COMMITMENTS

By BRIAN DZENIS

and DAN HINER

sports@vindy.com

Dayshanette Harris will go from being the centerpiece of Ursuline’s basketball team to a building block at a rebuilding Pitt program.

The 2018 Vindicator Girls Basketball Player of the Year is considered to be first-year head coach Lance White’s first recruit for the Panthers.

Wednesday, she signed her National Letter of Intent, joining athletes around the Mahoning Valley making such commitments.

“It’s definitely a project and Coach White has definitely said that. We have this hastag ‘[hash]firstclass,’” Harris said. “It’s a good project, of course. I’m looking forward to it.”

Harris averaged 24.6 points, 6.4 assists, five rebounds and four steals a game as the Irish went 13-10 last year with no seniors on the roster. She has been a starter at Ursuline since her freshman year.

The basketball commitments don’t end with Harris. Anyah Curd signed with Slippery Rock and Lindsay Bell is moving on to Westminster College.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Curd said of her senior year. “It won’t be easy, but it will be a little easier that we won’t have to worry about getting scholarships.

We have ours.”

CANFIELD

The Cardinals’ wrestling program has had its share of Division I wrestlers, but none have received a collegiate offer as prestigious as the one Tyler Stein has.

Stein made things official with Ohio State wrestling team. The Buckeyes have been the NCAA national runner-up for the past two season and won a national title three years ago.

Stein will have a chance to show Canfield can produce not just the state’s finest wrestlers, but the nation’s best

“I feel like I’m doing it for the city,” Stein said. “It feels great to be the person that makes that lane for everyone.”

Stein won the 220-pound state title last year as the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state for his division and weight class. He is the wrestler to beat this year as he’s in the top spot again.

“I don’t know that I’ll ever get used to it because it’s such an honor,” Stein said. “I still have to defend that No. 1 and I’m excited to do it.”

CRESTVIEW

Dominic Perry had options, continue his path as a football player or embrace track and field. He took the latter as he’ll be throwing the shot put for Youngstown State.

“It was the right distance and I’ll come out of college owing little to no money,” Perry said.

Perry consistently found the right distance throwing in the circle this past spring, winning the Division III district, regional and state title in the shot put. His winning throw in Columbus came in at 56 feet, 8 inches. His personal best is 59-4.

This fall, Perry was first-team All-Northeast Ohio Selection in Division V on the offensive line. The 6-4 Rebels averaged eight yards a rush and 327 yards a game on offense. Perry was one of the senior leaders on a team with no juniors and for him, it was no big deal.

“I had all my friends my friends around me,” Perry said. “My friends are freshmen and sophomores, too, so we all had a good time with and I’ll miss it.”

HOWLAND

Cross country runner Vincent Mauri doesn’t like the cold. That’s why he signed his National Letter of Intent with Arizona State.

Girls basketball players Makayla Dahman and Alex Ochman, along with volleyball player Haley Vandegrift, also signed with their schools at the Howland High School gym.

Ochman signed with Shawnee State University, Dahman will go to Bethany College and Vandegrift is headed to La Roche College.

Mauri, who will major in Biomedical Engineering, finished fourth in the Division I boys cross country meet on Saturday with a time of 15:57.8.

“[Arizona State] is going to be expecting a lot,” Mauri said. “I want to do exactly what they expect or more.”

The stress of choosing a college is over, but Vandegrift still has work ahead of her. She recently tore her ACL and is walking with a knee brace.

“It’s gonna be kinda rough getting back into the swing of things in the beginning,” Vandegrift said. “My coach assured me that I can push through it and I’ll be alright.”

Ochman and Dahman have been a dangerous combination in the past. With the season beginning on Nov. 23, both players are excited to just focus on basketball.

“I don’t have to worry about applying to college or anything anymore,” Dahman said. “I can just focus on basketball and my academics.”

“I’m just going out there and I’m going to have fun,” Ochman said. “That’s the whole point of getting this out of the way. I wanted to commit early so I could just have fun my senior year.”

Ochman scores from the post while Dahman knocks down jump shots.

Howland girls basketball coach John Diehl is glad all the hard work paid off for his players.

“They both put a lot of time into basketball,” Diehl said. “They played in the summer, they played with us in the summer, AAU teams.

“They’re very dedicated girls.”

SALEM

The Quakers have a pair of Division I track and field athletes in Caitlyn Marx and Haley Rozeski.

Marx, a shot put and discus thrower, is heading to Oregon State and Rozeski will continue distance running for Cleveland State.

Marx took first in every discus competition she participated in except the state tournament in 2018, hitting a personal-best 157-7.

She failed to podium in Columbus after fouling her first two throws and throwing 119-3 on her final try.

Rozeski qualified for last year’s state tournament in the 800, 4x400 and 4x800 relays, making the podium in the 4x800 with seventh place finish.

BROOKFIELD

Bailey Drapola will play softball for the Akron Zips.

She has been a two-sport star, finishing her junior year as the AAC Blue Tier Co-Player of the Year in basketball and was a Division IV second-team all-state selection in softball.

LAKEVIEW

Three-sport athlete Clayton Lazarri will play baseball at Notre Dame College.

Lazzari will be used as a right-handed pitcher and utility man. He also plays football and basketball for the Bulldogs.