Western Buckeye League (WBL) Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The WBL is a great league with plenty of quality teams at the Division II and III levels. Ottawa-Glandorf was in the State Finals last year in Division III with St. Mary's Memorial being a Regional qualifier in Division II. Plenty of high level teams return </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Ottawa-Glandorf</em></strong>- The Titans were in the State Finals last year and will be returning a great group to return back to Dayton again. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1222349' first='Colin' last='White']</strong> (Jr) is arguably the best prospect in NW Ohio in the 2024 class and is garnering attention from multiple Division I programs. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1380729' first='Theo' last='Maag']</strong> (Sr) and <strong>Caden Erford</strong> (Jr) are also back after being role guys last season. The Titans will have some battles within the WBL but should be able to take the league title again.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>St. Mary's Memorial</em></strong>- The Roughriders are bringing back pretty much everyone from a District champion team. The team is led by Ohio State commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1052783' first='Austin' last='Parks']</strong> (Sr) wo will be one of the best 2023 prospects in NW Ohio. He along with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1605223' first='Evan' last='Angstmann']</strong> (Jr) and <strong>Jace Turner</strong> (Jr) give Memorial a ton of size and a legitimate chance of winning another District title in Division II. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Lima Shawnee</em></strong>- The Indians are senior heavy and looking to get back to Dayton with a solid group of experience. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1456987' first='CJ' last='Schnipke']</strong>, <strong>Toby Freiberger</strong>, and <strong>Austin Miller</strong> all return and all are seniors. The loss of Brady Wheeler will show in the backcourt, but the Indians can still compete on any given night with their size and experience.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Defiance</em></strong>- The Bulldogs are returning 2 All-District players and a large amount of their team. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1477099' first='Cayden' last='Zachrich']</strong> (Sr) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1419906' first='Bradyn' last='Shaw']</strong> (Sr) both return along with <strong>Isaac Schlatter</strong> (Sr) and <strong>TJ Kellermyer</strong> (So) to form a formidable team that can challenge at the top of the WBL.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Wapakoneta</em></strong>- Lose their top guy from last year but have a promising big in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1285250' first='Jackson' last='Courter']</strong><em> </em>that should keep them in the hunt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kenton will have their best guy back in <strong>Gavin Payne</strong> (Jr) but the remaining teams lose a lot. Van Buren had a solid team a year ago but graduate much of that team. Bath, Celina, and Elida all will struggle at the bottom of the league.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->