The Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Edcuation approved Bryan Celik as its new varsity high school baseball coach.

Celik, 31, played baseball at Firestone High School and the University of Akron and graduated from both schools.

Celik previously served as the varsity pitching coach and freshman team coach for Firestone under Falcons coach Brad Lightfoot.

Celik is a construction manager and is employed by H.R. Gray as an engineer. He replaces coach John Daymon, who resigned after the 2011 season.

Stow-Munroe Falls High School senior David Walker has committed to Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. to continue his academic and basketball careers on scholarship.

Walker, a 6-foot-6 point guard, led Stow to a 22-3 record last season. The Bulldogs won the Northeast Ohio Conference River Division championship with a 14-0 mark and made an OHSAA Division I Regional final appearance last season after winning sectional and district titles.

Walker was the NOC River Division Player of the Year, an Associated Press first-team All-Northeast Ohio Inland District selection in Division I and an All-Ohio Special Mention. He averaged 15 points, 5.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Northeastern is an NCAA Division I school which competes in the Colonial Athletic Association.

“We are very excited for David and his family,” Stow coach Dave Close said. “David has been a great player in our program and he has the potential to be an outstanding Division I basketball player. As he continues to grow and get stronger, he could make quite an impact at the collegiate level.

“Our assistant coach Kevin Kovach, who is in charge of guard play, has done a nice job of helping to develop that potential over the past few years, helping prepare David to be a Division I basketball player. David has the ability to score in a variety of ways. But his best asset is his floor vision and his ability to make plays on the floor to make his teammates better. David is also a very capable defender who has defended virtually every position on the floor, from the point guard position to the post. Northeastern found themselves a very fine basketball player in David Walker.”

Walker received several Division I scholarship offers, including offers from Cleveland State, Kent State and Gardner-Webb in North Carolina.

Walker has a 3.7 grade-point average and intends to be a pre-medicine major at Northeastern.

“My first day in Boston I fell in love with the city and I liked how the campus is right in downtown Boston,” Walker said. “I really liked the coaching staff and the team really made me feel welcomed. Northeastern is in a really tough conference and I think it will be fun to compete in the CAA.”

Walker is entering his third-year as a starter for Stow. He made 76 percent of his free throws, 49 percent of his two-point field goals and 47 percent of his 3-point shots.

“Northeastern seemed to offer the perfect combination of athletic and academic opportunities for him,” Close said.

Stow senior Vickie Havas will continue her academic and soccer careers at Northern Arizona University next season.

Havas is a four-year starter for the Bulldogs at forward and is currently leading her team in goals for the fourth consecutive season.

“Vickie is obviously one of the best female soccer players in the state of Ohio,” Stow coach Chris Tipton said. “For her to come through Stow and for me to be a part of her progression leading into her collegiate career is awesome. I am honored to be her coach. She is not only a great soccer player, but she is a wonderful person too.”

Tipton said Havas currently has 78 goals and 29 assists in her high school career. She has helped Stow post a 45-13-10 overall record and a 27-3-8 mark at home.

Havas netted nine goals as a freshman, 28 as a sophomore and 28 as a junior. She has 13 goals this season for Stow, which has an 8-2-2 record.

Havas, who has a 3.6 cumulative grade point average, said she plans to study in nursing at the school, which is located in Flagstaff.

“I went out there for a camp last year before my junior season,” Havas said. “Going out there, I did not know what to expect. I thought it might be in the dessert because it is in Arizona, but I really like it. It is up in the mountains. It is really beautiful. It is not in the dessert, it has similar weather to Ohio and I liked that.”

Havas said she also strongly considered Cleveland State and Bowling Green.

Havas said she has family connections to Arizona, with a grandma, aunt, uncle and cousins all living in the Tucson area. She said her parents plan on moving from Stow to Tucson.

Kent Roosevelt (1-0) at Stow (1-0)
7 p.m. Friday at Stow – Munroe Falls High School Football Stadium

Storyline: Stow’s stunning, 21-6 win over Wadsworth last week certainly opened some eyes that the Bulldogs may be for real this season. But upon closer inspection, a “wait and see” approach is certainly in order.

Wadsworth’s star tailback, junior Jack Snowball, injured his knee in the first quarter and will miss the next four-to-six weeks. Three Wadsworth starters, and seven other contributors, were suspended from the game too.

A win this week against neighboring rival Kent Roosevelt would erase any doubts of Stow’s legitimacy.

The Rough Riders are led by senior quarterback Evan Shimensky, a Kent State recruit with multiple ways to beat teams. Last week alone, he threw for 22 yards (12 of 16) and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He also rushed for 78 yards on eight carries. Junior Shakeel Howard is always dangerous too, both in the running and passing game.

Here are some highlights on high school action played on Wednesday:

Girls Tennis

Stow 5, Brunswick 0 – Senior Melanie Rozum of the Bulldogs was outstanding at first singles, while junior Ashley Kopko won two tough sets at second singles.

Revere 5, Copley 0 – Junior singles players Natalie Robson and Brittany Miller did not lose a game as the Minutemen dominated the Indians in their Suburban League match.

Louisville 5, Canton McKinley 0 – The Leopards are 4-0 with impressive play by singles players Brooke Mathie, Colleen Miller, Sam Pukys and dominating play from doubles tandems Hannah Lemmon and Alexis Isla, as well as Ciara Antonacci-Ashley Robbins.

Girls soccer

Hudson 0, North Canton Hoover 0 – The two teams combined for just four shots in the defensive battle.

Canton Central Catholic 2, Massillon 1 – The visiting Crusaders got second half goals from senior Maria Chiappini and sophomore Katie Nixdorf to stop the Tigers in their season opener.

Mentor Lake Catholic 3, Archbishop Hoban 1 – Madison Kaser had the lone goal for the Knights in their season opener on the road.

Boys Golf

Streetsboro 171, Mogadore 177 – The top five Rocket golfers all shots in the 40s at the par 36 West Mogadore Golf Course, led by David acketty’s 41 and 43s by Frank Gant and C.J. Diehl.

Kent Roosevelt 153, Field 178, Springfield 207 – After their 43-match conference win streak was snapped Monday by Crestwood, the Rough Riders got back on their horses and charged forward led by Tyler Jastromb’s 36 and James Strange with 37 on the par 36 Chenowith Golf Course in Akron. Kent is 9-1 overall and in the Metro Division of the Portage Trail Conference.

Girls Golf

Wadsworth 177, Tallmadge 199 – Freshman Alice Ho shot 37 and sister Katy Ho, a sophomore, posted a 40 to lead the Grizzlies, which are 6-1, at the par 36 Brookledge Golf course in cuyahoga Falls.

Stow has named Miguel Ramirez as its new girls’ volleyball coach, according to Cleveland.com.

The website also said Stow has hired Kelly Given as its new field hockey coach.

Good news for parents and players at Stow High School. While the field itself is not in good condition, athletic director Cyle Feldman said the Bulldogs will host rival Cuyahoga Falls Friday night as scheduled.

“We have rescheduled 15 events because the field was in poor shape. But we talked to parents, looked at the forecast this week and we decided to keep it here,” Feldman said. “It wasn’t an easy decision. You have band parents, football parents, senior band and football parents concerned here because it is Seniior Night. The players weren’t as worried about it.”

Feldman said if the game had moved, it would have been played at Kent State University’s Dix Stadium. He added that Stow is talking to neighbor Kent Roosevelt about playing each other two straight years at Dix Stadium.

“We would split the costs and the revenue 50-50,” Feldman said.

Hey everyone! This is my column that’s running in the Akron Beacon Journal Friday, but it’s posted on Ohio.com now, as you can see. Thanks to everyone who submitted votes for their favorite high school nicknames. If there are other crazy nicknames from out of state, post them so we can all get some laughs. Thanks again!

Stow coach Marty Tinkler says it simply.

“We just a need break; a big break,” Tinkler said. “The kids are doing everything they can to get better; they are practicing and preparing as hard as they can.”

The Bulldogs are facing the probability of not having starting quarterback Duane Mitchell and tailback Jon Markulis again Friday night against Lakewood. Both missed last week’s 14-7 Homecoming loss  against Hudson with injuries.

“It was 0-0 at halftime, then 14-0 going into the fourth quarter. We scored with three minutes left and we had a chance if we get the onside kick. We didn’t, but at least we were in position to have the shot,” Tinkler said.

It has not been an easy season for Marty Tinkler. The Stow football coach is hoping his 0-5 team can recover from its latest loss, a 27-14 setback to Garfield Heights (4-1) and knock off invading Hudson (4-1), which suffered its first defeat of the season, 28-14, to undefeated Solon.

“Obviously, you never think about being 0-5 despite our schedule. Its our Homecoming came and we’ve played with them the last two years, winning at home two years ago and we lost a good game at their place last year,” Tinkler says.

The coach hopes that injury-plagued senior running back Jon Markulis is finally on a roll, having rushed for over 300 yards the past two games.