Area athletes reap benefits of hard work on national signing day

The excitement of putting pen to paper reaches a fever pitch on national signing day and it was a celebration of hard work around Lorain County as athletes made their written pledges to their colleges of choice. More than half of those signing in the county Wednesday were from Avon, which had a school-record 16 athletes participating and five of them were from the vaunted Eagles football program. "It's special what we do here and it's not easy to do this," said Luke Hamilton, who will play on the offensive line at Michigan. "I give all the credit to coach (Jared) Cecchetti and his strength staff. All these kids up here work hard in the weight room, do what they're asked on and off the field and without the weight room I don't think any of us are out here to be honest. I mean, I'd still be stuck in the eighth grade, fat and tubby, so I give all props to that weight program." Hamilton, with two dozen Division I offers, had a different recruiting process than most area athletes. He said it started out fun, then got hectic and was a bit stressful at the end as some of the nation's top programs were trying to pull him toward their campuses. After committing to Michigan, he got the ultimate joy watching the Wolverines capture their first national championship since 1997 — "My parents went to bed but my sister and I stayed up late to watch the end of it," Hamilton said — then had some tense moments when head coach Jim Harbaugh announced he was leaving for the NFL. "It was tough seeing him leave because I committed to him just a little over a year before he decided to go to the Chargers," Hamilton said. "But I can't blame him — that's a job you've got to take. He played there and I'm sure it brings back fond memories for him, so props to him. "So then I was like, 'Lord, please let (offensive line coach Sherrone) Moore get this job. That was probably the best case scenario and when he got it I texted him right away to let him know I was so proud of him." Half of the Avon group were signing with NCAA Division I programs, including Natalie Smitek, who finished her high school career as a four-time state qualifier in tennis. "I watched my sister (Audrey) sign a couple years ago so that was really cool and I've been looking forward to this," Smitek said. "Having everyone up here with you, having everyone watching … it's like the final recognition after you've actually done the work for it." Smitek, like Hamilton, watched the head coach she was recruited by walk away before national signing day arrived. "I was originally committed to Western Michigan and then there was a coaching change," Smitek said. "So I ended up de-committing and it was a really stressful couple of months trying to figure out where I was going to go. I had been talking with (Xavier) since the beginning of my process and I texted them (after de-committing) and they were still interested. "I know a couple people who have went there and they just love it. The team is amazing, the coach is amazing and I love how pretty the campus was … I'm just really excited for all of it." The recruiting process was even more frenzied for Columbia's Marco Cirigliano, who finished his four-year high school career as the Lorain County record holder in rushing yards, touchdowns and points. Cirigliano talked with several schools since the end of his senior season but didn't announce his official commitment to Walsh University until less than 24 hours before he signed his national letter of intent. "It's a surreal moment for sure," he said. "It's something you dream of when you're young and finally being in this position and having everyone in the school, all my teachers, all my family around … it's a better experience than anything you could think. "I was really just waiting for the best opportunity to come and Walsh showed interest. I went and visiting and it's a super cool place to play. They sent me a scholarship offer and the amount of money I got … it was fantastic. It's a dream come true." Cirigliano never came off the field for the Raiders — playing running back on offense, linebacker on defense and on most of the special teams squads. He'll only be expected to carry the ball with the Cavaliers. "Only practicing running back, just being able to focus on my craft, is going to lead me to way bigger things and let me be the best player I possibly can be," he said. "I'm really excited to just be playing on one side of the field for sure." One of the toughest moments for a high school athlete is parting ways with teammates they've bonded with for four years. That won't be the case for Elyria Catholic's Timmy Phillips and Kyle Fairbanks, who both signed with Wheeling University, an NCAA Division II program in West Virginia. "They came in January and talked to both of us, and they offered Kyle," Phillips said. "So I was still talking to a couple of schools and I was going to add a couple preferred walk-ons, and at the last second I was like, 'You know, Wheeling looks good.' So I talked to the coaches and they gave me good advice, pretty good money and I thought it was a no-brainer." Fairbanks said he had no problem switching from recruit to recruiter when he heard Phillips was interested in the Cardinals. "He's a great player, a guy that's going to push you every day," Fairbanks said. "He's All-Ohio and that's the kind of guy you want to go to college with, the kind of guy you want to win a conference championship with in college. So I was all on him about going to Wheeling." Phillips said he has yet to visit the campus but Fairbanks has been there and gave a rave review. "This is just their seventh team of all time and they had a really good season last year," Fairbanks said. "So they're constantly building on what they've got going on there. They've got an amazing campus, good professors and all the coaches are amazing. They're starting to become a force in the Mountain East Conference, so it'll be a pleasure to be able to join that." The Panthers had five football players at their signing ceremony, matching Avon for the most in the county Wednesday. "It's definitely a great accomplishment … all our friends out here signing together," Phillips said. "The one goal this year was everyone plays at the next level because you see other schools doing it and it's just a great accomplishment for all of us. Our coaches pushed us to this level. We wouldn't be here without them. Even though we didn't have the greatest season, we all ended up here ready to play at the next level." Contact Shaun Bennett at (440) 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on X. Area signees Avon — Luke Hamilton, Michigan/football; Jakorion Caffey, Cincinnati/football; Connor Rowlison, Colgate/football; Carson Canning, Ohio University/football; Matt Muir, Slippery Rock/football; Case Lowery, Wooster/lacrosse; Jake Starkey, Spalding/lacrosse; Katie Achtziger, Ashland/lacrosse; Natalie Smitek, Xavier/tennis; Denver Johnson, Western Illinois/tennis; Maddie Harrington, John Carroll/track; Bridget Bergen, Akron/track; Violet Siftar, Niagara/swimming; Eva Molenaar, Clarion/swimming; Molly Drenik, John Carroll/basketball; Caroline Prahst, Ohio Wesleyan, soccer. Avon Lake — Michael Thomson, Western Missouri/football. Columbia — Marco Cirigliano, Walsh/football. Elyria — Kloie Troutman, Gannon/softball; Adrien Siembida-Williams, Notre Dame College/football; Wednesday Barnhill, Heidelberg/cheerleading. Elyria Catholic — Timmy Phillips, Wheeling/football; Kyle Fairbanks, Wheeling/football; Anthony Demartinis, Lake Erie College/football; John Paul Spray, Carroll/football; Peyton Essenmacher, Baldwin Wallace/track; Christian Begalla, Mount St. Joseph/baseball; Graydon Rollins, Youngstown State/football. Lorain — Shane Ramey Rowland, Gannon/football; Noah Buchanan, Thomas More/football. St. Ignatius — Reece Robinson/Avon, Cleveland State/basketball.