Before you arrive at the countdown of top ten teams in Division IV, we’ll take a moment to explain the movement in our power rankings. Fort Loramie moved off the #1 spot with a loss to Anna, a quality Division III team from the Midwest Athletic Conference. However, the Fighting Mullets didn’t drop far, as they’ve beaten Versailles and Minster this month.
Fort Loramie is part of a “Big Three” in the division — joined by Cornerstone Christian and Mansfield St. Peter’s. We couldn’t place CCA anywhere but the #1 spot after their month, because who else in this list could’ve went 5-1 against their schedule? They not only have the best win (Garfield Heights by 21 points) of any Division IV top ten team, Cornerstone also has the second best win (St. Ignatius by 10) to go along with the front-runner for Division IV Player of the Year Mike Bothwell.
Otherwise, we valued quality wins over any other metric in Division IV. In order to be the State Champ, a team will need to string together difficult wins.
1. Cornerstone Christian (8-6)
Quality wins: Garfield Heights, St. Ignatius, Lutheran East
Losses: Solon, Lakewood St. Edward, Cleveland Central Catholic, Cardinal Stritch, Cleveland Heights, Killian (FL)
Point differential: +3.2
2. Fort Loramie (16-1)
Quality wins: Versailles, St. Henry, Minster, Bethel , Franklin-Monroe
Loss: Anna
Point differential: +19.7
Top prospects: Evan Berning (2018), Dillon Braun (2018), Tyler Seigel (2018)
3. Mansfield St. Peter’s (16-0)
Quality wins: Northmor
Point differential: +20.8
Top prospects: Jared Jakubick (2018), Mason Campbell (2018), Elijah Cobb (2018)
4. Marion Local (10-3)
Quality wins: Wapakoneta, St. Henry
Losses: Anna, Lima Shawnee, Coldwater
Point differential: +15.8
5. St. Henry (13-2)
Quality wins: Anna, Wapakoneta
Losses: Fort Loramie, Marion Local
Point differential: +10.5
Top prospects: Tyler Schlarman (2018)
6. Hannibal River (11-0)
Quality wins: none
Top prospects: Lukas Isaly (2018)
7. McDonald (13-1)
Quality wins: none
Loss: South Range
Point differential: +28.7
Top prospects: Zach Rasile (2020), Braedon Poole (2018)
8. Strasburg-Franklin (13-1)
Quality win: Malvern
Loss: Malvern
Point differential: +17.9
9. Minster (10-3)
Quality wins: Wapakoneta, St. Henry
Losses: Versailles, Fort Loramie, Bethel, Anna
Point differential: +6.6
10. Pandora-Gilboa (12-1)
Quality win: Ottoville
Loss: Upper Scioto Valley
Point differential: +13.2