Buckeye Bucks Football

Medina County Sports Hall of Fame:

Reisners noted for helping to save Buckeye sports

5/15/2018 - By BRAD BOURNIVAL The Gazette

Patty Reisner hears from her son Chris every year on May 10. The date has become like Christmas or a birthday. Whether it’s a call or text or if she’s celebrating Mother’s Day, a message comes like clockwork from Chris, 30, thanking his parents for saving Buckeye sports. A 9.8-mill emergency levy failed on May 3, 2005, and the school board decided to cut extracurricular activities a week later. With two sons in high school, the Reisners weren’t going to have any of it. They spearheaded the Consolidated Boosters to self-fund it all, and the board agreed three days later.

Now 13 years removed from the situation, Glen and Patty Reisner will be given the Al Thomas Award at the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet on June 14 at The Galaxy Restaurant in Wadsworth. An award given annually to someone who has contributed to high school sports behind the scenes, the Reisners define the honor. “At a time when the waters were so rocky, they were the settling force,” former Buckeye football coach and current Valley Forge athletic director Chris Medaglia said. “They spearheaded probably the next half-decade to keep the school going forward. “They’re wonderful people. I can’t thank them enough. They were my guardian angels. They saved our season in 2005 and 2006 — not just athletics, but prom and everything else. They saved more than just athletics. They saved the entire school’s identity.” The Reisners, who graduated from Buckeye in 1972, were charter members of the non-profit Consolidated Boosters, a group that raised nearly $1 million from 2005-08 so Buckeye still could offer high school sports.

“They were invaluable to the community and the school,” said Ken Woodruff, who came out of retirement to be athletic director at the time. “They took charge and organized the whole thing. Without them, who knows what would have happened? There were countless people involved, but they were out there leading the parade. There’s no doubt.” The Reisners had been involved in the Buckeye community for more than 30 years, so they weren’t going to let things go down without a fight. “The programs were really at a point where they were on a short bridge between despair and hope 13 years ago,” Buckeye band director Greg King said. “They always had a deep faith to go to when things were challenging and shared it with others, including myself. “I have a deep respect for Glen and Patty, as I know personally how hard the workload has been to keep all these activities going. They are honestly loyal to Buckeye. They have stuck beside the school district through it all.”

The Reisners are still part of the community as residents of York Township. Patty, 63, who taught third or fourth grade for 37 years at Buckeye, can still be seen at athletic events. So, too, can Glen, 64, who is the facilities maintenance supervisor after holding the athletic director position from 2008-17. Without a horse in the race, many parents leave the school system and concentrate their attentions elsewhere. The Reisners haven’t. “We have a passion for the kids,” Glen Reisner said. “Patty has known them since elementary. I’ve known them forever. It’s just something you do. You’re here to serve. We did it first for our own kids, but I coached those kids since they were little. I coached them in basketball. I coached them in baseball. I coached them in soccer. “They’re a part of you. They were a part of Patty when she was teaching. You took ownership in those kids. I’ve adopted these kids. They’re still a part of me. I take every chance I get to walk around the high school and say hi to them.” As Jacky Maxworthy put it, the family bond became stronger after a disjointed community came together for a common cause. Maxworthy’s son Nick was on the football and wrestling teams, and the family was facing a senior season without sports.

Everything changed when the community met on the football field following the cancelation of extracurricular activities and the Reisners took the lead. “That was our life,” she said. “That’s what (my husband) Kevin and I did. Any job I did, we worked around the kids’ sports. It would have crushed Nick had he not been able to play his senior year. It affected the whole community.

A lot of us were behind the sports and the band. Buckeye is one big family. We all look out for each other.” They all want to share the praise as well. While the Reisners will graciously accept the Al Thomas Award, they’ll do so with the entire community in mind. The Consolidated Boosters may have been led by two people, but it took a village to stay the course in arguably the roughest spot in school history.

“There are a whole lot of Patty Reisners/Glen Reisners that were right beside us that whole time we were fighting to keep sports alive,” Patty Reisner said. “They always came up from the bottom. There was an endless supply of people in the Buckeye community that were just like Glen and I.” Well, maybe not exactly like Glen and Patty Reisner, who will forever be looked upon as the saviors of a generation of sports.

“They’re legends,” said Chad Gibson, who helped organize the fundraisers at Coppertop at Cherokee Hills as the golf director. “Everyone looks up to them for what they’ve done for not only their kids but the whole school itself.

Sports Hall of Fame: Anything but normal,

Nutter always wanted to stand out

4/25/2014 By BRAD BOURNIVAL The Gazette

Nick Nutter owes everything to “them.” An incredible athlete who will be inducted into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame during June 12 ceremonies at The Galaxy Restaurant in Wadsworth, Nutter took time to thank those who provided the motivation along the way.

They said he was too fat and would never be anything special on the offensive line of Buckeye’s football team. He became an All-Ohioan as a guard.

They said he wasn’t ever going to be a successful wrestler at a Division II school no one knew about. The 1992 Buckeye graduate was a champion and runner-up who finished with 115 wins. In the summer, he became a three-time Greco-Roman national champion, two-time freestyle titlist and folkstyle champion.

They said Ohio State was too big a step up as a collegiate wrestler. He became a two-time national qualifier and finished seventh in 1996. He also finished third at the Olympic Trials in 1996. They said he would get his tail kicked if he tried his hand in mixed martial arts. He was victorious in Brazilian Vale Tudo. “Growing up, I was always the heavier-set kid,” Nutter said. “I was never the skinny, ripped athlete. I always had to work hard for what I got. I remember people saying, ‘Oh, you’ll never be good. You’re too fat. You’re too chubby.’ I banked that and said, ‘You know what, you’re going to eat crow. I will be successful.’

“Honest to God, that’s where the drive came from. It was people challenging me and telling me I couldn’t do something. That was the worst thing you could do to me because I’d do whatever it took to prove you wrong. I despised anyone telling me I was a failure.” Nutter, 39, never wanted to be ordinary.

Average people were the ones that punched the clock at 9 and came home at 5, lived regular lives and never stuck out in a crowd. Boring. “I never wanted to be normal,” said Nutter, an independent contractor for electronic medical records and a color commentator for Rocktagon MMA. “Normal people aren’t successful, abnormal people are. I take pride in that. Anybody can be normal. Those people aren’t special. “One of my coaches said you could go to parties now or have them thrown for you later. I found out even with success, when you start living like everyone else, you become everyone else.”

That attitude rubbed off no matter where Nutter went. In high school, Nutter and James Farley had epic battles in the wrestling room. Both finished undefeated as seniors. Both were named Gazette MVPs in 1992 — Nutter was a two-time winner — and both won state titles. Nutter’s came at 189 pounds, Farley’s at 171. That year, Ed Rupanovic joined them on the podium as a fourth-place finisher at 140 on Buckeye’s state runner-up squad. A lot of it came from effort, but some came from the attitude Nutter instilled in the Bucks.

“It really came down to his work ethic,” Farley said. “He trained hard. He was really focused and dedicated through sports. He really put the time and energy into it more than anyone out there. He would always put in the extra effort in workouts, no matter what the sport. “We were always partners. We knew with both of us practicing at that high level and working day to day, we’d push each other. I knew as seasons would go along, if I could beat Nick and take him down, and vice versa, it mentally made us stronger, so when we went out to compete we were always prepared. Nick was really focused.”

That attitude didn’t just stick with his drill partner, as Rupanovic saw that tenacity and toughness and used it to his benefit. He might not have been drilling with a wrestler 50 pounds heavier than he was, but that didn’t mean Rupanovic didn’t dish it out just the same. “You always have these group of guys that try to work a little bit harder than the rest of the team,” Rupanovic said. “Those are the ones that have more drive. Obviously with the accomplishments he had, you could see how seriously he took his training. It helped the team a lot. When you get those high energy guys, it helps all the way around.”

After a successful college career, Nutter started looking at the budding business of MMA. A training partner of former roommate Mark Coleman, Nutter took his lumps in practice to better his former roommate. Coleman, who is now one of only 11 UFC Hall of Famers, asked him to take his shot at the sport. At first Nutter balked at the idea. But once again, someone said he couldn’t do it. Again, he rose to the challenge and 12 hours later was booked for a fight in Tel Aviv, Israel.

He finished his career 7-2 and, as mentioned, became a world champion. Because of all his success, Nutter will rightfully step into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame. In doing so he joins his dad, Jack, as the only father-son combination other than the Burtons of Highland to be inducted into the elite group. “You’re very proud of all your kids,” Jack Nutter said. “Everyone has their strong points. Nick had a great career. He was the first kid to win the junior nationals and the high school nationals. He was an All-American in college. “Just as a coach, you’re elated to have a kid like that. (As a father), it’s like a dream come true for me.”

5/8/2018 - By ALBERT GRINDLE, The Gazette

After weighing many options, Buckeye has a new athletic home.

The board of education approved the recommendations of Superintendent Kent Morgan, Principal Gabe Tudor and athletic director Tom Harrington on Tuesday to join the Great Lakes Conference, ending a search that took six months after the Patriot Athletic Conference unceremoniously booted the Bucks.

Buckeye will join Bay, Elyria Catholic, Holy Name, Normandy, Parma, Rocky River and Valley Forge as early as the 2019-20 school year, pending a release from the PAC.

“Buckeye is excited about the opportunities that the GLC provides us with balanced competition,” Morgan said. “The schools have various facilities and are close in proximity. They are not as close as the schools in the PAC, but there are still relatively good travel opportunities for our families and students to support us.

“At a time when you’re out of a conference, you wonder what’s out there. We were very fortunate we had a couple options to look at, and this was the best chance for Buckeye to continue building strong competition.” Those options were varied, yet all signs kept pointing toward the GLC. Another contender via contact from the Division II-oriented Ohio Cardinal Conference (Ashland, Lexington, Mansfield Madison, Mansfield, Mount Vernon, West Holmes, Wooster), but long travel distances were a deterrent, as Mount Vernon alone is a 90-minute bus drive from York Township.

Buckeye also had conversations with the Suburban League, which has been looking for a 16th member, but never formally applied. Joining Cloverleaf in the Portage Trail Conference was never seriously considered, either, because of travel.

The Bucks also had conversations about creating their own league, to no avail.

“When the PAC surprised us with their announcement, one of the first things we did — I say we as in Gabe Tudor, our principal, and Tom Harrington, our athletic director — was we talked about what we felt were important attributes to the next conference,” said Morgan, the former athletic director at Cloverleaf (2001-02) and Brunswick (2002-05). “We wanted a progressive conference in terms of competition and making all our sports better.

“When all the dominos started to fall, we were very happy to see that a number of those items on our list were addressed.”

For the first time since York and Liverpool consolidated to create the district in 1953 — York absorbed Litchfield in 1949 — Buckeye will be among the smallest members of a conference after being a member of the Medina County League, Inland Conference, Mohican Area Conference and Patriot Athletic Conference. Parma is first with an OHSAA grades 9-11 enrollment figure of 1,007, followed by Valley Forge (928), Normandy (856), Bay (624), Rocky River (629), Buckeye (613), Holy Name (465) and Elyria Catholic (248).

While the disparities appear vast, the Parma schools have not been strong in many years and Holy Name and Elyria Catholic are smaller private schools. The main concern is long-term viability, as Parma is facing financial difficulty and has discussed a consolidation with Normandy and Valley Forge.

The GLC was formed to begin the 2015-16 school year in response to the breakups of the Northeast Ohio Conference (Parma, Normandy, Valley Forge) and West Shore Conference (Bay, Elyria Catholic, Rocky River). Holy Name left the all-private North Coast League to join the GLC.

The travel distances are even. Elyria Catholic is the closest at 29 minutes, while Rocky River and Bay are 41. The Bucks have played Rocky River in football for three consecutive seasons, and its non-league basketball schedule has featured many Lorain County/Western Cuyahoga County schools.

“Unfortunately every couple of years you see a ripple go through with conferences,” Morgan said, adding he has no qualms with Elyria Catholic and Holy Name because of enrollment differences and OHSAA bylaws. “I don’t know if it’s ever going to stop because everyone wants a chance to win a conference championship.”

Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.