Thursday, February 19th, 2026
Local divers earn state berths
By Gary R. Rasberry
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
The Grand Lake area will be well-represented at next week's Division II state diving championships after three girls and three boys qualified at Wednesday's district meet at Bowling Green State University.
With 14 girls out of 26 contestants earning a berth to state, the battle to reach the final 16 to earn a chance was competitive.
The girls competed in the morning, with defending state champion Ella Borstelman of Napoleon winning the competition with a final score of 442.90 points. Liberty Center's Joy Brown, last year's state runner-up behind Borstelman, was district runner-up with 425.80.
St. Marys' Braelyn Baker finished ninth in the competition with a score of 322.50 points. Celina's Spencer Murlin was 10th at 297.85. St. Marys' Layla Irmscher secured the final qualifying spot with a 14th-place finish with 262.50 points.
Celina's Haley Kizer reached the final 16, but was unable to move up from her 16th-place finish with a score of 237.25. St. Henry's Victoria Beyke was 18th with St. Marys' Makenna Meinerding 18th, both making the semifinals but not the final cut. Celina's Libby Grieshop and Ashton Lehman finished 23rd and 26th, respectively, missing the cut from 26 to 20.
Ottawa-Glandorf's Kelsey Schmitz finished fourth to earn her berth to state.
On the boys side, St. Henry's Ian Schwieterman became the first Redskin diver to qualify for state after finishing sixth with a score of 300.65.
St. Marys and Celina will have one diver each going to state as reigning WBL champ Nickales Dieringer finished 12th with a score of 273.25 and Celina's Caleb McAfee claimed 14th place with a score of 251.90, 5.35 points ahead of Shawnee's Eli Rivera for the final state ticket.
St. Marys' Carter Fisher was 16th with 229.65. St. Henry's Cody Wendel was 18th with 137.85 and Celina's Owen Colson was 19th with 111.80.
Napoleon's Xavier Fortier won the district title with a top score of 431.40. Bryan's Griffin Diaz and Ethan Bailey finished second and third, respectively.
The Division II boys will dive Tuesday at 9 a.m. with Division II girls diving Wednesday at 9 a.m.
