Wednesday, July 16, 2025
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Volume 57, No. 4
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Quarterback Keenan Highlights Wolverines 7 v 7 By Alan Kornspan sports@karlovecmedia.com
ALAN KORNSPAN/KMG
Finn Keenan had three touchdown passes in the 7 v 7 against the Hilltoppers at Chardon High School on July 11.
The West Geauga Wolverines competed against the Chardon Hilltoppers in 7 v 7 drills July 11 at Chardon High School. Leading the Wolverines offense was senior quarterback Finn Keenan. Keenan, a four year senior starter, has had an exciting summer as he was invited to attend various college football camps including NCAA Division I camps at Kent State, Penn Yale, as well as a University of Pittsburgh passing camp. In addition, Keenan received his first collegiate football offers this summer from Baldwin Wallace University and Oberlin College. He has also obtained national recognition from QBHitList.com as one of the top 200 pro style high school quarterbacks in the nation (class of 2026). In 7 v 7 drills against the Hilltoppers, Keenan threw touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Charlie Culek and a touchdown pass on the last play of the 7 v 7 to senior wide receiver Dominic Paros. In describing the touchdown
pass on the last play, Keenan said that he saw Paros get open and was able to connect with him deep in the corner of the end zone. “It was the last play, so we knew we wanted to take a shot deep,” said Keenan. “Dom, he beat the corner. So I just threw it over the top and he made a play for me.” Along with throwing two touchdowns to Paros and Culek, Keenan also completed a touchdown pass to sophomore Mickey Keenan. In completing the touchdown passes, Keenan said that the design of the plays helped the receivers get open in the opposing secondary. “The concepts (within the plays), they're great,” said Keenan. “They work great, (and) it gets guys wide open.” Wolverines Head Coach Rossi Santo added that he was happy with how the Wolverines performed against the Hilltoppers. “I thought our kids played hard (and) Finn threw very well today,” said Coach Santo. “I thought our receivers ran really good routes, and they got open.” See Football • Page 7
Junior Pickleball Tournament to Help Fund Lighting By Emma MacNiven macniven@karlovecmedia.com The West Geauga Pickleball Club is inviting young players to serve up some fun—and help light up their pickleball courts—during a junior pickleball tournament July 20 at Parkside Park in Chester Township. All proceeds will go toward new court lighting. The tournament is for young players who have never participated in a pickleball tournament and must be able to understand the basic rules and scoring, Barry Leven, liaison for the West Geauga Pickleball group, said in a July 5 press release. The three courts—located in Parkside Park at the corner of U.S. 322 and state Route 306 in Chester — opened in July 2024. Leven approached Chester Township Trustees June 13 to get their approval for windscreens at the courts. The windscreens help to curb wind and sun glare from
WEST GEAUGA PICKLEBALL CLUB
The West Geauga Pickleball Club taught children to play the highly-coveted sport last summer for the club’s Unity Day.
cars, and will cut down on court noise, traffic noise and provide an opaque background, Leven said. Trustees decided to approve the polyethylene supershade windscreen, which can stay up in negative 20 degrees, at the cost of $1,438 to the club last month. The next step is for the group to gather funds for lighting at the courts, which Leven said would cost the club around $34,000. The group
has raised $2,790 as of July 14. “This (tournament) provides a great opportunity for our young families and friends to compete in a fun event while helping to raise funds for court lighting,” Leven said. Children ages 8 to 13 will play from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and teens ages 13 to 17 will play from 1-3 p.m. July 20. Thirteen-year-olds can participate in either group, Leven said. Twelve to 15 participants will
be accepted due to limited capacity at the courts. There is a $20 fee to participate. All funds will go toward the GoFundMe site for the lighting. To enter, email participant’s name, address, birthday, adult contact information and cell phone number to barryleven@gmail.com. Anyone wishing to donate can do so through this link: https://gofund.me/556e5619.
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