GALION — Two of Galion’s most successful recent student-athletes are Ryan Hieber and Andy Roesch. The two are among the next class to be inducted in the Crawford County Sports Hall of Fame.
Tickets are on sale for the induction banquet, to be held April 1, starting at 5 p.m. at the Trillium Center in Bucyrus. For ticket information, contact the Crestline Advocate or call 419-571-6284.
Inductees for 2017 also include Colonel Crawford High School coach Jody Grove; Mike Pensinger and Sarah Henize of Bucyrus and Wynford coach Tom Schreck.
Ryan Hieber
Ryan Hieber was Galion High School’s first state wrestling champion, in 1999, while amassing a record of 49-0, and had the record for most pins at 34 and most takedowns in a season at 206. Ryan’s high school wrestling record was 142-17. While attending Galion, he was a state placer in 1997, and 1998. He also was a three-time champion in the Northern Ohio League and ha titleholder at the prestigious Alliance Top Gun tournament.
Hieber wrestled in the 171-pound weight class and was an All-American and USA World Team member. He wrestled in Europe for the U.S .Olympic Center at the age of 16. While at The Ohio State University, he was a Big Ten runner-up in 2001 at 174 pounds. Hieber’s college career record was 47-17 and he earned two varsity letters. His career was shortened by injury.
Ryan is a 2004 graduate of the Max M. Fischer College of Business, The Ohio State University. In 2007, he received his master’s in business administration. He is CEO of the Police and Fire Credit Union of Toledo. Ryan and his wife Andrea have a son, Jack.
Andy Roesch
Roesch was a four-year starter in football at Galion. As quarterback, he holds the record for the number of passing yards in a game (426) most passing yards in a season (2,232) and in a career (6,046) . He was a two-time All-Ohioan. Andy also was a four-year starter in basketball. He is the career leader in rebounds (860) and placed third in career points (1,074). He graduated in 1999
After high school, Roesch played football at Ball State. He was the starting quarterback two years and is the only quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a single game twice.
Roesch graduated from Ball State with a bachelor of science degree in 2004 and received a masters in education administration in 2009. He taught social studies at Pendleton Heights Middle School and Muncie Central High School prior to arriving at Mississinewa High School in Gas City Indiana. He is in his fourth year as assistant principal. His wife Rachel teaches fifth grade at Northview Elementary. Andy and Rachel have two children, Anderson and Addison.
Jody Grove
Jody Grove has been the Colonel Crawford head girls track coach for 35 years and head cross country coach for boys and girls for 22 years. When she started her career, she had a very limited background in running. She has played a role in four team state championships, and coached a number of individuals to state titles.
She has been named three times District 6 Coach of the Year and three times Colonel Crawford Teacher of the Year. Under Grove’s leadership, every girl’s record in track and field has been broken. Forty-four girls have participated in the state track and field meet. Jody coached three consecutive state championship teams in 1990, 1991 and 1992. Grove’s girls’ teams have won the county title eight times, as well as earning two district championship titles.
Her boys’ teams have taken the county title seven times and the league title eight times. Thirteen individuals and relays have been state champions. Forty athletes and relays have received All-Ohioan honors, nine being state champions. While serving as the distance coach for both teams, she has also had three boys claim state championship honors in the 1,600 meter run. Jody was inducted into the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame. Jody was a recipient of the Fred Dafler Career State Coach of the Year Award and the Bob Cline Coach Longevity Award.
Jody is a Colonel Crawford graduate and is retired as a teacher from Colonel Crawford, where she was an intervention specialist for 33 years. She is still an active coach for cross country and track.
Sarah Henize
Sarah Henize was an outstanding runner at Bucyrus High School. She made the first state cross country meet in 2002 and 2003. She was a two-time All-Ohioan. She also qualified for the state track and field meet in the 800 four times from 2001-2004. In 2004, she was state champion in Division II.
She also led her class with a 4.0 GPA and went on to compete in college track and field, first at Miami University in 2005-2006, then the University of Iowa in 2008-2009.
She works works at Premier, Inc., where she helps hospitals and health systems succeed in the transition from volume to value of care. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Thomas Jefferson University College of Population Health, for which she teaches a course in the Master of Public Health program. Sarah married Richard Torbeck in 2011) and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She still runs six days a week and enjoys traveling the globe with Rich in her free time.
Mike Pensinger
While representing Bucyrus High School in football and track, Mike Pensinger set new records in both sports.
In football at Bucyrus, Mike was a three-year varsity letter winner. He went on to have an outstanding senior football season. Mike played an integral part in Bucyrus’s first and only undefeated and untied season. His best game came on Week 7 against Galion. His record setting twelve receptions for 209 yards helped propel his team to 32-0 victory and helped keep their No. 1 ranking in the AP and UPI polls. His team held on to No. 1 until the final week of the season, when they were jumped in the polls by No. 2-ranked New Lexington. Mike was a unanimous first-team all-NOL wide receiver and a second team All-Ohioan.
In track, he was a four-year varsity letter winner. His track accomplishments include being the first state champion in school history (indvidual or team in any sport). His vault of 14-feet-5 ¼” set the record for class AA in the newly formed three-class system. He established the Bucyrus High School record of 14-6, which stands today.
He also had lots of success in the track and played one year of football at University of Toledo.
Tom Schreck
Tom Schreck is a 1968 Wynford graduate. He was Wynford’s baseball for 34 years, 26 at the varsity level. He led his team to the state championship in 1982. Schreck’s overall record is 404-191, which includes ten North Central Conference championships, and 12 sectional, five district and one regional tournament titles. He was the OHSBCA District 9 Coach of the Year three times and coached the 2001 Mizuno All Star Game. Schreck was inducted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2007.
While attending Wynford, Tom participated in football, basketball and baseball and received nine varsity letters and several conference honors. After high school, Tom attended Taylor University in Indiana, and played both football and baseball.
He received a master’s degree in Administration from Xavier University. He retired from teaching social studies at the junior and senior high levels after 35 years, in 2008. He served two years as a junior high principal.
Schreck married Candy Kiess and they have two children, Tobey and Tara.
