COLUMBUS — Kaylie Gibson had a simple game plan coming into Friday’s OHSAA Division I Girls Bowling Championships.
“Just don’t cry … don’t break down again,” the Dover senior said.
Instead, Gibson kept her mind occupied by doodling, drawing “really crude animals” in her drawing book while waiting to compete as an individual at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
“I can’t draw them to save my life,” said Gibson, who will be attending Cumberland (Tenn.) University in the fall, “so they really look strange.”
One thing that wasn’t strange was the right-hander’s bowling.
Gibson, who finished 63rd in her first tournament appearance two years ago with a 471 series, shot 648 to finish third overall and earn All-Ohio first-team honors after games of 201, 258 and 189.
She finished just 13 pins behind state individual champion and Kettering Fairmont sophomore Danica Roseberry, who shot 661 with a high game of 251, just one pin ahead of runner-up Aiyana Godwin, a Troy junior. Godwin shot 265 in Game 2 en route to 660.
“It was a lot better than my first time here,” Gibson said, admitting she was very emotional in 2021. “That didn’t go so well.”
Her series included a 258 in Game 2 when she failed to strike only twice.
“She performed up to what she has the ability to do,” Dover coach Steve Scherer said. “She kept her head in the game, took her time and went shot by shot. That’s exactly what we’ve been coaching all year and it showed.”
Gibson said nerves may have played a factor in her open in the first frame of Game 1.
“On that first pair (lanes 37-38), I just couldn’t get the ball outside or it would go left,” said Gibson, who switched from her Storm Phaze II to her Storm Absolute. “On the second pair (lanes 41-42), if you hit your mark, it seemed to be scoring better.
“I had to make a ball change. The first ball was sliding and not making a move on the back end. It changed again the third game and it was breaking down much faster than the other pair.”
Scherer had his bowler make a three-board move with her feet.
“It was only a little adjustment for her, not huge,” said Scherer of Gibson, who becomes the third Dover girl to make a state appearance along with one individual boy.
HOBAN SENDS PAIR TO STATE
Akron Hoban seniors Carly Jones and Kaitlyn Struckel became the first Knights to appear in the state girls tournament the OHSAA era (2007 on).
“They were very relaxed last night and had a good trip down,” Hoban coach James Bowling said. “They were in the right space for today.”
Jones shot 610 and finished 13th overall to earn honorable-mention All-Ohio honors; Struckel had 499 and finished 51st.
“For Carly, the oil condition worked much to her game,” Bowling said on this senior, who had games of 191, 246 and 173. “Kaitlyn struggled. She really didn’t have much room for error out there.
“We pretty much saw early what we saw in practice. The only difference was we had more bowlers so the transition was different.”
But Bowling admitted that the pair will leave the program in better shape.
“This was a big moment for us and gives us a chance to grow,” Bowling said. “They have given us that opportunity to grow in prominence. They are recognized for what they do, and that is great for us and the people who love our sport and want it to grown.”
NOTEBOOK: Attendance during Friday’s Division I girls section was at 528 out of 606 sold. … There was only 88 pins separating the final team to make the cut and 14th place, the closest team race in tourney history, according to tournament manager Greg Coulles. Kettering Fairmont earned the final seed by just five pins over North Olmsted despite a 128 in the second Baker System game following a 216 opener. … Troy finished just 13 pins out, and Vandalia Butler was 22, followed by Wapakoneta at 25 back. … Jonathan Alder shot the high team game of 988 in Game 2. There were only seven 900 games shot during the three regular games, with two by teams outside the top eight (Troy 903, Boardman 902). … Boardman finished 13th overall with 2,937, 78 pins out of the cut. Sophomore Kaitlyn Greenaway had a 644 series to earn first-team All-Ohio honors after finishing sixth a year ago (second team) with 604. … Perry had the high Baker System three-game series of 557. … The Division I boys state tourney begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with 16 teams and individuals in the field.