COLUMBUS — Carrollton, making its sixth straight state appearance, had a goal of making the top eight.
The Warriors did a lot better than that.
Finishing as the No. 2 seed and never dropping below third all day, the Warriors turned in the program’s best-ever state finish Friday during the OHSAA Division II Girls Bowling Championships at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
“We took a couple more than just one step. These girls just had a phenomenal day,” Carrollton coach Wendy Russell said. “They shot 953 the first game and you can’t ask for any better than that.”
Carrollton shared the lead with St. Mary’s Memorial after Game 1, fell to third after Game 2 and bounced back to second after Game 3 of the regular-game portion of the event before shooting 541 during the three Baker games to earn the No. 2 seed with 3,235 total pinfall, 95 pins behind leader Triway.
All five Carrollton starters shot at least 500, led by senior Madi Bittaker’s 568 series. Other Warriors included junior Zoey Elliott 562, senior Joline Greaves 560, senior Aubrey Taylor 503 and junior Abby Natcher 501.
“That’s the first time in school history that we’re ever qualified that high. Ending up third, that’s phenomenal,” Russell said. “We’ve made the top eight the last couple of years, but to finish third … I can’t be any more proud of these girls.”
The Warriors had to go to five games in their opening best-of-five Baker System match against No, 7 seed St. Paris Graham, winning Games 5 212-162, 1 (183-163) and 4 (190-158) after dropping Games 2 (243-147) and 3 (152-148).
“That first round went a little longer than we would have liked. It kind of took us out of our comfort zone,” Russell said. “But that’s OK.”
The Round 2 semifinal was against a Stark County High School Bowling Conference rival — Conotton Valley — which had won the East District title over Carrollton at Coshocton.
“We were hoping to stay away from Conotton and meet them in the finals. Unfortunately, we caught them before that,” Russell said. “It was kind of like our regular-season match … we open, they open, you take it, we’ll take it.
“But that’s a great group of kids and coaches with a lot of talent.”
The Rockets took the first two games 192-157 and 163-161 before Carrollton came back with a 213-146 in in Game 3. Conotton Valley, which won the state title with a 3-2 over Sandusky Perkins, won Game 4 176-172 to take the match, running off three strikes early.
“The second game was a little rough … we missed some spares there,” Russell said, “But, overall, there’s nothing I would change. A few more spares maybe.”
The Warriors graduate three seniors from a team that also opened district play with a 945.
“We were able to string some strikes along in that early match, but then we got a little sloppy and had to clean some things up,” Russell said.
“But they were into it all day, and we knew that. They fought hard and left it all out there.”
NOTEBOOK
INDIVIDUAL WINNER: Napoleon freshman Arianna Kiessling claimed the individual state title with games of 238, 231 and 205 for a 674 series. She finished 11 pins ahead of Triway’s Addy Meshew as only five girls shot 600 series.
OTHER AREA TEAMS: Fairport Harbor Harding (12th, 2,807 total pinfall), LaBrae (13th, 2,753) and Struthers (15th, 2,682) failed to make the cut to match play in the 16-team field.
OTHER AREA INDIVIDUALS: Among other individuals from the Northeast District, Fairport Harbor Harding sophomore Jillian Justinger also was All-Ohio honorable mention with a 576 series. … Other area individual participants included Coventry senior Amanda Morton, who was 24th with 553; East Liverpool sophomore Addison Rudibaugh (35th, 534); and Rootstown junior Payton Curall (55th, 479)
ROBINSON NAMED ONU COACH: Former Jackson High School coach Jeff Robinson has been named the first coach for the new men’s and women’s bowling program at Ohio Northern University. Robinson, who was working the Division II championships as a volunteer, was named as Ohio Bowling Conference coach of the year while coaching Ohio State University’s women’s club team in 2023. He also coached for three season at Notre Dame College and at Marian (Ind.) University. He also is a member of the RKH Coaching Group, giving lessons at the Columbus Square Bowling Palace. A recent retiree, he resides in Westerville.
NOTEBOOK: Tickets for the Division II girls and boys sessions were limited to 700. All were sold out online. … A water leak in the roof caused by heavy rains in Columbus forced the move of teams from Lanes 7-8 during Game 3 to Lanes 3-4 for the rest of the event. … One bowler did convert a 7-10 split during Game 1. Her identity was unknown. …. The top 15 players were named to the All-Ohio team, with the cutoff being 574. … Triway junior Addy Meshew had the high tournament game with 259 in Game 1. … No team hit 1,000 during qualifying. Mechanicsburg, which topped Indian Lake in its opening match 3-2 before falling to Sandusky Perkins also in five games, had the high qualifying game of 978 in Game 3. The field average for the three-game set was 821.54 per game. … Versailles, which didn’t make the cut, had the high Baker game of 235 in Game 1 and the high Baker series of 601. Only one other 200 Baker game was thrown by Indian Lake. … The Division II boys take to the lanes at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with Triway, Carrollton and Conotton Valley in the 16-team field.