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Augspurger

The Western Ohio Athletic Conference has named longtime educator, coach and athletic administrator Tony Augspurger as its new commissioner.

Augspurger brings nearly four decades of experience in education and high school athletics to his new role.

Augspurger, who spent 33 years as an English teacher and varsity basketball coach at Twin Valley South, also served 12 years as athletic director at TVS and five years as athletic director at Tri-County North.

After retiring from full-time employment in the summer of 2025, Augspurger now returns to a familiar athletic landscape to lead the 12-member WOAC.

His first official action as commissioner was the conference's athletic directors meeting July 29, although Augspurger began working on the transition with outgoing commissioner Frank Carr in May.

“My first official action as the WOAC commissioner was our AD meeting on Wednesday, July 29th, however, I began working on the transition with former commissioner Frank Carr in May,” Augspurger said. “Frank has worked extremely hard with me to make the changeover as smooth as possible.”

Augspurger succeeds Carr, a former National Trail athletic director who served as the WOAC's first commissioner.

The conference's leadership position traces its roots to longtime Cross County Conference Secretary-Treasurer John Butch, who served the CCC for approximately 30 years and played an instrumental role in helping form the WOAC.

Butch helped the 10 remaining CCC schools join with Dixie and Preble Shawnee to establish the new conference and was instrumental in writing its constitution. Following Butch's retirement, the conference transitioned from the secretary-treasurer position to a commissioner model, expanding the role to include serving as a public face of the conference, working with the media, attending events and presenting championship trophies.

When Carr announced his intention to step away, Augspurger initially began considering the job after several athletic directors jokingly suggested he should take over.

“It actually got me thinking about it since this past year was my first year of actual retirement,” Augspurger said.

After conversations with Carr and a meeting with the conference's hiring committee, Augspurger and conference officials agreed the position would be a good fit.

Augspurger's experience as an athletic director gives him a firsthand understanding of the demands facing the administrators with whom he will now work.

“Being an AD is a time consuming and often frustrating job that has a ton of changeover largely due to some of the logistics of the job,” Augspurger said. “It requires that ADs have somewhat of a teamwork approach with each other especially within a specific conference.”

His familiarity with the conference's athletic directors was among the factors that attracted him to the position.

“One of the biggest reasons that I wanted to take on this challenge was that I knew and have worked with the majority of the ADs in our conference for years and it's a really outstanding group,” he said.

Augspurger also brings a unique perspective to the WOAC because of his long association with its predecessor, the Cross County Conference.

He spent 33 years coaching in the CCC and served as an athletic director within the conference for 12 years. While he was disappointed to see the CCC dissolve, Augspurger believes the WOAC has proven to be an excellent fit for its member schools.

The CCC's breakup came amid concerns about increasing enrollment differences among schools, lengthy travel times and dissatisfaction with a 12-team football conference divided into divisions.

Ten former CCC schools — Ansonia, Arcanum, Bradford, Franklin Monroe, Mississinawa Valley, Newton, Tri-County North, Tri-Village, Twin Valley South and National Trail — ultimately joined Dixie and Preble Shawnee to form the WOAC.

“I personally hated to see the conference end, however, after five years of the WOAC's existence, we can say unequivocally that we are off to a phenomenal start,” Augspurger said. “Honestly, I'm so excited to step in and represent the WOAC as our commissioner.”

The geography and relatively similar enrollment of its member schools have helped create natural rivalries while giving schools an opportunity to remain competitive.

The conference's success, however, has extended well beyond WOAC competition.

Four schools — Ansonia, Preble Shawnee, Tri-Village and Twin Valley South — have won football playoff games during the conference's first five seasons. At least two WOAC schools have won a playoff game each year, while Preble Shawnee and Ansonia have each reached regional championship games.

In boys basketball, Tri-Village was state runner-up in 2022 and has won a district championship in each of the conference's first five seasons. Preble Shawnee reached the state Final Four in 2024, while Franklin Monroe won a district championship in 2025.

Tri-Village captured the WOAC's first team state championship in girls basketball in 2023, while Arcanum and Mississinawa Valley have also won district championships.

Mississinawa Valley and Arcanum have captured district volleyball championships, while Newton finished as a regional runner-up in baseball and Arcanum has also earned a baseball district title.

WOAC softball programs have enjoyed significant postseason success as well. Bradford reached the state Final Four in 2022, during the conference's first year of competition, and Tri-Village captured the conference's second team state championship by winning the softball state title in 2025.

Ansonia finished as state runner-up in track, while WOAC athletes have also captured individual state championships. Dixie's Sierra Brinson won a state championship in the discus, Ansonia's Cade Shellhaas won a state pole vault championship and Ansonia's Bennett Lehman captured a cross country state championship before adding state titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs in track.

“We are just off to an extremely successful start as a conference and are just looking and hoping to grow on that success,” Augspurger said.

One of Augspurger's priorities will be continuing to build pride in the WOAC and encouraging member schools to support one another during nonconference and postseason competition.

He points to the Midwest Athletic Conference as an example of a league whose members have successfully combined intense conference rivalries with a strong collective identity.

“We are a long way from being the MAC, but as a conference we are off to a good start,” Augspurger said. “I'm hoping that we get more with the mindset that out of conference victories and tournament success for WOAC schools benefit all of us. I want to try and encourage that mindset with all of our schools.”

Another change for the conference this year will be how the WOAC handles sports information and promotion.

Dale Barger is stepping away as the conference's sports information director after five years in the role. Augspurger credited Barger with playing an important part in promoting WOAC athletes, teams and accomplishments throughout the conference's early years.

“For five years he's done a great job of bringing all types of positive publicity to our conference, encouraging all the exciting things that happened,” Augspurger said.

Rather than replace Barger with one person, the conference will divide the sports information responsibilities between two individuals.

Eddie Mowen Jr. will cover National Trail, Preble Shawnee, Tri-County North and Twin Valley South in Preble County, along with Dixie and Newton. Jim Freeman will cover the conference's six Darke County schools — Ansonia, Arcanum, Bradford, Franklin Monroe, Mississinawa Valley and Tri-Village.

Augspurger said the decision reflects both the amount of work involved in covering a 12-school conference and a desire to increase the exposure received by its athletes and teams.

“In discussing replacing him, we decided that it just made more sense to try to make that a two-person job rather than a one-person job because there's an awful lot to it,” Augspurger said.

“It's about bringing more publicity to our conference,” he added. “We're really looking forward to it because it was such a time-consuming job. We're really looking forward to trying to do it with two different people handling that.”

Augspurger said he does not anticipate major structural changes to the WOAC. Although other schools have expressed interest in the conference, expansion is not currently something league officials are seriously considering.

The WOAC currently has 10 football-playing members and 12 overall members, a format that allows the conference to operate without divisions.

“We know divisions have worked in some conferences and that they prefer that but we love being a ten-team football and 12 team overall conference,” Augspurger said.

Augspurger said he is looking forward to using the experience gained during his decades as a teacher, coach and athletic director to serve the conference in a different capacity.

“I'm excited to bring my experience to the WOAC and work with the ADs and other administrators in a slightly different capacity to continue to make our conference the very best it can be,” Augspurger said.

RICHMOND, INDIANA — Arcanum's Luke Stephens fired a 1-under-par 69 to earn medalist honors during the Western Ohio Athletic Conference Golf Preview at the Richmond Elks Country Club on Wednesday, July 29.

Stephens was the only golfer to finish under par. National Trail junior Josh Brubaker was runner-up with a 78, while Tri-Village junior Kohen Burns tied for third after shooting 80. Mississinawa Valley senior Jaxin Beanblossom also tied for third with an 80. Ansonia junior Ryder Sanders placed fifth with an 81, and Newton sophomore Gabriel Morse was sixth with an 82.

Arcanum also received rounds of 83 from junior Kaiden Hickey, 88 from senior Cohen Etherington, 89 from junior Cooper Tegtmeyer, 90 from senior Aiden Carlisle and 103 from junior Kale Kramer.

National Trail was paced by Brubaker's 78. Junior Wyatt Gebhart tied for 13th with an 87, junior Christian Rutan tied for 18th with a 90, freshman Gavyn Guthrie tied for 23rd with a 92, senior Charlie Cummings tied for 28th with a 96 and junior Lane Gebhart tied for 32nd with a 98.

Tri-Village's Burns led the Patriots with an 80. Sophomore Reggie Osborne tied for 10th with an 85, junior Brecken Gray tied for 18th with a 90, freshman Caleb Brinley tied for 25th with a 93, freshman Lincoln Dill tied for 38th with a 103 and senior Evan Duncan placed 54th with a 112.

Newton was led by Morse's 82. Freshman Slater Garber tied for seventh with an 83, senior Alec Schaurer tied for 10th with an 85, junior Atley Rapp tied for 45th with a 106, junior Will Weber was 51st with a 109 and sophomore Colt Brewer placed 58th with a 117.

Mississinawa Valley was led by Beanblossom's 80. Sophomore Bentley Manning tied for 18th with a 90, sophomore Casen Gower was 22nd with a 91, sophomore Cade Seubert tied for 28th with a 96, sophomore Cole Hanes was 50th with a 108 and sophomore Gavin Rehmert placed 52nd with a 110.

Preble Shawnee senior Gage Powers finished ninth with an 84. Junior William Gulley tied for 13th with an 87, freshmen Mason Moore and Brantley Cross tied for 32nd with 98s, junior Grant Buell was 36th with a 101 and junior Blaine Singleton tied for 38th with a 103.

Ansonia's Sanders led the Tigers with an 81. Sophomore Owen Kaiser placed 27th with a 95, sophomore Sam Evers tied for 28th with a 96, senior Bennett Lehman tied for 32nd with a 98, sophomore Landyn Kaiser tied for 48th with a 107 and junior Conner Riffle tied for 62nd with a 127.

Bradford was led by senior Treyton Sloan, who tied for 23rd with a 92. Junior Bronson Schnurpel was 31st with a 97, freshman Colby Hansen tied for 43rd with a 104, junior Brendan Hansen was 53rd with a 11.

Dixie was paced by sophomore Trace Huffman, who tied for 25th with a 93. Freshman Corbin Evans was 44th with a 105, senior Prestyn Hardin tied for 48th with a 107, freshman Liam Pennington tied for 55th with a 113, senior Garrett Williams was 59th with a 121 and junior Troy Rich tied for 62nd with a 127.

Franklin Monroe's top finishers were senior Reed Brumbaugh and senior Nathan Fenstermaker, who tied for 45th with rounds of 106. Junior Evan Klosterman tied for 55th with a 113, freshman Tristan Gilbert was 57th with a 115, freshman Max Sullivan placed 64th with a 140 and sophomore Dominic Bartolotta withdrew.

Tri-County North was led by junior Jack Puchalski, who placed 37th with a 102. Sophomore DJ Adkins tied for 38th with a 103, freshmen Landen Hans and Garrett Brown tied for 60th with rounds of 124.

Twin Valley South was led by Senior Parker Howard, who tied for 12th with an 86, sophomore Blake Mowell tied for 16th with an 89 and senior Trenton Ray tied for 38th with a 103.

RICHMOND, INDIANA — Tri-Village sophomore Lyla Brewer earned medalist honors with an 84 and led the Patriots during the Western Ohio Athletic Conference Girls Golf Preview at Beechwood Golf Course on Wednesday, July 29.

Brewer topped the field by 14 strokes, while teammate Kash Mead, a junior, finished second with a 98. Arcanum senior Adalyn Paul placed third with a 101, followed by teammate Sadie Waldo, a sophomore, with a 102. Arcanum juniors Brynn Byers and Brooklynne Eley tied for fifth with rounds of 105.

Tri-Village also received a 108 from sophomore Taytum Gray, who finished seventh overall. Sophomore Abby Hampton placed ninth with a 117, senior Kaylie Lytle tied for 12th with a 126 and senior Addie Pipenger finished 18th with a 130.

Arcanum rounded out its scoring with sophomore Olivia King, who placed 23rd with a 148. Freshman Chloe Rieman also competed for the Trojans.

Ansonia was led by freshman Layla Fullerton, who placed eighth with a 116. Junior Natalie Midlam finished 10th with a 122, senior Emma Brown was 11th with a 125, senior London Reichert placed 17th with a 129 and senior Sloane Gariety finished 24th with a 149.

National Trail was paced by freshman Maddie Browning, senior Ella Porter and senior Adley O'Conner, who tied for 14th after each carded a 128. Senior Allison Snyder added a 133 to place 19th.

Franklin Monroe sophomore Caroline Knight tied for 12th with a 126 to lead the Jets. Sophomore Keira Fenstermaker placed 20th with a 135, senior Anneliese English was 21st after completing 17 holes at 68-over par, freshman Adey Shellabarger finished 22nd with a 143 and freshman Raelin Fugate placed 25th with a 152.

The Ansonia Boys Track Team makes History with State Runner-up Trophy.

COLUMBUS – The Western Ohio Athletic Conference represented well at the OHSAA DIV and DV Track and Field State Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

The Ansonia Boys Track team brought home the school’s first ever team State Runner-up trophy finishing just 3.5 points behind state champion Columbus Grove.

Leading the way for Ansonia was Bennett Lehman bringing home gold in the 1600 and 3200m races scoring 20 points for the Tigers.  Cade Shellhaas was 2nd in the Pole Vault, 4th in 110m hurdles and 3rd in the 300m hurdles scoring  19 points.

Ansonia's Bennett Lehman won double gold & state champion in 1600m and 3200m.

On the girls side Franklin Monroe’s Sydney Baker was the most decorated athlete with 2nd place in Pole Vault, 8th in 100m and 9th in 200m for 13 points and the girls team was 16th in the state.

Here is the complete list of WOAC athletes state meet results:

Boys DIV

Arcanum
Charlie Weiss – High Jump (No Qualifying Jump)

Micah Arbogast – Pole Vault (4th – 14’-04”)

National Trail
Killian O’Connor – Shot Put (Didn’t Qualify)

Girls D4

Arcanum
Savanna Miller – 300m Hurdles (14th – 47.24)

Garbrielle Wooten – Shot Put (16th – 34’05.75”)

Boys D5

Ansonia

Cade Shellhaas – 110m Hurdles (4th – 14.72), Pole Vault (2nd – 16’), 300m Hurdles (3rd – 38.37) 200m - DNQ

Bennett Lehman – 3200m (1st – 9:26.14), 1600m (1st – 4:16.15), 800m (18th – 2:07.84)

Zac Zerkle – Pole Vault (12th – 13’)

Branson Landis – Long Jump (13th – 20’-02.50”)

Newton
Jackson Cress – 400m (15th – 51.24)

Elliott Cook – 110m Hurdles (15th – 16.03)

4x200m Relay (10th – 1:31.79) - Lincoln Smith, Jacson Cress, Chase Wackler, Luke Cornett

4x400m Relay (11th – 3:26.92) - Lincoln Smith, Jacson Cress, Chase Wackler, Luke Cornett

Franklin Monroe

Ethan Wilson – Discus (14th – 146”-07”)

4x100m Relay (15th – 45.11) - Kevin Huang, Madex Skidmore, Evan Addis, David Reed 

Tri-Village
Dom Black – Shot Put (8th – 55’-07”)

Girls D5

Ansonia
London Reichert – 400m (9th – 58.44), Pole Vault (4th – 11’0”)

Anna Yeomans – 1600m (7th – 5:11.73)

Olivia Creager – Long Jump (11th – 16’-01”)

4x400m Relay (17th – 4:16.65) - London Reichert, Olvia Creager, Olivia Schmitmeyer, Anna Yeomans

Franklin Monroe

Sydney Baker – ( Pole Vault (2nd – 12’-04”), 100m (5th – 12.86)  200m (8th – 26.02)

Faith Wintrow – Shot Put (17th – 34’-06.75”)

4x100m Relay (12th – 50.83) - Mia Brookey, Hannah Wolfe, Quincy Cox, Sydney Baker

Newton
Cole Thompson – 400m (12th – 59.66)

Michaela Flora – 1600m (15th – 5:28.12), 3200m (8th – 11:14.77)

Claire Stull - 3200m (11th – 11:27.98)

Tri-Village
Adalynn Hines – 100m DQ 200m DQ Long Jump (fouled)

Franklin Monroe junior Sydney Baker had a good showing at the state track meet and scored in three events pole vault, 100 and 200 meter runs.  

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The Newton Indians 2026 Baseball Concludes a Record Breaking Season.

Story & Photos by Dale Barger

CEDARVILLE – The Newton Indians came up one game short in their quest to reach the OHSAA Division VII State Final Four, falling 3–0 to Delphos St. John’s in the regional final and ending the best season in school history.

Newton finished the season 23–5 overall, 10–1 in the WOAC, with a district championship and a regional runner-up finish.

Going into the game, Newton head coach Jordan Kopp expected runs to be at a premium with two quality starters on the mound.

“We talked in the locker room before we left that their starting pitcher throws low 80s with good command, good curveball, good changeup, good fastball,” Kopp said. “If this was week two, we’d be like, ‘Oh, low 80s, we’re not ready for that,’ but we’ve seen a lot of really good arms lately, and our guys didn’t back down from it. That’s a credit to the 16 guys here today who poured everything they’ve got into this season.”

Newton threatened right away in the bottom of the first inning when Rhett Koffer singled to center with one out and then stole second to get into scoring position. With two outs, Will Bowser shot a ball up the middle, and Koffer never slowed, rounding third with his sights set on the plate. The center fielder came up firing, delivering a strike home, and the catcher applied the tag just before Koffer’s hand could get over the plate, ending both the threat and the inning.

It took a great effort by Delphos to get Rhett Koffer out at home in what would be a huge play early in the game.

In a pitcher’s duel, a run early is huge, but Cole Alexander did his job on the bump, setting Delphos St. John’s down in order for the second straight inning.

Brandon Flory led off the bottom of the second with a base hit, but a double play and a pop-out quickly erased the opportunity.

Alexander retired the Blue Jays in order for the third consecutive inning and looked in complete control.

Delphos finally broke through in the top of the fourth. A slow roller into the hole at short produced their first baserunner. Cam Elwer, who helped lead Delphos to the Division VII boys basketball state championship, then ripped a liner down the right field line just under the glove of Austin Tippie. The ball rolled into the corner for a triple, scoring McLain for a 1–0 Blue Jays lead.

Starting pitcher Andrew Elwer followed with a triple of his own, driving a ball over the center fielder’s head to score Cam and make it 2–0.

After a brief mound visit from Kopp, Alexander buckled down, striking out two of the next three hitters and inducing a lineout to limit the damage.

Newton would pick up a hit in each of the next two innings but never mounted a serious threat, heading into the top of the seventh still trailing 2–0.

Alexander, still throwing well, retired the first two hitters of the seventh before hitting a batter and then issuing a walk to put runners on first and second with Cam Elwer back at the plate. Elwer delivered again, drilling a double to left to bring home McLain and push the lead to 3–0. Alexander then struck out his counterpart, Andrew Elwer, to end the frame.

Down 3–0, the Indians needed late-inning magic. Will Weber got things started with a base hit to left. A fielder’s choice erased Weber at second for the first out, but an errant throw on the double-play attempt skipped past first, allowing Brady Pleiman to move up to second.

A ground ball to third moved Pleiman to third base with two outs, putting another Newton runner 90 feet away.

Delphos closed it out on a routine grounder to shortstop, the throw to first sealing the final out and ending Newton’s dream of reaching state.

After the game, a disappointed but proud Kopp reflected on the night, the season, and his six seniors.

“We played well today, hit the ball OK, but didn’t get many timely hits,” Kopp said. “They (Delphos) made a great play in the first inning at the plate… but that’s us, we’re aggressive. They made a good play on the ball, a good throw, and it was a good tag, so credit to them.”

He also praised Alexander’s effort on the mound.

Cole Alexander pitched well enough to win most games but the Indians were unable to get any runs home in regional championship game. 

“Cole pitched a good game tonight. His composure is so good, he doesn’t back down from anything, and he’s been really good all year,” Kopp added. “Going in, I talked to Cole about mixing it up, and he did a really good job of keeping them off balance. But that’s a big task. They’re a MAC school, and Delphos is really good.”

Kopp’s pride extended to the entire roster, especially the senior class that helped elevate Newton baseball to new heights.

“Our guys competed the way we want out of them. They’ve done it all year, and I’m just really proud of them and our six seniors — five of them start,” Kopp said. “The impact they’ve had on this program has been big. This goes down as the best team in school history — the most wins and the farthest we’ve ever gone for Newton baseball — and we just didn’t want it to end today.”

Over four years, Newton’s six seniors — Rhett Koffer, Brensen Skinner, Austin Tippie, Will Bowser, Carson Resides and Evanston Hemphill — combined to win 85 games, capturing a district championship and finishing regional runner-up, the most successful four-year stretch in program history.

For Newton baseball, the scoreboard in Cedarville signaled the end of a tournament run — but the legacy this group leaves behind will set the standard for every team that follows.


Six Senior's leave big impact on Newton Baseball Program.
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