Not much has changed near the top of the Division III Power Rankings in the last month. We’ve got the same three teams — Harvest Prep, Deer Park, and Ottawa-Glandorf — leading off the rankings in identical order. Since December, all three teams have remained undefeated and could possibly do so until they come head-to-head in Columbus.
After the top three is where it became tricky to shuffle the deck. Central Ohio has a pair of four-loss teams in Africentric and The Wellington School who have talented rosters and some of the best wins of any D-III teams. Finding their place in the hierarchy was a task, but there’s no chance of leaving them out of the top ten when considering all of the metrics we took into account (record, quality wins, who’d you lose to?, point differential, roster talent, and a bit of eye test).
The rest of the top ten consists of one-loss teams and an undefeated Labrae. With point differential all being in a similar range between those five schools, the nature of the loss and quality wins ended up being a driving force for determining their spot.
1. Harvest Prep (15-0)
Quality wins: The Wellington School (twice), Chillicothe
Point differential: +34.9
Top prospects: CJ Penha (2018), CJ Anthony (2020), Soul Hines (2019)
2. Deer Park (14-0)
Quality wins: Indian Hill, Wyoming, Newport Catholic (KY)
Point differential: +33.2
3. Ottawa-Glandorf (17-0)
Quality wins: Archbold
Point differential: +17.6
Top prospects: Jay Kaufman (2018), Jake Dible (2018), Owen Hiegel (2019)
4. Bishop Ready (14-1)
Quality wins: Bishop Hartley (twice)
Loss: The Wellington School
Point differential: +13.4
Top prospects: Brady Thomas (2018), Chanc Dawson (2018)
5. The Wellington School (11-4)
Quality wins: Westerville North, Bishop Ready
Losses: Upper Arlington, Harvest Prep (twice), Bishop Hartley
Point differential: +15.1
6. Cardinal Stritch (15-1)
Quality wins: Cornerstone Christian, Toledo Christian (twice)
Loss: Toledo Central Catholic
Point differential: +20.1
7. Versailles (15-1)
Quality wins: Sidney, Anna, Minster, Franklin-Monroe
Loss: Fort Loramie
Point differential: +15.7
8. Africentric Early College (12-4)
Quality wins: Gahanna-Lincoln, Columbus South
Losses: Upper Arlington, Eastmoor Academy, Toledo St. Francis, Walnut Ridge
Point differential: +17.0
9. Northmor (14-1)
Quality win: Colonel Crawford
Loss: Mansfield St. Peter’s
Point differential: +18.5
Top prospects: Kyle Kegley (2018), Meechie Johnson (2018), Brock Pletcher (2018)
10. Labrae (11-0)
Quality wins: South Range
Point differential: +24.5
Top prospects: Tyler Stephens (2018), Logan Kiser (2018)