AKRON — After a solid week of practice and a win last weekend in a Baker System tournament at Stonehedge Family Fun Center, Tallmadge head coach Scott Krainess had confidence in his boys team coming into Friday’s Northeast District Division I Summit Sectional high school tournament.
Shooting a tourney-high 998 with one of his bowlers adding 258 in Game 1 did nothing to hurt the Blue Devils’ confidence.
With individual champion Gavin Warren shooting 257 in Game 2 en route to a 677 series and junior Brandin Ullman following his opening 258 with a 572, Tallmadge rolled to the sectional title in its quest to return to the state tournament for the first time since 2019.
The Blue Devils finished with 3,911 total pinfall after finishing the opening three regular games with 2,751 at Spins Bowl Akron.
That was 136 pins ahead of second-place Akron Ellet (3,775). The Orangemen were followed by Cuyahoga Falls (3,733) and Copley (3,730), which finished 145 pins ahead of Akron Hoban (3,585) for the final district qualifying spot.
The top four teams and top four individuals not on qualifying teams advanced to the Division I district, set for 10 a.m. Feb. 26 at Stonehedge, Tallmadge’s home center.
“We had a couple of kids come out strong and that truly helped get everyone rolling. We did a good job overall of getting to the pocket that first game and not making a whole lot of mistakes,” Krainess said. “It was a good psychological boost to have a start like that.”
The Blue Devils were never out of first place through the three regular and six Baker System games, Despite a 153 in their opening Baker game, Tallmadge also recorded a tourney-high 1,160 in that round.
“Our goal was to get to the pocket, leave those manageable conversions and get them,” Krainess said. “They did that today even after a rough first Baker game. We missed a couple of spares and had a couple of splits that game, but after that they executed the way they needed to.”
Behind individual runner-up Alex Russell’s 645 series, Ellett managed to stay in the top three all day, including a 238 in its fifth Baker game following a 147.
“The guys stayed real positive, made more spares than usual, worked hard and focused on the oil pattern. They played the lanes the way they were supposed to,” Ellet coach Doug Sander said. “They came together real well this season.”
Sander felt averaging 180 in Bakers would qualify the Orangemen for district, and Ellett finished with 1,074 during the block (a 179 average).
“A seven-bagger can fix a lot of things in bowling, especially after that 147,” Sander said.
Senior Cameron Bartek also added 579 for Ellet and sophomore Austin Dennis had 563.
Cuyahoga Falls coach Tim Wiant had back surgery Jan. 31 and was sidelined for a couple of weeks.
“There was no way I was going to miss this,” Wiant said, leaning on a cane. “I’m hurting, but I’ve got a day to recoup then we get back to it.”
After shooting just 849 in its final regular game to fall 10 pins out of the top four, Wiant made some changes to his lineup during the Baker games.
“We had a big talk about it and just changed our order around. The guys really focused in,” Wiant said. “But the spares … oh my gosh. We missed 50 spares overall on the day or we could have been well up there.
“But it’s been that way all year. We keep telling the guys how important they are, but you know how that goes. But they got it done when they had to.”
Senior Nicholas Austin led the Black Tigers with 586, and sophomore Rylee Roxbury added 568.
Also falling out of the top four at one time was Copley, which was fifth after the second regular game and had just a 10-pin hold on fourth heading into Bakers ahead of Cuyahoga Falls.
“We told them they really have to push through, focus and make good shots. Luckily, I had a couple of guys who were really on, had a good look and got some strikes,” Copley coach Caleb Shovestull said. “Spares were a problem all day, but we able to get enough to stay in fourth.”
Junior Eric Luster led the Indians with a 587 series and sophomore Jae’Anthony Wharton added 569.
INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS
Hoban, which fell out of the top four during the Baker round after shooting just 903, had senior Nicholas Fortunato qualify as an individual with a 571 series. Other individual qualifiers included Highland senior Kyle Dunne (595), who finished fourth overall; Medina senior Chase Gordon (575); and Walsh Jesuit senior Jacob Kim (565), who finished four pins ahead of Hoban’s Gavin Fabish for the final spot.
As for next week, it’s easy to tell what the coaches will be working on with their respective teams.
“We will just stick to the game plan. We’re going back to our home house, which helps, but we know this district is going to be tough,” Krainess said. “We have to do our best so it it’s good enough, it’s good enough.
“Three of our seniors (Warren, Bender and Kaiden Cantiberos) were at state as freshmen and they are motivated to get back. But it’s going to take everyone hitting really well to get out, especially with spare shooting. The key is staying strong mentally, not giving in and taking it one shot at a time. They did that today.”
Sander, Wiant and Shovestull agree spare shooting will be key.
“Spares and staying on balance … the same thing we have been preaching all year,” Sander said.
Shovestull also wants to add new equipment to his team’s arsenal.
“With how much oil is out there, the need something with a little more torque and surface. We were missing that today,” Shovestull said. “We also have to learn to throw straighter at spares on this. We missed too many single-pin spares.
“I can understand missing a bucket or chopping a 6-10, but you can’t miss single-pin spares in the tournament. About 30 percent of our misses were single pins.”
The Summit County girls sectional is set for 9 a.m. Monday also at Spins Bowl Akron, with the Stark County boys and girls Division I sectionals set for 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at Eastbury Bowling Center in Canton.
NOTEBOOK: The tournament had 14 full teams, with Akron North bowling two individuals and Akron East having four individuals in the field. … Ellet’s 238 was the high Baker game with only 12 200 games being shot — just four by a teams out of the top four (Medina and Buckeye). … Ellet was the lone team to shoot two 900 games during the opening three-game session. … There were only three 600 series shot by individuals. … The field average for the opening three game session was below 800 for each game and the highest in Game 6 of Bakers at 168.20. … As with all OHSAA bowling events, ticketing is all electronic with prices of $8 for adults and $6 students. Tickets may be purchased at www.ohsaa.org. No cash will be accepted at the door.