The gift-giver who gave us Santa Claus
CELINA - Area Catholics who attend Mass on Saturday will celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of Greece and Russia, Moscow and New York, as well as charities, children and pawnbrokers.
ST. HENRY- A utility pole was knocked over following a single-vehicle car accident on Thursday morning causing a minor power outage for hundreds of St. Henry residents, according to Mercer County Sheriff Doug Timmerman.
CELINA - A 34-year-old Lima man was sentenced to just under a year in prison this week in Mercer County Common Pleas Court for felony theft.
Javari
COLDWATER - It takes a lot to win on the road in the Midwest Athletic Conference, especially after a tough loss on Monday. With a resounding 39-21 win over Coldwater at The Palace, Minster showed why so many fans are hoping this season could end with a trophy.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
St. Henry pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back to remain unbeaten on the season as the Redskins opened Midwest Athletic Conference girls basketball play with a 52-27 win over Fort Recovery on Thursday at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
CELINA - With 16 swimmers and divers on the roster, Celina will look to continue to work on individual achievements with moving up in the team standings in the Western Buckeye League.
COLDWATER - Starting his eighth season at Coldwater, Matt May returns a group of veteran swimmers in hopes of moving up the standings at state.
The squad will be small with six girls joined by four boys, which will allow some relays.
FORT RECOVERY - Coming off finishing fifth (girls) and sixth (boys) in the Midwest Athletic Conference, Fort Recovery will try to climb into the top half of the conference, and have the team size to do it.
MARIA STEIN - The Marion Local swimming team is hoping that the improvement shown last season, where 11 of the 14 swimmers achieved personal bests at the sectional meet, will carry into this season.
MINSTER - All of the district and state qualifiers from last season are back in the pool for the Minster boys and girls swim teams.
Head coach Dawn Schwieterman begins her seventh season at Minster with an experienced group of swimmers.
NEW BREMEN - After a strong finish for the New Bremen swim teams in 2024, both squads will look to take the next step in 2025.
BOYS
The Cardinals will rely on the upperclassmen to lead this season, as they have a solid 12-man team this season.
ST. HENRY - After placing multiple swimmers in districts and one in states a year ago, St. Henry will look to get deeper in the postseason by bringing back a lot of key swimmers while adding a dive team.
ST. MARYS - The St. Marys swimming and dive team sent 10 athletes to the state meet last year.
You might see a repeat from the Roughriders this winter.
CELINA - Celina wrestling coach James Miracle has high expectations for both his boys and girls teams this season.
The main goal for each team, though, is to get a wrestler on to state.
COLDWATER - With five district qualifiers returning this season, the Coldwater boys wrestling team have high expectations for the upcoming season.
ROCKFORD - The Parkway wrestling team will look to a former Panther grappler to help continue the program.
Kaine Younker, a former district qualifier who still holds several records, moves up to the head coaching position after serving as an assistant the past several years.
ST. MARYS - Veterans return for the St. Marys boys and girls wrestling programs, but they will miss two-time state champion Tate Hisey, now at Division I George Mason, and two-time All-Ohioan Bo Hertenstein, who is at Division II Wheeling.
CELINA - A veteran group of bowlers dot both the Celina boys and girls rosters this season.
The girls look to not only defend their Western Buckeye
COLDWATER - As is the case every season, expectations are high for the Coldwater bowling program.
The boys team returns five letterwinners from a squad that finished third at state last season after sweeping the Midwest Athletic Conference, sectional and district titles.
FORT RECOVERY - Strong seasons are the expectations for Fort Recovery's bowling teams after trips to state a year ago.
BOYS
The Indians return 11 bowlers from a year ago, and will look toward that experience to carry the team throughout the 2025 campaign.
MARIA STEIN - Marion Local will look to its veterans to improve on last season, when the boys team finished 1-6 in the Midwest Athletic Conference and the girls were 0-6 in conference.
MINSTER - The Minster bowling teams will look toward the returning experience to lead the charge and help the Wildcats in 2025.
BOYS
Xaiver Kitz
NEW BREMEN - A trip to districts was in order last year for New Bremen's bowling teams, and in coach John Parlett's second season as the head coach, the Cardinals will look to take it a step further in 2025.
ROCKFORD - The Parkway bowling teams will look for steady improvements after tough seasons a year ago, and might have the returning production necessary to do it.
ST. HENRY - First-year St. Henry boys bowling coach Noah Stammen has an experienced group returning after reaching the championship round of the Division II boys tournament last season.
ST. MARYS - The Roughriders might have enjoyed some success a year ago, but the goals are always lofty for boys coach Scott Ross and girls coach Jay Gibson, who will look to build off regular season results to win more in the postseason.
