COLUMBUS — Two years ago, McKinley High School head coach Kim Heaton and her Bulldogs had to sit and wait to determine their fate during Division I district play.
That time, they came up short by just one pin of earning their first state appearance.
On Friday during the OHSAA Division I State Boys Bowling Championships, Heaton’s team again played the waiting game. This time, after hanging around the cut line all day, the Bulldogs were waiting to see if they were able to take the next step.
McKinley made its first state appearance memorable by becoming one of the final eight teams for match play. But the Bulldogs’ dreams of bigger things ended during a first-round loss to top-seeded Nordonia at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
“I was surprised that we got there,” Heaton said after McKinley finished with a 529 series during the three Baker System games to earn the final qualifying spot by 24 pins over Berea-Midpark.
“We were on the bubble the whole time. Our strong suit hasn’t been Bakers, and we just kind of fell apart a little at the end. We just can’t seem to get away from that one bad one.”
After shooting 987 in Game 1 to open in sixth place overall in the 16-team field, the Bulldogs had just 883 in Game 2 to drop to seventh. They then rallied with 954 in Game 3, but still fell back to eighth and were just 62 pins ahead of both Parma Padua Franciscan and Mason in the race for the final qualifying spot.
“We’re not always going to be that team that stays focused. But we can come back, get on track and then shoot one heckuva game,” Heaton said. “As long as we’re up … and that’s the whole thing is our attitudes.
“Once we get down, it takes a minute for us to get ourselves out of it, but we can. We just can’t seem to get away from that one game.”
Senior Dylan Shankle led the Bulldogs with a 641 series, good for 11th place overall and honorable mention All-Ohio status. Senior Alex Coffelt added a 603 series and finished 25th overall and senior Brandon Leggett was 58th and shot 537.
Junior Zach McCutchan, who was making his second state appearance after qualifying as an individual in 2020, had 436 for two games, including 243 in Game 3 that proved key.
“We definitely wanted this … the goal was the top eight,” Shankle said.
“Dylan had a phenomenal day and I’m so proud of him,” Heaton said. “He was that leader, the positive one and was staying on top of his game.
“Zach kind of fell down for one game, but he really kicked it in when we needed him in the third game.”
McCutchan also was key in the opening game of the best three-of-five match against top-seeded Nordonia with a strike in the fifth frame and striking out in the 10th as the Bulldogs took Game 1 173-148. That came despite three missed spares and a split by McKinley.
But in Game 2, with a chance to take a 2-0 lead, the Bulldogs had consecutive opens in frames eight and nine. McCutchan struck on his first ball in the 10th, but could not duplicate his Game.1 finish as the Knights won with a late three-strike string 192-186.
“I am disappointed because we could have won Game 2. It was just missing easy spares that hurt us,” Heaton said. “We are really dangerous when we have everyone hitting at the same time.
“After we were down,, we were able to pick it up, have fun and become that team again.”
McKinley again took an early lead in Game 3 with three strikes in four frames. But Nordonia had three late strikes again in the seventh through ninth, did not have an open frame, and earned a 217-191 win to take a 2-1 lead.
The final game was all Nordonia, which started out with four strikes in a row while the Bulldogs had opens in three of their first four frames. The Knights won 267-149 to advance.
“Zach apologized to me for not getting us any further since it was my last year,” Shankle said. “But our goal was the top eight, and the top eight is still the top eight.”
Nordonia’s day ended in the following match with a 3-1 loss to Marion Harding. The Presidents then fell to Centerville in the title match 3-1.
“We were able to pick each other up all season,” said Heaton, adding this team claimed titles in four of six tournaments and added a sectional crown.
“We were one of the top 16 teams in the state, and then one of the eight remaining teams. We lose four seniors, and three of them worked very hard after not being starters a year ago. I’m just so proud of what this team became.”
OTHERS. Boardman, which finished second in the Northeast District, earned the Nod 6 seed with 3,407. The Spartans, who were making their seventh state appearance, stopped 2020 state runner-up Ashland 3-0 in their opening match before falling 3-2 to Centerville in the semifinals. The Elks won the final two games 217-158 and 240-175 to rally from a 2-1 deficit. … Ashland earned the No. 3 seed with 3,478. Nordonia led the field with 3,739, just eight pins ahead of Centerville, which led the entire day until the final Baker System block.