Central Catholic High School

WHEELING – The Ohio Valley Athletic Conference recognized its scholars, championship teams and numerous others during its annual Banquet of Champions held on May 20 at WesBanco Arena. To say it was a big night for the Knights may not be doing the Central Catholic High School success justice. Eight CCHS students received a scholarship due to their success both in athletics and in the classroom. The recipients were: Ava Hanson (Mike Rose Memorial Scholarship); Kamari Morgan (OVAC Bowling Scholarship); Dominic Gianangeli (soccer scholarship); Rylee Ondrejko (swimming scholarship); Maddie Potts (Pilney Memorial Golf Scholarship); Kaitlyn Blake (Henry Lazasz Memorial Basketball Scholarship), Angelina Robrecht (Jean Fox Huff Memorial Scholarship) and Tyler Dean (Ray Ponzo Memorial Basketball Scholarship). Maroon Knights’ head boys' basketball coach Mel Stephens was named co OVAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Knights to a 24-2 record, a Class AA state championship and the OVAC Class 3A title. It doesn’t end there, however. The CCHS student-athletes paved the way for the Knights to win the Student-Athlete Achievement Award in Class 3A for the 2024-25 school year. The award is based on cumulative GPA of the student-athletes by taking the top 50% of the school’s total athletes. CCHS had a cumulative GPA of 3.91. And yet there is more. Long-time CCHS staff member, coach, bus driver and assistant athletic director Ed Cihy was recognized for his contribution to the OVAC as the 2025 recipient of the OVAC OverTime Award, which is given to a person who goes above and beyond for the conference. Cihy is the assistant OVAC softball director. All of this comes on the heels of a school year in which the Knights won six conference titles (golf, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, boys' basketball, girls' basketball and baseball). That number topped the 3A field.