NORWALK — Tournament seeding meetings took place statewide on Sunday afternoon and local teams now know their opponents and sectional locations when the tournament begins in two weeks.
Bucyrus and Wynford are in the Division III district at Norwalk but will play at different sectional sites.
Wynford (5-14) got the No. 9 seed had several options but chose the 6:15 p.m. game at Hopewell-Loudon High School on Feb. 26. The Royals will face No. 11 Ashland Crestview (3-16) with the winner advancing to play No.1 seed Willard on Mar. 1 at 6:15 p.m.
The district contained four byes into sectional finals and, not surprisingly, the top four seeds took byes.
“When you’re a No. 9 seed, you don’t get a whole lot of choices,” Wynford coach Steve Mohr said. “I think the seeds went according to what everybody thought they would. The four tops take the byes and it’s pretty much cut-and-dried from there.”
Bucyrus (3-16) got the No. 10 seed and the Redmen will take on their namesakes from Fostoria (6-12) which got the No. 8 seed. They play at Monroeville at 8 p.m. where the winner will meet No. 2 seed Upper Sandusky for a sectional title at 8 p.m. on Mar. 1.
“We got stuck with Fostoria down in Monroeville,” Bucyrus coach Justin Mattix said. “It’s a team we’ve never played before. Hopefully, the kids have a fresh mindset going into it so we can come out an compete.
“Wherever you go, it’s going to be a tough game,” he continued. “So, we decided to play somebody we haven’t played before.”
Western Reserve (13-4) received the third seed and took the bye to the 6:15 p.m. game at Monroeville on Mar. 1. The Roughriders will get the winner of No. 6 Huron (8-9) and New London (10-8), which play at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 26.
No. seed Carey (10-6) took the final bye into the 8 p.m. final at Hopewell-Loudon. The Blue Devils will face the winner between No. 5 Oak Harbor and No. 12 Lakota, which will play the 8 p.m. game on Feb. 26.
“We had a choice of playing someone you know or someone you don’t know,” Mohr said. “We didn’t know much about Fostoria. Their athleticism concerns me. We played Crestview and they took care of us in that game, so it’s an opportunity for us to play someone we’re a little bit more familiar with.”
In the Division IV district at Willard, Colonel Crawford (15-3) received the No. 1 seed and chose the 6:15 p.m. by at Galion on Mar. 1. The Eagles will get the winner of No. 9 Crestline (7-12) and No. 10 Monroeville (7-12), who play at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 26.
In the 8 p.m. game on Feb. 26 at Galion, No. 11 Buckeye Central (4-14) will tangle with No. 5 Lucas (13-5) for the right to play No. 4 Norwalk St. Paul (13-6) at 8 p.m. on Mar. 1.
At the district’s other sectional site at Shelby, No. 2 South Central (16-3) took the 6:15 p.m. bye on Mar. 1 and will face the winner of No. 6 Sandusky St. Mary (14-4) and Mansfield Christian (5-16), who play at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 26.
No. 3 Margaretta (14-5) grabbed the 8 p.m. bye on Mar. 1 with the prospect of playing the winner of No. 8 Plymouth (10-9) and No. 7 Mansfield St. Peter’s (12-7), who play the 8 p.m. semifinal at 8 p.m. on Feb. 26.
In the Division IV district at Fostoria, Mohawk (17-1) got the nod as the No. 1 seed and took the 8 p.m. bye at Carey on Mar. 1. The Warriors get the winner of No. 11 Seneca East (6-11) and No. 8 New Riegel (7-10) who play at 8 p.m. on Feb. 26.
Galion (6-11) got the No. 12 seed in the Madison district and will play fellow Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference member Ontario (10-7) which received the No. 8 seed. The two will play at Willard on Feb. 27 at 6:15 p.m. The winner will play the winner of the 8 p.m. game, No. 2 Lexington (14-4) and No. 14 Milan Edison (2-16) on Mar. 1 at 8 p.m.
No. 1 seed Vermilion (17-3) took the 6:15 p.m. bye at Bucyrus on Mar. 1. The Sailors get the winner of No. 6 Sandusky (10-6) and No. 10 Shelby (9-10), who face off at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26.