AKRON — Medina Highland head coach Bruce Folkarth was not scoreboard watching, even though he knew his team was “in the thick of things” during Friday’s Summit County Division I boys high school bowling sectional at Stonehedge Family Fun Centre.
“Honestly, I couldn’t really tell what was going on,” Folkerth said following the conclusion of play. “It was a big surprise when I walked into the room at the end and Copley’s coach shook my hand and said we had beaten them by nine pins.”
With 160 and 169 in their final two Baker System games, the Hornets were able to earn the final district qualifying spot in the tourney which went down to that final game against Copley.
Highland finished with 3,842 total pinfall — nine pins ahead of the Indians, who finished with a 137 Baker game, and 34 ahead of sixth-place Akron Ellet.
The top four teams and top four individuals who are not members of advancing teams move on to district play from the 17-team field. The district tourney is at 10 a.m. Feb. 28 at Roseland Lanes in Oakwood.
Norton, which led after the opening three regular games and then turned in the second-high Baker System six-game block with 1,121, captured the sectional title with 4,069 total pinfall. It will be joined at district by Springfield (3,934), Cuyahoga Falls (3,912) and Highland.
“All the credit goes to Pete Dutka. He’s the one who had them in line and marking left and right,” Norton head coach Mike Sayre said. “We had good confidence from start to finish, from ball one to the final Baker game. He keeps good contact with them and we have a strong corps of seniors.”
Sayre admitted the Panthers have been putting more of an emphasis on Baker System games over the past month.
“Our Bakers were slipping a little, so we’ve been focusing more on them than the full team games,” said Sayre, who leads the girls team. “I have the easy part of just updating (Dutka) on who we’re going to face down the line.”
Seniors Josh Heath and Nick Rummer led the Panthers with series of 635 and 608, respectively, and senior Nick Vaudrin added a 602.
Tallmadge junior Gavin Warren led individual district qualifiers with a 694 series, followed by Walsh Jesuit senior Brian Kelly (685), Akron Ellet freshman Austin Dennis (678) and Akron Hoban senior Joseph Bee (634), who finished two pins ahead of Medina’s Chase Gordon for the final individual spot. Warren, Kelly and Dennis were the top three overall individuals in the tourney and Bee finished seventh.
This will mark Highland’s first district trip as a team in its third year as a program. Individually, Dylan Esterle advanced twice as an individual and Kyle Dunne reached district last year. Esterle advanced to state a year ago, finishing 19th overall.
“We were down by 40-some pins after the first two Baker games, and our last few Bakers were a bit dicey, so I was thrilled when I found out,” Folkerth said. “We started with five straight strikes in Game 1 of the regular games and I thought, ‘here we go.’
“Emotionally, I think we are all exhausted because we really didn’t know where we stood. If anything it shows why a team effort matters so much.”
Dunne led Highland with a 655 series and Esterle, a junior, was next at 592.
Springfield was led by senior Jerry Koerber’s 673 series and 599 from senior Dalton Conley.
Junior Nicholas Austin led Cuyahoga Falls with 626 and freshman Lucas Hummel added 594.
For Folkerth, it was about keeping his team loose, but focused.
“We had a rough practice Wednesday so I was a little nervous. And we did have some spots where four of the five guys had a split or open or something,” Folkerth added. “But we don’t want to get into their heads too much.
“It’s just one frame at a time, one shot at a time. We were definitely looser … they weren’t talking about bowling between shots. And I think that is a positive thing. You can’t think about it 24/7.”
Now, the Hornets can focus on their next big step — district play.
SUMMIT DIVISION I SECTONAL
(At Stonehedge Family Fun Centre)
Final team standings (top four advance to district): 1, Norton 4,069; 2, Springfield 3,934; 3, Cuyahoga Falls 3,912; 4, Highland 3,842; 5, Copley 3,833; 6, Akron Ellet 3,808; 7, Brunswick 3,747; 8, Akron Hoban 3,747; 9, Tallmadge 3,620; 10, Medina 3,558; 11, Walsh Jesuit 3,476; 12, Akron Buchtel 3,470; 13, Medina Buckeye 3,156; 14, Barberton 3,009; 15, Akron Firestone 2,762; 16, Akron Kenmore-Garfield 2,509; 17, Akron North 2,187.
Individual qualifiers: Gavin Warren (Tallmadge) 694; Brian Kelly (Walsh Jesuit) 685; Austin Dennis (Akron Ellet) 678; Joseph Bee (Akron Hoban) 634.