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St. Edward's Domenic Abounader -- subduing Cincinnati Moeller's Quinton Rosser in March -- was just one of several Eagles who dyed their hair blond and had to get a buzzcut before being able to take the mat at the state championship meet in Columbus.
(Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As the high school sports year comes to a close, it's time to sweep up our clippings and put them in some sort of order. Fat chance of that, what with all the highs and lows of a long scholastic campaign.
From the sweat of August 2012 as fall sports got underway until another likely heat wave when the baseball, softball and track seasons come to a close in two weeks in Columbus, a ton of plays have been perused and personalities encountered. It's impossible to recall all of them.
But we are keen to give it a shot, from freshmen to seniors.
We prefer to look back on those matters that brought players to the forefront, fans to their feet and reporters searching for superlatives to describe the deeds that, years from now, will be found in the yellowed print of scrapbooks or tucked between pages of yearbooks.
Sure, there were some bummers -- games or races lost that stung like no other at the time. Let those fade away. As the high school years stream by, remember all the good times and the folks who made them happen. Remember the teachers and coaches that will be waiting for another class to teach and team to coach.
We close this yearbook for a time, only to open it when we need to smile at all the good that went before.
Let's take a look together at all the superlatives.
Best Dressed Coach (tie): Al Wilson, Benedictine basketball. Renee Wright, Glenville girls basketball.
Best Sense of Humor: Donte Lindsay, John F. Kennedy basketball and baseball player.
Most Intellectual: Sophomore tennis player Nathan Griffin from St. Ignatius. Aced the ACT with a 36.
Most Likely to Become Famous (for reason other than athletics): Karan Gill, Beachwood freshman tennis player.
Best Nickname (team): Martin Luther King Unicorns.
Best Student Cheering Section: North Royalton.
Most Loyal: Tony Russ, Benedictine athletic director. The 1966 graduate is retiring after working at his alma mater for 44 years.
Best Class Clown: Mike Hudec, North Royalton basketball player who spoofed Bears coach Tim Matus' pregame locker room speech on a cleveland.com video before their regional semifinal against Shaker Heights.
Best Hair: St. Edward wrestlers. Eight Eagles dyed their hair blonde the day before the state tournament, which didn't go over well with school officials, who told them to cut their hair. The result: golden domes that glowed under the Value City Arena lights.
Most Versatile Coach: Paul Barlow, Hathaway Brown basketball coach who took on field hockey position this fall with school in a jam.
Friendliest athlete: Hallie Thome, Chagrin Falls girls basketball player.
Most Likely to be on Cover of Sports Illustrated: Brecksville-Broadview Heights softball player and South Carolina recruit Alexis Mack.
Win or lose, St. Ignatius swimming Derek Hren had his priorities correct in the water this season.
Best example of classy sportsmanship: St. Ignatius senior swimmer Derek Hren after disappointing third-place finishes in two events at the state meet in Canton.
Cutest (soon-to-be) Couple: Berea and Midpark, which are merging into the new Berea-Midpark Titans after this school year.
Most popular: Lake Catholic softball player Katlyn Spahar.
Most Changed Since Freshman Year: Ian Holt, Stow golfer. He was a 5-11, 175-pound soft freshman and will begin senior season at solid 6-2, 190.
Most Likely to Succeed: Hathaway Brown field hockey, swimmer and lacrosse player Elizabeth Warner, who is headed to Harvard.
Best Athlete to Interview (boy): Jeff Foreman, Mentor basketball player.
Best Athlete to Interview (girl): Jessica Matia, Brecksville-Broadview Heights gymnast.
Best Coach to Interview After a Loss (tie): Dan Boarman, St. Vincent-St. Mary football, and Jim McQuaide, Solon football.
Walsh Jesuit's Sandra Yu (15, against Canfield's Kayhlee Buchenic) was a dominating force on the pitch during the girls soccer season.
Most Likely to Get Her Kicks: Sandra Yu, Walsh Jesuit soccer midfielder and Notre Dame signee who is a two-time Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year.
Best Savior: Holy Name hockey goaltender Sam Pikus, who stopped 74 shots in a district semifinal victory against St. Edward.
Most Blinged-out Team (tie): Brecksville gymnastics. The Lady Bees won a an unprecedented 10th straight state team title, won every event and captured 17 of a possible 30 places over the two days of the state meet. Nobody left the arena with as much hardware. Also Hathaway Brown, which became the first girls basketball program to win five consecutive state championships in March.
Best 11th Hour Decision: With minutes to go before the OHSAA was to postpone two first-round football playoff games on Nov. 2, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle vacated an earlier temporary restraining order that had thrown the local Division I and IV playoffs into disarray, thus restoring the original pairings.
Best State Championship Run: The Mentor boys basketball team did not win their conference, yet went on to win the school's first Division I state championship by outscoring eight tournament opponents by an average of nearly 26 points.
Best Family Tradition: St. Vincent-St. Mary senior Mick Iacofano was the surprise Division II state boys cross country champion on the same day his sister, freshman Rachel Iacofano, placed second for SVSM in the Division II girls race. They are believed to be the first brother-sister, 1-2 finish at state. Their father, Mike, is an SVSM assistant.
Best Comeback (fall season): Mentor scored four touchdowns in the final 14 minutes to beat St. Edward, 63-56, in a Division I regional semifinal at Byers Field.
Best Comebacks (winter season): Twice the Shaker Heights boys basketball team rallied from 17-point deficits to beat eventual state champion Mentor en route to winning the Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division championship.
Best Comeback (spring season): Firelands baseball team, which scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Padua, 12-11, in a sectional final.
Best Personal Comeback: Ted Ginn Sr., Glenville football coach. He intends to be back on the sideline in the fall after dealing with pancreatic cancer.
Best Twins: Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy senior hockey brothers, Luke and Mark Sunde. Luke holds the state scoring mark with 243 career goals and is the national career leader with 399 points, adding 156 assists. Mark had 151 goals and 199 assists during his career.
Firestone's Katie Miller couldn't hide her excitement after a big day at the Division I state swim meet.
Best expression of happiness: Katie Miller, Firestone swimmer, after winning the intermediate medley at the state meet in Canton.
Best "Anniversary": Undefeated rivals St. Edward and St. Ignatius meeting for the 50th time on the football field, which resulted in a 20-13 St. Edward win.
Best Team Chemistry (tie): Beaumont volleyball and Shaker Heights hockey.
Most Underestimated Team (boys): The St. Vincent-St. Mary football team. No one in Ohio -- other than The Plain Dealer's Tim Rogers -- picked the Irish to win a state title when the season began in August. A little more than three months later, the Irish were Division III state champs.
Most Underestimated Team (girls): Cuyahoga Heights volleyball team. Beat Elyria Catholic and Gilmour Academy, but fell one win short of earning its first trip to the state tournament.
To the football heroes go the spoils, such as SVSM's Newman Williams being at the middle of the celebration after the Irish claim a Division III state football title.
Best Gamebreaker (male): Newman Williams, St. Vincent-St. Mary football player. In the span of a little less than four minutes and on three successive possessions, Williams changed the complexion of SVSM's 42-21 victory over Bellevue in the Division III state championship game. He scored a touchdown on a fake punt, carrying the last would-be tackler the final 12 yards. He came up with a diving interception on Bellevue's ensuing possession and then scored on a five-yard run to cap the blitz.
Best Gamebreaker (female): Lauren Golick, Westlake tennis player. The four-time state qualifier and Cleveland State recruit finally broke through to win the Division I state singles title as a senior in the fall.
Best Multi-Sport Athlete (male): Domenic Abounader, St. Edward. Michigan wrestling recruit was Plain Dealer All-Star in wrestling and football (safety).
Best Multi-Sport Athlete (female): Kristen Confroy, Solon. Maryland basketball recruit also is standout in soccer and softball.
Most likely to wind up playing in the mud: The Westlake football team, which seemed to play every Friday night in the rain.
Most drawn out vote: The failure of Competitive Balance III, the third straight year the statewide referendum to change the formula for determining divisions went down to defeat. Stay tuned for Competitive Balance IV.
Most Disappointing Goodbye: St. Peter Chanel closing.
Most Likely to be an Olympian (male): Nathan Tomasello, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, wrestling. That's assuming, of course, wrestling is reinstated as an Olympic sport.
Most Likely to be an Olympian (female): Erica King, Cuyahoga Falls track (hammer throw).
Most Likely to be a Paralympian: Jenna Fiesmyer, Ravenna Southeast track.
Most Likely to Win the Heisman Trophy: Mitch Trubisky, Mentor quarterback.
Most Likely to Play in the NFL: Tracy Sprinkle, Elyria.
Most Likely to Play in the NBA: Carlton Bragg from Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
Twinsburg's Ashley Morrissette could be headed to bigger and better things after leading the Tigers to a dominant season.
Most Likely to Play in the WNBA: Ashley Morrissette, Twinsburg.
Most Likely to Play in MLB: Eric Lauer, Midview.
Most Likely to Play in the PGA: Chase Johnson, Walsh Jesuit.
Most Likely to Play in the LPGA: Jessica Porvasnik, Highland.
Most Likely to Play in the MLS: Tyler Sanda, St. Ignatius.
Most Likely to be Wearing his 2013 State Championship Ring on Game Days Next Winter: Bob Krizancic, Mentor boys basketball coach, who wore his 1993 state championship ring from Girard for 20 years to inspire himself and his players.
Most Likely to be Broadcasting Events of Athletes Mentioned in Superlatives: John Fanta, St. Ignatius senior and broadcaster.
Most Likely to be Writing about Athletes Mentioned in Superlatives: Tom Hamzik, Padua senior and sportswriter.
Most Likely to Have her Photo on Billboards and Busses: Therese Haiss, Solon distance runner. She's headed to Oregon, where distance runners are rock stars.
Most Likely to Get a Sunburn: Aaron Owens, Midpark pole vaulter. He wanted to compete at a warm-weather college. He's headed to Clemson.
Most Likely to be Enjoying Retirement: Longtime football coaches Dave Dlugosz from Avon Lake, Byron Morgan from Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin and Jim Ryan from Olmsted Falls, along with Walsh Jesuit athletic director Grant Conzaman.
Most Likely to be Presenting Awards at Harrison Dillard Indoor Championships, Jesse Owens Outdoor Championships and Maralyn West Invitational in 2013-14: Harrison Dillard. The 1948 and 1952 Olympian and four-time gold medalist remains a rock of support for local track and field athletes.
This report compiled by Plain Dealer writers Bob Fortuna, Joe Maxse, Tim Rogers and Tim Warsinskey.