By BILL SNIER
MACEDONIA — Medina Highland High School bowling coach Brian Scott Esterle expected solid scores out of the afternoon shift of Friday’s Suburban League Preseason Tournament.
“We expect good scores from (Cuyahoga) Falls and Wadsworth. But they’re going to be bowling on pairs that were oiled early this morning at the low end,” Esterle said. “And carry was sketchy on this end.”
The Grizzlies and Tigers adapted well.
But not well enough.
After Twinsburg topped the early shift of the event Friday at North Woods Lanes, Wadsworth and Cuyahoga Falls were able to take the top two spots in the boys division in the afternoon. But the Tigers’ tourney-high 1,033 Baker set (206.6 average) was the difference as they took the title with 4,033 total pinfall, just 41 pins ahead of second-place Wadsworth (3,982), which finished 38 pins ahead of Twinsburg during the three-game set, but lost by 79 in Bakers.
“This conference is extremely tough … I think it’s the toughest conference in the state,” said. longtime Twinsburg coach Anthony Byrd, who is beginning his 13th season. “With Tallmadge, Nordonia, Stow, Cuyahoga Falls, Highland … it’s just full of competition.
“What more could you ask for?”
The format for the preseason tourney was three regular games and five Baker System games, with total pinfalls determining final placement. The tourney, which was bowled on a house oil pattern, serves as 20 percent of the conference’s final standings for the season.
In the girls division, 2023 state Division I champion Nordonia, which also finished third in Columbus a year ago, rolled to victory with 3,479, followed by Wadsworth with 3,347.
WAITING IT OUT
Twinsburg topped the field after being the lone team to record a pair of 1,000 team games. The Tigers also posted the high Baker set with 1,033.
“It was a good start,, but we still have a ways to go and a lot to improve,” Byrd said of his team, which earned a sectional title a year ago. “We have a veteran team that returns four from a year ago and we’ve got some young guys ready to step in so we will run about nine deep.
“The guys competed throughout the tournament and they were hungry. But we had some young guys stepping in that still need to make adjustments sooner like ball choices and trusting their mechanics and where we’re placing the ball a little more.”
Lucas Tinter led the Tigers and the morning block with 653, fifth overall, including a session-high 268. Justin Sanford added 605.
Wadsworth head coach George Steele, who ran the tournament with Hudson coach John Brockway, knew where his Grizzlies stood after three regular games.
“I did think we had a chance, but the lanes got away from us from there and the boys didn’t stay up with the shots,” Steele said. “They started going through the nose and didn’t make quick enough adjustments toward the end.”
The Grizzlies needed 217 the final game to pass Twinsburg. They finished with 177.
“We covered our single-pin and multi-pin spares, but splits really cost us the last two games,” Steele added. “I liked that we are a young team with just one senior who came out here and competed against the whole Suburban League.
“I didn’t know at their ages how they would be, but I know they have talent. What I didn’t like was some of the quick indecisions we made … just stepping up and making a shot without thinking about it. That’s where the youth factor came into play.”
The Grizzlies alternate between lineups, sometimes going with three left-handers, sometimes with three right-handers. Sophomore Hayden Eagon-Mohlmaster led them with a 657 series, and Alex Espie added 615.
Cuyahoga Falls, which has four two-handed righties in the starting lineup and averaged just 194.2 during Bakers, took third with 3,904.
“After three games we sure did think we were in it,” Black Tigers first-year coach Dan Stuczynski said. “Honestly, we only had one bad game in Bakers. But we were just trying to play catch-up and it got to our head. We weren’t able to shoot the 220 average we needed.
“We just missed too many spares.”
Jonathan Rasch led Falls with 634, and Adam Walters contributed 616.
“Our two-handers make up a great team, and they all kind of play different lines so they are usually pretty good about adjusting,” Stuczynski said. “But today the lanes beat us, and I wish I could say why.
“I like the fact that my team never gave up, but I didn’t like that we missed too many single-pin spares.”
Esterle’s Hornets finished 234 pins behind Twinsburg in fourth place overall (3,789) after being second after the morning session But the coach saw promise.
“I liked how they played well together as a team today,” said Esterle, who has one girl bowling varsity with the boys (sophomore Gracie Dunne).
“A couple of our kids didn’t get in until the third game, but they were there supporting their teammates. I had planned a rotation among three players, but the one kids surprised me with 210 the first two games and I couldn’t take him out.”
Thomas Nook led the Hornets with 617, Dunne shot 573, which would have placed her fourth in the girls division.
KNIGHTS TOP FIELD
It’s difficult to find things wrong after your team earns a 132-pin victory.
But Nordonia girls coach Ty Lachowski said “there are some things we need to work on.”
“The main thing is our spare shooting. I know it’s early in the year, and I have a lot of young girls on this team,” said Lachowski, who has three girls remaining from the 2023 Division I state championship team that finished third overall in 2024.
The Knights also topped the field with 867 in Bakers (173.4 average).
Senior Kaitlyn McNutt, an All-Ohio performer last season, led the tourney and the Knights with 657 overall. She was followed by Natalie Barnes (575) and Grace Bzdafka (534).
“Great things are going to happen for her,” Lachowski said of McNutt. “She is very disciplined with her work ethic. Even when we don’t have practice, she goes out and practices. A lot of good things are going to happen with that.”
Lachowski was proud of how the Knights have jelled as a team.
“They picked each other up all day. I threw a freshman in there who had never bowled before and they helped calm her down,” Lachowski said. “Some of my regulars, I kind of sat them at times, but they understood where I was going with that. We have to be one giant team, helping each other.”
The Knights have three players back from their 2024 state team along with three newcomers.
“Our experience showed today,” Lachowski added. “They have bowled on the biggest stage in high school bowling so this was nothing to them.”
Nordonia posted 2,612 after the opening three games, holding a 598-pin lead over second-place Hudson during the morning shift.
Wadsworth shot 2,516 during its opening three games to go along with 831 in Bakers.
“I think they performed exactly like I thought they would,” Wadsworth coach Heidi Steele said. “I said shooting anything around 800 is where we should be, and that’s where we were today.”
Aubrey Masuda led the Grizzlies, finishing second overall with 625 to join McNutt as the only two girls to eclipse 600. Amelia Lutz also shot 565.
“I feel our spare shooting was not up to par or where it should be,” Steele said. “We have to get everyone on the same page as to where we need to be.”
Can Nordonia be beaten as the league enters the match-play part of its season?
“They are really, really good,” Steele said. “We like it though because that’s what we’re looking at … to try to get up there with them. That’s our goal.”
As for the boys, this is only the first 20 percent with 80 to go.
“If we finished in the top three with only two weeks of practice and this being worth 20 percent, we were in good shape,” George Steele said.
Now, it’s back to work.
“We will see how the pins fall. We have to do the best we can,” Byrd said. “If we’re making our spares, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
NOTEBOOK: The afternoon session, for the first four pairs, was on fresh oil put down when the whole center was oiled prior to shift one. But George Steele felt both shifts were comparable. “I thought the breakdown on the lanes mimicked what we saw in the opening set. We had high first games, low seconds and then they seemed to even out during the third,” Steele said. “And then they were around 1,000 in Bakers. It was kind of a consistent shot throughout, and I was happy with that.” The remainder of the house was re-oiled for the afternoon shift. … There were 13 girls teams and 14 boys teams since Highland doesn’t field a girls team. … Copley’s Mike Molnar had the day’s high series with 736, followed by Stow-Munroe Falls’ Ethan Healy with 663. Thirteen boys shot 600 or better. Tinter’s 268 was high game overall, with Masada posting the high girls game of 258. … The tourney did charge admission at $10 for adults and $5 for students. … Two shifts were used since the center has just 24 lanes. Boys and girls teams from the same school bowled the same shifts. Teams bowled all three regular games and Bakers on the same pair they started on.
CHANGES COMING TO SUBURBAN
The Suburban League will be undergoing changes as early as next season, which will affect bowling.
Kent Roosevelt, Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge are preparing to leave the league to join the Metro Athletic Conference. In addition, Coventry has left the MAC to join the Principals Athletic Conference.
Roosevelt, Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge are part of the Suburban’s American Division. The moves would leave 13 schools in the Suburban: Aurora, Barberton, Copley, Medina Highland, Revere, Brecksville, Hudson, Nordonia, North Royalton, Solon, Stow-Munroe Falls, Twinsburg and Wadsworth.
The proposed MAC would include 10 teams, with the three newcomers and Cloverleaf, Field, Norton, Ravenna, Springfield, Streetsboro and Woodridge.
Also among those expected to apply for membership into the Suburban are Medina and Brunswick, which are currently members of the Greater Cleveland Conference.
Coventry joins the PAC along with Fairless, Manchester, Northwest, Orrville, Triway and Tuslaw. The Comets and Titans are the only two teams with bowling programs. Triway is a member of the Stark County High School Bowling Conference.