CANTON — “Grit” was the term Wooster head coach Tracie Leiendecker used to describe her Generals’ performance during Saturday’s Northeast District Stark Division I Sectional boys tournament.
And, as she and boys coach Suzanne Donley emphasized following the event, it was needed after the General found themselves in the middle of the 17-team field after an 834 in Game 1 at Eastbury Bowling Center.
“We saw grit that we had never seen from this team,” Leiendecker said after her young Generals finished as runner-up to sectional champion GlenOak in the race to district.
“Many times you see teams not perform after a bad first game. But they just decided as a team that’s not what we’re going to do. The team chemistry is there.”
GlenOak, which never fell below second during the three regular games, took the lead during the first two of the six-game Baker System round and never relinquished it. The Golden Eagles finished with 3,979 total pinfall, including a tourney-high 1,210 Baker round, to top the field by 67 pins.
Wooster, which completed its climb up the leaderboard to lead after the opening regular games, finished second with 3,912, followed by early leader Perry (3,910) and North Canton Hoover (3,724), which finished 108 pins ahead of fifth-place New Philadelphia (3,616) and 109 ahead of sixth-place Louisville (3,615).
The top four teams and top four individuals who were not members of the advancing teams qualified for the Northeast District tournament, set for 10 a.m. Feb. 26 at Stonehedge Family Fun Center in Akron.
GLENOAK STAYS POSITIVE
A positive attitude combined with an understanding of the oil pattern brought GlenOak through the field to the sectional title. The Golden Eagles didn’t have a game under 186 during the Baker round to push ahead.
“They were in good spirits, we had really good practices this week and they were very positive coming into today,” GlenOak first-year head coach Jossett Petrick said. “Each one of them had an idea of how they were going to play the lanes coming in.
“Then, it was just a matter of making some minor adjustments along the way and staying consistent. We practiced on the pattern a few times, but it never played the same and we told them not to use that as gospel, because it was going to play different at Eastbury.
“I’m just glad they didn’t think the balls they used then was what to use here.”
Petrick, who has been battling a neck injury, said the positive attitude was key. Sophomore Dylan Petrick, Jossett’s son, led the Golden Eagles with a 633 series and senior Nathan Davis had 602.
“These guys are really good about raising each other up,” Jossett Patrick added.
GENERALS ADVANCE
Wooster will be making just its fourth district appearance in 14 seasons. They still are looking for their first state appearance. They reached district a year ago by just three pins out of this sectional.
Both Leiendecker and Donley said the leadership of senior Dawson Gaynor, who finished as district runner-up with a 658 series, was key for the Generals. Freshman Gavin Ennis also shot 623, good for fifth overall, and sophomore Sam Fleming had 570.
“Dawson remained calm. He has been working inside and outside and working hard. The results were definitely there today,” Leiendecker said.
What did Donley say to her team after the Game 1 struggles?
“We were in the middle of the pack, but we could build upon that,” Donley said. “They did that. They stepped up, got in their comfort zone and performed. There just seemed to be less nerves after that.”
Neither Leiendecker nor Donley wanted the Generals to know where they stood. In fact, the players thought they were battling for the fourth spot and were disappointed after closing with 165 and 199 in their last two Baker games.
“We wanted to keep it a secret. The last two Bakers, they felt like they lost it,” Leiendecker said. “What they didn’t know is they were fighting for first. This is a young team so if they had known, they might have bowled scared or tried too hard.
“We thought it best to just let them perform and the outcome would take care of itself.”
Neither Perry nor Hoover fell out of the top four all day, although the Vikings struggled during the Baker round with just one 200 and three game under 160.
Sophomore Cole Hapstak led Hoover with a 591 series, and senior Austin Crowe added a 575 along with junior Jack Wells’ 560.
But the Panthers’ day began with the strong performance of senior right-hander Kaleb Corrin, who finished with a 727 series despite finishing with a 202.
CORRIN LEADS INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
“He threw it up five (board) basically the whole day. He had miss room, but really didn’t miss the first three games,” said Perry boys coach Alex Lincoln, who has guided the Panthers to district appearances in his six seasons as head coach.
“He buried the first 24 in a row, and the last game he had three strikes for a clean 202. We tried switching balls and he was throwing it fine, but he just couldn’t carry that last game. We went back to the other ball for Bakers and he got back on it.”
Corrin, who used a Roto Grip Hustle Wine for his series, said it was not his primary ball this season.
“I’m just thankful to Perry bowling and AMF (Hall of Fame Lanes) for putting out the shot for us to bowl on. Today played very similar for me to what it was there,” Corrin said. “It just seemed to be the ball that worked best for me out of my stuff.
“It was frustrating a little bit the last game, but I stayed clean and I’m OK with that.”
Senior Richard Close (543) and junior Nick Harmon (528) backed up Corrin
Canton McKinley sophomore Jonathan Waggoner, who finished third overall, was the top individual qualifier with 640, good for third overall. He will be joined by Louisville junior Michael Emerick Jr. (596), who shot 214 his final game; Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary junior Jasper Liggins (595); and New Philadelphia senior Josh Henke (590), who shot 254 his final game. Henke finished just two pins ahead of Louisville freshman Trevor Glaser for the final spot.
The coaches agreed that spare shooting now becomes a priority as the players move into the next phase.
“We just have to work on consistency. If you’re not consistent with your mechanics, it doesn’t matter how many spares you shoot in practice,” Lincoln said. “We have to be hitting the pocket, staying around the pocket and cleaning up our spares.
“We had no clean Bakers today and missed a lot of makables early. We just can’t get too worked up.”
Leiendecker said when someone missed a spare for the Generals it was contagious just as strikes were later when Wooster made its run.
“When they started to strike, they brought the spares with them,” Leiendecker said. “But spare shooting was our downfall today and it seemed to spread when someone missed.”
Petrick said spares will be the key to making the next move toward state.
“Spares are going to be what wins for you,” Petrick said, “and just having a little more trust in themselves.”
The girls are up next with the Division I Stark Sectional at 10 a.m. Sunday also at Eastbury.
NOTEBOOK: The Stark sectional field was increased to 17 teams this season, with the addition of New Philadelphia, Dover and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. The East District has no Division I tournament, prompting the moves of the Quakers and Tornadoes north. … Behind Corrin, there were only five 600 series rolled individually. Corrin had the tourney’s two high games of 268 and 257 his first two games. … Wooster had the two high regular games of 980 and 979 in Games 2 and 3 to take the lead by 24 pins heading into the Baker System round. The Generals also had the high Baker game of 228. … The field did average over 1,000 (1001.82) for the Baker System round, and a high of 853.29 in Game 3 of the regular games. … Ticketing for Sunday’s girls Division I sectional, and Monday’s Summit County Division I sectional, are both available by Internet only. Fans must go to www.OHSAA.org to purchase tickets, going to bowling and then the Northeast District to find the proper event. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students.
OTHER DIVISION I
LAKE COUNTY BOYS: Cleveland St. Ignatius will lead four teams into next week’s Division I district after claiming the sectional title Saturday at Wickliffe Lanes. The Wildcats finished with 3,982. Other district qualifiers included Willoughby South (3,840), Mentor (3,817) and Euclid (3,547), which finished 172 pins ahead of Eastlake North for the final spot in the 12-team field.
The Wildcats led after the three opening regular games with 2,872, 73 pins ahead of Mentor. Euclid freshman Michael Kalinowski and senior Kyle Kalinowski led individuals with 741 and 693, respectively. Freshman Mason Melgaard led St. Ignatius with 649 and sophomore Grady Wilson added 605. Individual qualifiers included Mayfield senior Deshawn Patton (583), Bedford sophomore Danny Bridgeforth (572), Eastlake North junior Ethan Hutson (570) and Lakeside junior Noell Enos (563).