Knights of Columbus

Dear Brother Knights:

The 49th Annual Ohio State Council State Free Throw Championship was held this past Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Columbus. 

We had a great competition and had some very talented shooters from each of the six dioceses compete. 

Below is the list of State Championship Winners for each age group:

• Girl 9 - Ariana Powers, Council 1890 Reagan (Youngstown) - 19 points

• Girl 10 - Leah Ranly, Council 2158 Fr. Andrew Kunkler (Cincinnati) - 22 points

• Girl 11 - Sydney Koester, Council 2238 Ottoville (Toledo) - 25 points

• Girl 12 - Olivia Smith, Council 10183 St. Jude (Youngstown) - 20 points

• Girl 13 - Gwyneth Matthews, Council 11445 St. Michael (Columbus) - 21 points

• Girl 14 - Emma Wise, Council 910 St. Luke's (Columbus) - 17 points

• Boy 9 - Patrick Breetz, Council 8115 Fr. John W. Roettele (Cincinnati) - 22 points

• Boy 10 - Landon Retcher, Council 1039 Monsignor Lang (Toledo) - 21 points

• Boy 11 - Andrew Lennon, Council 1801 Fr. Alphonse Schumacer (Cincinnati) - 24 points

• Boy 12 - Daniel Vlacovsky, Council 4733 Holy Martyrs (Youngstown) - 23 points

• Boy 13 - Joseph Nagel, Council 10003 Fr. John J. Wentzel SJ (Cincinnati) - 22 points

• Boy 14- Clark Rutledge, Council 1890 Reagan (Youngstown) - 21 points

Congratulations to all of our winners!! Particularly to our winner in the 11-year-old girls, Sydney Koester, from the Toledo Diocese. Ms. Koester hit all 25 of her free throws, earning a natural 25-point score at the State Championship. Because of this, Ms. Koester is also an automatic winner at the International Championship level with Supreme Council! A job well done by all of our participants this past weekend!

Thank you as well to all the Brother Knights who helped out with the State Championship, including but not limited to:

• our Emcee Willi Meyer,

• our scorekeepers, Arron Mier, Robert Hernandez, Tim Bohls, Jr., and Andrew Nuckols,

• our Registration Chair, Greg Singlar,

• our results tabulator, Dave Bogner,

• our shirts supplier, PSD Gary Eckstein,

• and the many others who made this a success! A special

• Thank You to my wife, April, who helped with photographs during the competition and my daughters, Audrey, Penny and Evie, who also helped out with rebounding and handing out programs. 

• Finally, a special Thank You to our Worthy State Deputy and the State Officers for your trust in me and your support in making this a very successful event!

I look forward to another great year next year as we celebrate our 50th annual State Free Throw Championship and look forward to another skilled groups of kids competing!

Let Us Be Worthy! Vivat Jesus!

Joe

 SK Joseph S. Hartle

Knights of Columbus, Ohio State Council

State Community Director

Joseph.hartle@gmail.com