STRUTHERS — Fairport Harbor Harding High School head coach Jerry Rich admitted that, one through eight, the Skippers have fielded stronger boys teams.
After all, Harding has finished as Division II state runner-up the past two seasons.
“We have a history here with some strong teams,” Rich said following Friday’s Northeast District bowling tournament at Holiday Bowl. “We weren’t 100-percent sure how we would perform. But we did pretty well at sectionals and we had a pretty good feel for the (oil) pattern.”
Did they ever.
The Skippers placed three bowlers among the top six individuals, including the top two series, and added a 1,306 Baker System block (an average of 217.6) to roll to the district title by 192 pins over Triway. The format included three regular games and six Baker games.
“I would say that was probably our best performance (of the season),” said Rich, whose team fell to Coldwater and Mechanicsburg, respectively, in the state finals the past two seasons.
“Our two newbies really came through. Everyone did their part. It was a nice day.”
It became a better day for Struthers, which stood fifth entering the final two Baker games in its home center. The top four teams from the district earned state berths.
After Bakers of 223 and 214 in Games 3 and 4, the Wildcats had cut their deficit to 56 pins behind No. 4 LaBrae.
“I told them at the start of Bakers that if we averaged 210 to 220, we’ve got a shot,” said Struthers head coach Bob Eisenbraun, whose team made its last state appearance in 2017. “I didn’t tell them anything special before the last two games … just keep doing what you’re doing and focus on what you’re doing.”
While the Wildcats shot 196 and 214 those final two games to complete a 1,224 Baker block (an average of 204), LaBrae had just 168 and 165 as Struthers gained the final qualifying spot at 3,899 — just 16 pins ahead of Lutheran West and 21 in front of LaBrae.
“Absolutely,” said Eisenbraun when asked if he was scoreboard watching. “We kind of had an idea who we were chasing and they weren’t that far away from us.”
TRIWAY RETURNS
Triway will be making its first trip to state since 2020 after finishing second with 4,330, followed by Rootstown (4,053).
Titans head coach Vince Yoder said spare shooting was the key for the Titans, who shot a tourney-high 256 in their first Baker game.
“We had really good practices this week. We did some things to work on spares,” Yoder said. “And we shot spares today like I’ve never seen this team shoot them this year. It was awesome, and we threw in some strikes to help.”
Sophomore Owen Fiedler led the Titans with a 726 series, and juniors Chad Harper (612) and Brandon Rich (603) also had big days along with sophomore Aaron Meshew (584).
“They were loose and having fun, but that is easy to do when you’re bowling well,” Yoder said. “But this was a total team effort, We bowled all seven guys in the six Baker games. Even after the 250 game we just went with it.”
Rootstown was led by senior Mason Bartholomy’s 722 series, one of five individual 700 series on the day, and junior Nick Neiswanger’s 652. Senior Sean Lane led Struthers with 637.
The top three Skippers — senior Ryan Chipps (753 series), junior Indrek Haller (738) and senior Joe Justinger (675) —will be returning to state trying to put a bad memory behind.
“We lost two years ago to Coldwater for the title, and then we had a tough semifinal match against them last year and came out on top,” Rich said. “But in the title match (against Mechanicsburg) we laid an egg. We had 15 opens in three games which was really unusual for a team that just didn’t beat itself and then we did.”
And what about this season?
“We have a shot,” Rich said.
DIVISION II BOYS NORTHEAST DISTRICT
(at Holiday Bowl, Struthers)
Final team standings (top four advance to state): 1, Fairport Harding 4,522; 2, Triway 4,330; 3, Rootstown 4,053; 4, Struthers 3,899; 5, Lutheran West 3,883; 6, LaBrae 3,878; 7, Girard 3,785; 8, Woodridge 3,759; 9, Holy Name 3,738; 10, Lakeview 3,708; 11, Clearview 3,609; 12, Canton South 3,602; 13, Brookfield 3,429.