Pin City

By: Taylor Stevens

Last weekend Madison High School's wrestling team took home the 2nd place title for the WRC Tournament. The tournament took place in Madison High School's gym. There were 4 matts for the 8 different schools in the Western Reserve Conference. Madison is part of the conference along with Brush, Riverside, Mayfield, North, Kenston, South, and Chardon.

Madison did great in this tournament, they had 13 team placers. 2 of those were late add in players, Seth Shrocke and Jacob NeHoufs, they will be continuing the rest of the season with the team. This tournament had plenty of highlights:  Captain Jeff Brichford placing 1st in his weight class, getting his 2nd WRC title. Coach Tomaso said, “Jeff pretty much pinned his way through this tournament, same with junior Shayne Magda¨. Brichford said he had fun with this tournament and is happy with how it turned out.  Shayne placed first in his weight class also and it was his first time getting a WRC title. Shayne had faced his competitor before. He first faced him in the match against Kenston, he had lost to him, but then Pin City came and Shayne beat him by one or two points. Shayne beat the player for the second time, giving Shayne his first place title in his weight class.

Many surprises had happened with this tournament. Dominic Zirkle wrestled hard and earned himself 2nd place in his 220 weight class. Jacob Glass also worked extremely hard to get his 2nd place title in the 285 weight class. Each and every wrestler put a huge amount of work in for this tournament and every match really. Coach Tomaso told his wrestlers during the tournament that they could either wrestle hard enough and work enough to be champs or you can be in 5th place, it just depends how hard you work.

If you missed the WRC Tournament you can come to the team's senior night, Thursday February 15th, 2018 at 7. It is a home match and it is against Madison´s rivals, Perry. The team would love the support so make sure you are there!

Bernard's Take On The Empire State

BY: Adrianna Hanzak

"Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here tonight, boys. That's what you've earned here tonight." The opening lines of the "Miracle on Ice" pregame speech. Lauren Bernard recited this hockey speech before a softball game to motivate her peers into playing their hardest.

Jordan Pasalaqua, a teammate of Bernard's, described that moment of inspiration and motivation to express the kind of teammate that she truly is. While she excels in softball as an extracurricular activity, Bernard's passion and major recognition lies in a different sport outside of Madison High School, outside of Ohio even: hockey.

Growing up, five year old Bernard was a spectator in the stands of her older cousin's hockey matches. Over time, she wanted to give the icy sport a try, not knowing that it would give her an opportunity that'll help her promote her future. Around ten years later, on October 13, 2016, she committed to Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York as a sophomore in high school.

Before her commitment to Clarkson, Bernard wrote to college scouts, informing them of her upcoming tournaments and matches with her team, the Pittsburgh Penguin Elite U16, hoping for them to take an interest in her. While her efforts to find a school were present, it was Clarkson University was the one who found her, contacting her coach and offered to set up a college visit. After visiting ten other schools, Bernard made her final decision to commit to carrying out her education at Clarkson University.

While hockey is her major passion, Lauren Bernard plans to go into a field such as physical therapy or sports medicine while playing for Clarkson. As a student athlete with her future locked down, Bernard leaves this advice to those looking to take their passion farther: "Always work hard with what you do."

Let The Games Begin

BY: Jordan Pasalaqua

The Madison Lady Blue Streaks basketball team are 5 and 14 this year so far. The girls will be playing Chardon on February 10th at Chardon High School, and they will also be playing them February 17th for tournament play. The last time the Lady Blue Streaks played Chardon the game was close with a final score of 29-35. The Lady Blue Streaks have been working hard at their practices to get ready for these two games against Chardon.

To lead the girls to a victory they need to make better decisions on their passes and have to see the floor better. The girls need to play better as a team and trust each other more on and off the court. The girls expectations for this game are to play a little tougher because they know what to expect now from their recent game with Chardon. For these two games against Chardon they will be missing two key players due to injuries. Mykayla Askew is out with a torn ACL injury and Aly Berry is out with an ankle injury, both of them are out for the rest of the season.

Coach Smith expectations for these two games are to work together more and talk more on the court. He wants the girls to keep the same intensity throughout the whole game and stay focused, but Smith is more focused on the tournament game against Chardon because it's more important so the girls can move farther into the tournament. Captain Shyenne Ledford said that they have to play more as a team and need to stay calm throughout the game because the girls have been rushing their plays in the past games and have been losing the ball due to bad passes. The girls are ready to come out with a win this Saturday.

Severance Hall: An Amazing Experience!

BY: Amelia Marlow

Recently, the Wind Ensemble and the Symphonic Band performed at Severance Hall. It was an honor for both bands to be invited to play at one of the finest concert halls in the world.  I was lucky enough to be part of the performance as a member of the Wind Ensemble and can say first-hand that it was an awesome day!

Severance Hall is a beautiful venue with rich history and is much different than anywhere we have performed before.  We really got a taste of what it is like to be professional musicians.  Because the stage was several times larger than our band room and the ceiling was much higher, we had to change the way we played our notes to adapt to the different sound.  The ceiling itself was covered with a design of detailed flowers and leaves that I thought was pretty.  Looking out from the stage, there were three levels of seats and they were filled with people.  We worked hard rehearsing our music and it was thrilling to be able to play it for the audience.

Both bands also had an opportunity to hear other groups.  After our performance, we joined the audience to listen to the Bay High School band, the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony and the Cleveland Wind Symphony.  All three bands offered different selections and they sounded great.

All of the band members had an incredible time, including band directors Mr. Tomko and Mrs. Stout.  According to Mr. Tomko, “It was an absolutely breathtaking experience.  The bands played so well.  Everything went perfectly.  It was just a very special day and a very special performance.  I am just so proud of everybody for how they handled themselves and how they performed on one of the world’s biggest stages.”  Mrs. Stout only had one thing to say about the big day…”Amazing!”  

I just want to say congratulations to my fellow band-mates on a job well done. It was a special experience and I enjoyed sharing it with all of you. M-H-S!