Beginning with the April 1 issue of the Western Wayne News, the spring sports season is underway. The state indoor track and field meet will kick off the season. Before we make the conversion to spring sports, we will recap some of the many highlights from the winter sports season that concluded with the boys basketball regional championship.
Boys basketball: Three new coaches guided area teams: Tyler Stotler at Hagerstown, Josh Jurgens at Richmond and Josh Siedling at Seton Catholic. In postseason play, Richmond lost in a sectional that produced the state champion. Centerville won the sectional that included Hagerstown and Northeastern before losing in the regional to the state champion. Lincoln and Seton Catholic lost in a sectional that produced a semi-state team. This was Centerville and Northeastern’s last season as members of the Tri-Eastern Conference. Centerville was crowned the TEC champion. Shea Hollendonner established a new career scoring record at Centerville with 1,603 points, breaking the previous record of 1,519 established by Darren Lawler. Centerville finished with a record of 24-3, establishing a new school record for wins in a single season and tying the TEC record for wins in a season (which Northeastern holds). Hagerstown compiled a record of 13-10, its first winning season since 2019-20. Three players averaged 19 or more points per game: Shea Hollendonner (Centerville) 19.1, Jaykob Troutwine (Hagerstown) 19.6 and Dustin Lunsford (Lincoln) 20.0.
Girls basketball: Northeastern spent most of the season in the state rankings before being upset in the sectional. Northeastern senior Ady Kircher led the county in scoring with a 19.2 average and ended her career as the second leading scorer in Northeastern history with 1,610 points. Hagerstown reached 11 wins for the first time since the 2019-20 season and the top two Lady Tiger scorers, Kenly Ferriell (14.0) and Sophia Tinkle (10.2), were both freshmen.
Boys swimming: Centerville senior Devon Whaley was the lone Wayne County swimmer to advance to the state finals. He advanced in the backstroke and placed 25th.
Girls swimming: No Wayne County swimmers advanced to the state finals.
Boys wrestling: Ten Wayne County wrestlers advanced to the semi-state round, but only Gus Golliher from Hagerstown advanced to the state finals. Golliher, wrestling in the 150-pound weight class, lost his first-round match to the eventual state runner-up.
Girls wrestling: Three Wayne County wrestlers advanced to the state finals and one made it to the podium. Claire Abbitt from Richmond lost her first match in the 120-pound weight class and Shelby Life from Centerville lost her first-round match in the 190-pound weight class. Abigail Gilbert from Hagerstown, wrestling in the 130-pound weight class, won three of her four matches to place fifth.
A version of this article appeared in the April 1 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.