Southwestern Conference Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With Cleveland being one of the bigger schools in Ohio, it is no surprise the amount of Division I programs in that part of the state. The Southwestern Conference consists of all Division I teams and mainly shows success on the football field. The upcoming year brings optimism as several teams are returning guys meaning the conference race could be tight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li><strong><em>Elyria</em></strong>- The Pioneers tied for the #3 spot in 2022, but I feel this team could challenge for the conference title with some of the names coming back. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1201866' first='Ryan' last='Walsh']</strong> (Sr) has been a solid name for Elyria and brings size and experience to the table. The Pioneers have a young guy in <strong>Jaylen Crutcher</strong> (So) also returning which should bring optimism moving forward. </li><li><strong><em>Berea-Midpark</em></strong>- Titans should be much more improved with 2 of their top 2 returning from a season ago. <strong>Owen Trzebuckowski</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Devyn Zahursky</strong> (Jr) return and bring upperclassmen experience for the Titans who hung tough with several teams a season ago. </li><li><strong><em>Olmsted Falls</em></strong>- Repeating an almost 20 win season and SWC title is very hard to do. The Bulldogs will try and do just this without one of the better players in the conference a year ago (Charlie Ciolek). His loss will be felt, although returning <strong>Michael Candow</strong> (Sr) could help alleviate this slightly.</li><li><strong><em>Avon Lake</em></strong>- The Shoremen are an athletic group that showed success several times during the season in 22. A strong senior class could give the Lake an improved jump in the new year. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1090156' first='Matthew' last='Stuewe']</strong> and <strong>Collin Stewart</strong> are both back from that team and have plenty of optimism to their respective games. The success of the football team could delay when the Shoremen get their whole team back together.</li><li><strong><em>North Ridgeville</em></strong>- .500 year in 2022, but don't return near as much needed to compete in the new year. Will need some newer faces to emerge if they want to compete.</li><li><strong><em>Midview</em></strong>- Will begin life without one of the best players in the conference a season ago.</li><li><strong><em>Steele</em></strong>- Great season last year, but lose quite a bit from that 18 win team.</li><li><strong><em>Avon</em></strong>- Won just one game in conference last year, but have a promising young player in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1512594' first='Tyson' last='Ziegler']</strong> (Jr).</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list -->