CANFIELD — Zachary Abbott continues on his recovery path after suffering a dislocated patella tendon injury to his right knee while playing basketball.
But the Lake High School junior to be’s primary sport is bowling, and his continued rehab sessions are geared toward getting him back to 100 percent on the lanes.
“I’m close to being 100 percent again,” the two-handed right-hander said. “I’m still not able to do my full approach yet, but my half approach is working out pretty well.”
It worked well enough Sunday to give Abbott the boys title during the 15th annual Youngstown Youth Masters Tournament at Amron Lanes with a 215-192 win over Joshua (JT) Maslanich.
In the girls division, Boardman sophomore-to-be Kaitlyn Greenaway topped teammate and junior-to-be Marissa Funk 214-171 to claim the title.
Under the unique format, the entire 28-player field bowled 12 games in four-game sets on three different oil patterns over a two-day period. The final oil pattern — the 37-foot Kegel Broadway — also was used for the stepladder finals Sunday.
ABBOTT’S LONG WEEKEND
Abbott, the No. 3 seeded entering the stepladder finals, had to roll 15 games over the two-day period to claim the title.
“It’s sore. I had to do a lot of bowling this weekend … I haven’t done this much since I’ve been back,” said Abbott, who missed nearly two months due to the injury. “Mentally, it really didn’t affect me. When I got back at first, I was a little afraid about pushing it too hard. But now I’m pushing it more and more thanks to the physical therapy.”
In his opening match, Abbott stopped No. 5 seed Jonathan Roberts, another two-handed righty from Lorain, 194-162, overcoming a pair of splits with two doubles and six strikes. Roberts had three open frames, including one split, after opening with a double.
In the semifinals against friend and North Canton Hoover High School senior-to-be Connor Lab, another two-handed righty and the No. 2 seed, Abbott was limited to four strikes and had open frames in the eighth and 10th.
But Lab left three straight splits in the fifth through seventh frames along with missing an 8-pin spare in the second as Abbott advanced with a 170-136 win.
“The first game was pretty easy because I had some miss room. But in the middle of Game 2, the transition hit and I could not miss in or it started to hook on me,” Abbott said. “I had to start moving left so I switched to the (Storm) Tropical Surge.
“It was good for a couple of frames, but it wasn’t really getting to the pocket, so I had to switch back to the (Storm) Pitch Black.”
Next up for Abbott was Maslanich, a recent Lutheran West graduate who will be attending the University of Pikeville (Ky.) in the fall. He had led the boys division from Game 2 of Saturday’s opening round and finished with 2,654 total pinfall — 172 pins ahead of Lab.
“The left lane (Lane 20) was very inconsistent and you just couldn’t get balls to shape. The gutter really wasn’t in play for me like it was during qualifying. It was very tricky,” Abbott said. “The second game, I was really in between balls. So I switched back to the Pitch Black in the fourth frame (of the last game).
“I just tried to come up the back of it and throw it harder around 10 (board). It worked out well.”
Maslanich failed to convert a 2-4-5-8 split in the first frame. Then, he had a gutter ball on his first ball in the third following a strike in the second.
“The one gutter really got me early,” Maslanich, another two-handed righty, said. “Other than that, I was throwing good shots, but I just couldn’t carry them.
“I couldn’t string a double together and Zac could. That was the story of the game.”
Masnalich struck every time on the right lane, but after getting just seven pins following his gutter ball in the third, he left 10- and 4-pin spares on the left before finally striking in the ninth frame.
“For me, the lanes were playing around the same. I was standing in the same spot and doing the same thing.”
After the ball change, Abbott had a double in the fourth and fifth. But the key was striking four straight times through the ninth and 10th to claim the win while covering single-pin spares in the sixth and eighth frames.
“It was a great tournament with three different shots in two different houses that played differently. It was an awesome event,” said Maslanich, who was making his first tourney appearance.
BATTLING A TEAMMATE
Meanwhile in the girls division, Greenaway admitted the entire day was a battle.
“I was struggling all day. I didn’t even know if I would make the cut,” Greenaway said. “I got to the fourth game and said, ‘OK, I’m pretty good.’
“I just threw every ball I had the last game to figure something out. But in the head-to-head, I started off OK and had fresh oil so it was going to be better. That was really good for me.”
Advancing as the No. 4 seed, Greenaway first topped another Boardman teammate, Sofia Previte, 181-141 as the latter was unable to record her first mark until the sixth frame.
“She was another teammate and I was really excited to face her. It was fun,” Greenaway said.
In the semifinals, she faced No. 3 seed and two-handed righty Gracie Dunne of Hinckley.
Greenaway had one double late after failing to convert a 3-6-10 spare in the eighth. But Dunne had a pair of gutter balls off of spares after also having one in the first frame en route to a 168-159 loss.
But Greenaway found her stride in the semifinals against No. 2-seed Addison Rudibaugh, an East Liverpool right-hander. She had a double early and then had three strikes in a row from the sixth through eighth frames en route to a 182-158 win.
Rudibaugh failed to convert a 3-6-10 spare in the first frame and then left a 4-6-7-10 split in the ninth to seal her fate. She left five one-pin spares and had just two strikes overall.
Then came the final against top-seeded Funk, who has experienced nothing but bad luck in her last three appearances in the event, finishing second all three times. She had not taken over the No. 1 spot Sunday until the final game.
“I was really nervous. She’s a really good player. I knew I had to make my shots and she had to make hers,” Greenaway said.
Funk missed a 6-pin spare in the first frame and then failed to convert a 4-5 split in the fifth. She followed up with a double and an 8-pin spare, but failed to convert a 3-9 spare in the ninth.
“It’s very tough facing a teammate like that … someone you see every single day at the alley,” said Funk, who lost to Clare Coppola a year ago for the title.
“On Lane 15, there was a lot of over-under for me the whole time. I just could’t figure it out and it was very stubborn for me. That miss in the ninth frame absolutely hurt.
“I think I did very well overall. Usually, I struggle a lot on this pattern. I’ve bowled on it a lot and I’ve always hated it.”
Greenway called the day “a battle for sure.”
She had a double early in the title match and failed to convert a 5-9 spare in the fourth. But she stayed clean the rest of the way and put up strikes late for the win.
“I had to play a tight line,” Greenaway sad. “I saw that if I went outside, it would hold too long, and if I was a little inside, it was just going. I had a real tight area to hit.”
In the opening match on the boys side, Roberts had a 2-4-10 split in the second frame but stayed clean the rest of the way for a 191-177 win over Lorain left-hander Grant Taylor. Taylor failed to convert a 1-2-4 spare in the 10th following a strike in the ninth.
With the long weekend, Abbott admitted his confidence was about “50-50” going into the title match against Maslanich.
“My friends’ confidence was a lot lower than that,” Abbott said, “but I knew I could hang with him.
“I just wanted to go out there and bowl well.”
NOTEBOOK: There were 28 total players in the field, with just seven on the girls side. SMART scholarship payouts went to the top five on the boys side, with Abbott receiving $750 for the win. Only the top two girls finishers — Greenaway and Funk — received scholarship money, with Greenaway getting $750 and Funk $310. … The lanes were re-oiled for the stepladder finals. … The tourney began with the 40-foot Kegel Sunset Strip oil pattern at Amron on Saturday. The bowlers then bowled their second four games on the 45-foot Kegel Route 66 pattern at Boardman Lanes. Amron has synthetic lanes; Boardman has wood lanes. … Maslanich topped the field with 857 for his first four games, 53 pins ahead of Lab. He finished six pins ahead of Taylor to top the second shift with 907 and then finished with a shift-high 890 in the third block. … Among the girls, Dunne led after the first shift with 780 and also topped the second shift with 717, six pins ahead of Funk. Funk topped the third shift by 41 pins over Rudibaugh. … Rudibaugh recorded the high girls game of 221 on Day 2 while Maslanich had 277 at Boardman and 268 on Sunday at Amron. Lab also had 265 on Sunday at Amron. .. The boys and girls were mixed together on the same pairs during qualifying.
YOUNGSTOWN YOUTH MASTERS
(At Amron Lanes, Canfield)
BOYS
Match 1: Jonathan Roberts d. Grant Taylor 191-177; Taylor wins $100 scholarship.
Match 2: Zachary Abbott d. Roberts 194-162; Roberts wins $200 scholarship
Match 3: Abbott d. Connor Lab, 170-136. Lab receives $300 scholarship
Championship: Abbott d. Joshua (JT) Maslanich 215-192; Abbott receives $750 scholarship; Maslanich receives $325 scholarship.
GIRLS
Match 1: Kaitlyn Greenaway d. Sofia Previte 181-144
Match 2: Greenaway d. Gracie Dunn 168-159
Match 3: Greenaway d. Addison Rudibaugh 182-158
Championship: Greenaway d. Marissa Funk 214-171; Greenaway receives $750 scholarship; Funk receives $310 scholarship
