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Volume 56, No. 23
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
Chester Firefighters Climb Key Tower In Fight for Air Competition By Emma MacNiven macniven@karlovecmedia.com
SUBMITTED
Chester Township Trustees recognize firefighter Jason Beltran, Lt. Martin Neary and firefighter Mike Gibson for placing third out of 26 teams in the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Competition at Key Tower March 2. The team climbed 57 stories.
Three Chester Township firefighters ran a different kind of fundraising marathon March 2 — up 57 floors at the Key Tower in downtown Cleveland. They did it during the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air competition, coming in third place out of the 26 fire departments who participated. Lt. Martin Neary, Mike Gibson and Jason Beltran raised $560 for the organization, which advocates for lung health. They participated in full gear with self-contained breathing apparatus and finished in 15 minutes. “Our guys have been training for a while together. They've been working out at the station and off-duty to prepare for this,” Fire Chief Andrew Nagy said. “They work together to raise some funds for the competition. We're very proud of them.” Firefighters and first responders around Northeast Ohio climbed
Key Tower’s 57 floors for the 15th annual Fight for Air Climb. The skyscraper, built in 1991, is the tallest building in Ohio and has appeared in a number of movies, according to the Key Tower website. Neary said his team didn’t hesitate to participate, even though they are not as young as a lot of the competitors in the climb. They were pleased with the outcome, he said. “It felt good (to get third place) because we're older, but we set out to do that and perform pretty well because it's a vital part of our job to be physically fit,” Neary said. “So, we took that as the opportunity, as motivation to kind of keep our training going throughout the year. And then, it's just kind of a fun day, kind of a fun event. There's a lot of brotherhood involved between the other departments or other fellow firefighters.” Neary said the same three men will likely participate again at next year's air climb. “Hopefully, we can win it next year,” he said.
Several Solid Innings a Winner for Wolverines By Rich Kelly sports@karlovecmedia.com
So far in this young spring season on local ball diamonds, the West Geauga Wolverines have dealt with big innings, both on the good side and the sour side. April 4, in conditions that polar bears might love, the Wolverines once again had several solid, if not huge, innings. They also dealt with a huge inning for the Warriors. But West Geauga got the better of things with solid innings in claiming a 14-9 non-conference victory. Fresh off of a trip to warmer weather in Myrtle Beach, the Wolverines are now home and dealing with normal spring weather along the shores of Lake Erie. Their experiences were very good, even when they came up short on the scoreboards, but the big innings
still are in play for them as they now move to 3-2 on the season. "The trip to Myrtle Beach was really great for us as a team," West Geauga Head Coach Brett Munn said. "Just like today, though, we had to deal with a big inning that didn't go our way. Down at Myrtle Beach, we had games where we gave up eight, four, and another one with four that stung us. Today, they (Edgewood) hit us with a seven spot early. We've played some good ball so far, but we need to try to avoid those big innings. The competition here in the CVC doesn't allow for many innings like that if you want to win games." The Wolverines got in the first big offensive thrust of the game right away. Senior centerfielder Elijah Gudger sent a 1-1 pitch from Devin Sanchez to the gap in right center See Baseball• Page 6
MICHAEL KELLY/KMG
Jackson Remaley was the starting pitcher for the Wolverines 14-9 non-conference win over Edgewood.
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