Knorr announces nine recruits to join Bobcat roster

by Steph Woody
For The Post

At a press conference last night, Ohio football coach Brian Knorr addressed a room full of administrative and media personnel with his latest announcement: nine student-athletes have signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Bobcats this fall.

Of the nine recruits, four are from Ohio, two from North Carolina and one each from Florida, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

"We are very excited about the nine young men we have signed," Knorr said.

Knorr said he concentrated on the areas of offensive line and defensive secondary to deepen his roster with this recruiting class.

John "Chip" Cox, Jr., a defensive back/running back from Columbus was Beechcroft High School's leading tackler with 87 stops. He averaged 12 yards per carry and was a first team all-city and district selection and earned special mention all-state recognition.

"Chip's a great football player," Knorr said. "He's very athletic - a guy who can play corner and safety."

Isiah "Ike" Simmons will represent southeast Ohio on the Bobcats roster. He rushed for over 1,000 yards as a senior at Gallia Academy in Gallipolis and was the team's MVP.

"Ike has tremendous talent," Knorr said. "It's exciting to have a local kid."

Knorr said his coaching staff had a limited amount of time to reach recruits after former Ohio coach Jim Grobe left for Wake Forest.

"I want to commend my staff for getting into the kids' homes and working hard to get our recruits to re-commit," Knorr said.

Knorr said the staff could sign ten players. He left room for openings in case players of high caliber decide to join the Bobcats at a later signing period.

Knorr expects that a couple of the newcomers might dress, but said he and his staff would like to redshirt every player.

Ohio will return 42 of the 51 players from last year's squad that posted a record of 7-4.

Van Selm makes waves in MAC waters

Ohio swimmer Kim van Selm made big splashes in the MAC last week, earning Mid-American Conference Women's Swimmer of the Week accolades on Jan. 30.

Van Selm captured victory in the 200, 500 and 1000-freestyle events against Miami and Bowling Green and helped to maintain Ohio's perfect home record.

Swimming and diving coach Greg Werner said van Selm is excellent in all freestyle events, and has the versatility to do well in distance and sprint events.

"She has basically won every event she has been in," Werner said.

Van Selm is a three-time MAC record holder in the 200, 500 and 1000-freestyle events. The South Africa native was the MAC Women's Swimmer of the Year last season.

Hartzler honored as MAC scholar-athlete

Ohio wrestler Shane Hartzler was honored as MAC Male Scholar Athlete of the Week earlier this week. Hartzler went 4-0 this past weekend and helped the Bobcats finish 3-1. Hartzler went 3-0 at the Slippery Rock Duals and picked up a victory by disqualification over Cleveland State wrestler Ryan Guciardo.

Ohio wrestling coach Joel Greenlee said Hartzler started the season off very well, but went into a slump the first part of January. He said Hartzler has pulled out of that slump and he has high expectations from him for the remainder of this season.

"My expectations for him are to be a MAC champion and qualify for the NCAA tournament," Greenlee said. "He's a mentally tough kid. I would put him on the mat with anybody in the country,"

The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 and performs well during that particular week of competition. The MAC's faculty athletic representatives select the winners.