By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Jordan Norris’ partner plans were on hold last week, pending the results of “The Game” last Saturday.
But Ohio State’s loss was Norris’ gain.
Norris, whose regular partner (Chase Barstow) was involved in coaching Louisville High School during a tournament, teamed up with Justin McIlvain to claim honors during the College Bowl Tournaments series doubles at Eastbury Bowling Center on Saturday.
The pair stopped top-seeded Brett McCourry and Rob Sample 408-370 in the title match on Lanes 11 and 12, which proved to be problematic for both teams.
“They just got really tight down lane and I couldn’t get the ball to finish,” said Norris, a 23-year-old Plain Township two-handed right-hander who asked McIlvain to team up two weeks ago when he learned his former Walsh University teammate Barstow was unavailable.
“I kept leaving variations of buckets for right-handers … I just couldn’t get the ball to drive.”
McIlvain had tentatively agreed to join Norris pending the outcome of the Ohio State-Michigan game.
“I had to wait on the Buckeyes to lose,” said McIlvain, a 32-year-old Alliance right-hander. “I was supposed to be at the Big Ten Championship Game today (in Indianapolis), but Ohio State ruined those plans.”
Norris shot 1,011 (252.75 average) while McIlvain came in with 990 to top the field during qualifying.
SEMIFINALS
The top-seeded Sample and McCourry led the field with 2,008 total pinfall, with McCourry finishing with 1,022 (255.4 average). Sample added 986 — including a 185 in Game 2.
“As we moved up from the low end, the lanes seemed to get tighter and tighter and, as we made the turn, they got tigher again,” said McCourry, a 32-year-old Canton right-hander.
The pair faced No. 4 seed Eric Bator, a right-hander, and lefty John Price in the semifinals, emerging with a 433-426 win as McCourry threw the final four strikes for 207 to go with Sample’’s 226 after getting the final five strikes in a row.
Bator left a 3-4-6-7 split after running off four strikes and Price left a split in the ninth that spoiled their run.
In the other semifinal, late strikes also made the difference as Norris and McIlvain topped No, 3 seeded Ryan Trowbridge and John Randolph 475-448.
McIlvain ran off the final five strikes while Norris had the final four, with the former finishing with 236 and the latter 239. Both Trowbridge and Randolph left solid 10-pin spares on their first shots in the 10th frame with strikes up in the ninth.
“We were down a few pins, but we got a few fortunate breaks with them ringing corner pins,” McIlvain said. “We struck when we needed to.”
TITLE MATCH
Except for McIlvain, strikes were hard to come by on the title pair.
“Our last two pairs were both tight down lane,” said Sample, a 53-year-old Green right-hander. “If you got it out early, it jumped. And if you got it in, you had to be perfect with our faster ball speeds.
“Justin had a better look with his little slower ball speed and swinging it. Jordan also struggled a little bit when he hit that oil pattern and left some buckets.
“He cheated,” McCourry, a 32-year-old Canton right-hander, said, laughing.
Indeed, McIlvan started with four strikes to give the pair an early lead as Norris also contributed a double as they stayed clean through five frames.
Meanwhile, Sample and McCourry combined for just two strikes through six frames, with the latter having a 3-4-6-7 split in the second and the former a pocket 7-10 in the fifth.
“Every event we’ve bowled in we’ve moved up,” Sample said. “We’ve been third and fourth and now we moved up to second.
“I’m not even bowling league this season so this is like my Saturday practice session, but I’m making the cut every week.”
Both Sample and McCourry were able to put doubles together late, with the latter adding a strike on his first ball in the 10th frame. But both also had open frames in the sixth to seal their fate.
Norris had back-to-back opens in the seventh and eighth, missing a 2-4-5-8 bucket spare and chopping a 2-5. McIlvain also had a pair of opens, missing 3-6 and 2-4-8 spares in the sixth and eighth. But he also ran off the final four strikes for 224 to go with his partner’s 184.
McCourry finished with 191 and Sample had 179.
“I did have a good look, but I didn’t have a good miss window,” McIlvain said. “Outside of 10 (board) it wanted to jump, but inside 10, it wanted to skate down the lane.
“Luckily, I was able to execute shots when I needed to. I feel like I always catch myself getting fast with my feet and with the ball. I keep telling myself to slow down and execute the shot. It seemed to work.”
It was a successful day for the first-time pairing.
While McIlvain could not remember his last tourney win — “I don’t bowl many of these … with kids and everything it’s tough to get away on Saturdays,” he added — Norris was glad to get another win in the College Bowl series.
“It feels good. I’ve been struggling this year a bit … we both have,” said Norris, adding he is down eight pins in average. “It was great to finally get something together.”
NOTEBOOK: The tournament drew 22 teams and was bowled on Eastbury’s house oil pattern. … Matt Coffelt turned in the tourney’s lone 300 game, with McIlvain and Norris turning in the top doubles team game of 535 in Game 4. … Price and Bator gained the final cut spot with 1,893, shooting 469 the final game to move up from sixth. Derrick and Chris Simon missed the cut by six pins after shooting 456 in Game 4. … The final cash spot in seventh went to Coffelt and Scott Vandegrift with 1,861, just seven pins ahead of Keith Zeigler and Josh Haddad (1,854). … The next College Bowl Tournaments series event is a singles at 10 a.m. Jan. 18 at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes. Entry fee is $65, with bowlers rolling four qualifying games. Bowlers must bowl in at least four series events to qualifying for the May 10 year-end singles event at Park Centre Lanes. … Our thanks again to Jeff DiMarzio and Dawn Altimore-Eckenrode for their assistance with this report.
COLLEGE BOWL TOURNAMENTS DOUBLES
(Saturday, at Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
Semifinal round
(Losing teams each receive $240)
No. 2 Jordan Norris (239)-Justin McIlvain (239) d. No. 3 Ryan Trowbridge (225)-John Randolph (223) 475-448
No. 1 Brett McCourry (207)-Rob Sample (226) d. Eric Bator (231)-John Price (195) 433-426
Championship
(Winning team receives $750; losing team receives $500)
Norris 184-McIlvain (224) d. Sample (179)-McCourry 191 408-370
Other cashers
(With four-game pinfall; each team receives $120)
5, Chris Simon-Derrick Simon 1,887; 6, Jesse Hodge-Bob Eckenrode 1,867; 7, Matt Coffelt-Scott Vandegrift 1,861
