Fairfield won its 30th overall NECC boys tennis title by sweeping past rival Westview, 5-0, Thursday. In laying claim to its 18th regular season title, Garrett Stoltzfus blew past Mason Clark, love and one, while both Chase Buckholz and the two dubs tandem of Grady Garber and Drew Beachy also had to go three sets to keep the sweep in tact.
The Falcons put away Angola, 5-0, on Monday. Stoltzfus and Cooper LeCount both allowed just one game at each of one and two singles while Buckholz had to rally from a 7-5 loss in the first set, but allowed just two games to take the three singles court.
More of the same on Tuesday as the boys rolled West Noble, 5-0. Within seconds of one another, Stoltzfus and LeCount finished off wins to lead the way, and both doubles teams were close behind in their wins. Noah Mast and Brant Garber were particularly strong at one doubles, polishing a two, one victory.
Golf saw its team season end in heartbreaking fashion, but will root for a pair of individuals in next week’s regional round.
At the Northridge Sectional, both Fairfield and Concord finished at 394, but the tiebreaking fifth-man score ended up 113-137 in favor of the Minutemen to take the third team spot at the regional.
The good news for the blue and gold was regional advancement by both Addie Mast and Mallory McGowen, landing among the three golfers to advance without their team. McGowen shot her best 18-hole round of the year with an 87, and Mast was at 90 to stay alive in the state tourney. Bella Blosser shot 98, Paige Lantz a 122 and Greta Hochstetler a 137 for the Lady Falcons.
McGowen and Mast will play again Friday at Noble Hawk in the East Noble Regional, the second step in the state ladder.
Volleyball endured a super exciting 3-2 win over Goshen Tuesday night at home. Fairfield lost the first set 25-23, but came back to win games two and three, 26-24 and 25-21. Goshen slipped through game four 27-25, but Fairfield capped a thrilling game five with a 15-13 win. Amanda McGuire and McKenna Fisher combined for 52 digs and Maddy Miller and Abby Graber combined for 40 assists. Eva Herbert and Alice Morrison teamed for 27 kills in the nail biter.
The JV put away Goshen in two games, led by seven kills from Lacy Stoltzfus and six digs from Kylie Beachy.
Less exciting but the same feeling for Fairfield on Thursday, beating Lakeland 3-0. Fisher had 11 digs and nine digs, Miller had 20 assists and three aces, and McGuire had 11 digs.
Addy Piasecki had six kills in the 2-0 loss to the JV Lakers.
Fairfield scored a girls cross country win Tuesday in knocking off Elkhart Christian, while the boys picked up three wins in the same meet. Fairfield went 1-2-3 in the girls meet, paced by Natalee Lambright at 21:12, followed by Lyla Dennis (21:49) and Katie Kuhn (22:00). Lorelei Shively was close behind at 23:03.
Jesse Bontrager of Bethany Christian won the boys run, 17:30, but Fairfield brought home the next four runners in Luke Mast (18:26), Ethan Mendoza (18:26), Evan Correll (18:27) and Carson Correll (18:27). Those results were more than enough for the Falcons to get three wins against the Bruins, ECA and host Jimtown.
Kuhns (21:14) led Fairfield with a 16th-place finish at the New Prairie Invite on Saturday. Dennis (21:38) and Lambright (21:43) were among the top 100 runners in the small school class in the mega invite. Evan Correll was 33rd overall to lead Fairfield at the Chuck Schlemmer Invite hosted by West Noble. Correll was 33rd overall, and was trailed by teammates Mendoza (17:59) and Carson Correll (17:59).
The junior high boys cross country beat Garrett, Freemont, and Hamilton on Tuesday. Caden Harris finished first with a time of 10:48 and Easton Garber was second with a time of 11:34. Klayton Miller finished with an 11:55, Curtis Bontrager at 12:25 and Evan Moreland rounded out the top 10 with a 12:42.
The boys team has officially qualified for the Middle School State Championships with eight boys meeting the qualifying time of 13:00 or faster.
Layna Stolzfus led the girls team with a top finish of 11:59, Ellie Carl finished seventh at 13:05 and Jules Hinkle was at 13:22. All three have officially qualified and will be running at the Middle School State Championships on Sept. 30 in Terre Haute.
It was West Noble’s night Friday in rural Benton as the Chargers remained unbeaten on the season with a 38-8 win at Fairfield. Drew Yates had 246 total yards and accounted for four scores, and Estil Pruitt rushed for 155 yards and a score for the Chargers. Fairfield didn’t get on the board until the fourth quarter, a nine-yard touchdown catch by Blake Metzger. Brooks Custer led the Falcons with 76 yards on the ground and Hunter Kauffman was very busy on the defensive side, racking up 18 total tackles (10 solo) and also had a sack.
Miguel Gutierrez had a whale of a night Thursday in the freshman game against New Prairie, catching two touchdown passes, rushing for another score, and capping the win with a 55-yard interception return for a score.
In the lower grades on the gridiron, Fairfield swept Bremen on Saturday. The seventh grade blocked an extra point attempt with 26 seconds remaining to win 16-14. Ayden Ambrose had two rushing touchdowns and Arion Ellsworth added a pair of point after kicks. The eighth grade had an easier go of things, beating Bremen 32-6.