my spot,” Stewart said. “Hitting 3.93 felt like a dream. Honestly, I was in shock. I could not stop smiling and hugging my teammates and coaches. Honestly, it was one of the best moments of my life.”

In Shock

One of the best moments that sadly, gave one to one of the worst. Stewart and head coach Patrick Stanton had been in Alabama two days when the decision was handed down. She had a good two days of practice and was ready to take on her competitors.

“I honestly had just had the best vault practice of my life,” Stewart said. “The head coach and I were out to lunch when he got the email. I did not believe him at first. I had to call my pole vault coach and tell him not to get on the plane and fly down. I just sat there in shock but when my vault coach called, I bawled. After what happened last indoor season, I was so ready to prove myself.”

Stewart had thought of the possibilities prior to the announcement, but already being there, she figured the meet would go on, just without spectators. Her parents were already told not to travel down. 

She definitely has some unfinished business and goals to achieve. Fortunately, the NCAA has given spring sports athletes another season of eligibility. So, if the credits and financials work out, Stewart plans to be back.

“I am happy I qualified for nationals, but I do not feel like I finished my goal of becoming an All-American,” Stewart said. “And my goal ever since I started vaulting was to clear four meters and so that is another reason I feel I am not finished. “We were allowed to take practice jumps at the facility (in Alabama) and I cleared a 4-meter bungee.”

Lone Senior’s Last Chance

Getting to the final four in Ohio is a monumentally difficult task. The Fort Frye girls program, in all its storied history, had only done it once. That’s until this season, when the Cadets knocked off No. 2 Portsmouth Notre Dame in a Division IV regional final, 49-31, to advance to Columbus. 

Always in the hunt, Fort Frye fell to Shadyside last season in the district finals as it was the Lady Tigers who advanced to the Final Four. The previous two seasons, the Cadets’ demise came in the district semifinal round. But not this season. Something about this season’s team clicked early.

“The entire year felt like this was our year as a team” said Kiersten Kesselring, a four-year starter at center and the team’s lone senior. “Even from the beginning, this year felt different … We just play so well and strong together and are extremely close.”

Kesselring would know. She’d been around for the previous years’ narrow losses in 2019 and 18, and the blowout loss to Hiland her freshman season. So that family feel she picked up early this fall during preseason camp gave her the feeling like this could be there year.

“Our team is definitely a family,” Kesselring said. “We are all close and care about one another. None of us are selfish and we can all score.”

Should Have

The stats attest to that statement. Fort Frye had multiple players average double figures, but not even leading scorer Hannah Archer averaged better than 15. You won’t find any Cadets on the all-Ohio first or second team. But you will find them at St. John Arena. Or, that is to say, you would have … should have.

“It was definitely a shock and no one was prepared for it,” Kesselring admitted when she and her teammates learned the game would be postponed. “We are still shook up about it and not knowing if we’ll ever get to play together again or not is hard. I’m devastated by the fact I could’ve played my last game as a Lady Cadet and didn’t even know it.”

The OHSAA has a press conference scheduled for noon Thursday when the fate of the Cadets, and many teams like them in basketball and wrestling across Ohio, will likely be decided. Given the continued efforts to quarantine the public from one another in effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the upcoming presser is ominous. 

“This was our year to make history and have the opportunity right in front of us to make the finals; to do it for the community, our families and coaches,” Kesselring said. “These games meant so much to us and it’s a heartbreaking feeling to have them just taken away. My heart goes out to all the other teams and athletes going through the same feelings we are right now.”

Wheeling Park is one of the more tradition-rich boys’ basketball programs in the Ohio Valley, and in West Virginia with multiple state championships. Yet the school had hit a bit of a snag in state tournament appearances on the boys’ side, not having been to Charleston since the 20-plus win season of 2011-2012. That changed this season when senior all-state Alex Vargo canned a mid-range stepback in the waning seconds against Morgantown, followed by a steal from junior D.J. Saunders to seal the game and end the drought.

Or at least it should have.

“Winning the regional game was definitely the best moment in my four years as a Patriot,” Vargo said. “I’ve never had the chance to play in the state tournament so winning regionals was and always has been my main goal. Finally accomplishing that was the best feeling ever.”

Like many others across the state, that feeling quickly changed. First the NBA announced the suspension of its regular season, followed by the NCAA opting for fan-less tournament games and ultimately a cancellation of March Madness.

Canceled

“I found out an hour before practice,” Vargo recalled. “I saw it on Twitter and then everyone starting sending me the news through text. When the NBA and NCAA started canceling their games and tournaments, I figured ours would be canceled too. I was angry when I first found out. My teammates and I’s hard work was taken away.”

Vargo noted that Morgantown had been a thorn in the Patriots’ side throughout his career, including a humbling defeat at the Palace on the Hill to those same Mohigans prior to the start of the sectional tournament. But Vargo and his teammates ultimately got the job done when it mattered. 

“Being on the other side of that felt great,” Vargo said of the win. “I was shocked/angry/sad the whole day after finding out because I know this year’s team is special and could’ve made some serious noise down at the tournament. But I still have hope and I’m going to continue to work hard every day as if it’s being played next week.”

Finally His Time

St. Clairsville Derek Witzberger is a fun loving guy, but when he’s on the field or on the mat, he’s all business. Once football season turned to wrestling, Witsberger’s singular focus was finally getting over the hump and qualifying for the state meet. He’d came close in the past, placing fifth as a junior at 195. He qualified but failed to place as a sophomore.

Wisberger narrowly missed finishing as District Champion, losing a tough 5-4 decision to River View’s Dalton Cunningham in the semifinals. Cunningham went on to win by technical fall in the finals. Witsberger, meanwhile, secured his third-place finish with a pin. Now was his time. Finally.

“I was more prepared and hungry than excited,”Witsberger said of qualifying for the state meet. “I put my whole heart into one goal and when it became postponed, it broke my heart. We were almost ready to lead and head to Columbus when I found out.”

It Came True

Witsberger is the team captain and is the lone St. Clairsville senior to qualify for states. His win total is fourth in the school’s history. He placed at OVAC’s twice, finishing runner-up this season and fourth as a junior. He was ready to go for that state medal. He admitted he began to worry about it being canceled as news kept rolling but still, it took a bit to sink in.

“When everything began getting canceled and postponed, I started to worry but it never resonated with me until it actually became true,” Witsberger said. “It’s still too early because I feel like I have some unfinished business left to prove.”

While Witsberger’s wrestling days may be over, depending on Thursday’s announcement, his athletic career is not. He earlier signed on to continue his football career at Marietta College in the Ohio Athletic Conference, joining a large incoming recruiting class of some of the OVAC’s best. But is he holding out hope for Thursday?

“It’s already been done and in three weeks, everyone will either be way overweight or completely out of wrestling shape,” Witsberger lamented. “It’s very difficult to get into wrestling shape and compete at a high level.”