By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Claymont High School boys bowling coach Bill Young admits it had been a rough three years for his senior class.
“It’s been three years of getting beat up on,” said Young, whose Mustangs moved from the Stark County High School Bowling Conference to the Inter-Valley Conference last season. “I think we won like 14 matches those first three years.”
But things have turned around for the Mustangs and their 2025 graduating class of four seniors.
After falling out of the top six following three regular games Saturday, the Mustangs put together Baker System games of 205, 216 and 235 to start that round and finished with 213 the final game to earn their way into the cut as the No. 5 seed.
From there, the Mustangs won a pair of matches to reach the finals and then captured the boys division of the Eastbury Varsity Invitational Sectional Warmup with a 2-0 win over No. 2 seed Berea-Midpark at Eastbury Bowling Center.
“It’s been a long four years with these kids starting out as freshmen. But they are just now beginning to hit their stride as seniors,” said Young, whose six-man team has two juniors joining his four seniors. “We’ve won more matches this year than we did the previous three years combined.”
Winning has not been a problem for the top-seeded Fairport Harbor Harding girls, who continued their tournament run (they do not bowl league play) by stopping No. 2 seed Green 2-0 in that division’s finals. That gives the Skippers seven wins in nine events, with a pair of runner-up finishes — both to defending Division I state champion Boardman.
The tournament featured three regular games and six Baker System games during qualifying, with the top six teams in each division advancing to best-of-three Baker match play by seed. The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds received first-round byes while bowling on the 2025 OHSAA sectional-district oil pattern.
MUSTANGS EARN WIN
Claymont’s boys shot just 838 during its final regular game to finish with 2,650 total pinfall, dropping the Mustangs 83 pins out of the cut.
Then came the Baker surge, with Claymont shooting 1,221 over six games (203.5 average) — including a 157 in Game 5 — to lead that round.
“Persistence was the key for us today. We didn’t worry about scores,” Young said. “If we got behind, they just said, ‘let’s step it up and do what we need to do.’ And they did that.
“They started rolling together as a team. Whenever we put someone in, they rooted for each other. And when we took someone out, they didn’t pout. They just blended together … that’s what you get with four years of being together.”
The Mustangs won their opening match 2-1 over No. 4 Rootstown, taking Game 3 200-191. They then faced top-seeded Champion in the second round, taking Game 1 203-188.
But in Game 2, senior Riley Milburn needed to strike all three times in the 10th fame to produce a win. After his first two strikes, there was a lane breakdown delay before he threw his final shot. It came in high, but carried the 10-pin on a wall kick to give Claymont a 184-183 win to advance.
“That 10th frame was just crazy. But Reilly has been doing that for us all year … coming through for us in the 10th frame,” Young said. “He is just a machine. But they all did their part today.”
The run continued in the title match as Claymont took Game 1 190-175 and then rolled 220-170 for the sweep in two games over Berea-Midpark.
Young also felt moving the boys from their side to the girls side for match play was an advantage for his team.
“They seemed to be a little better for our boys the way they play. That helped us to win this thing,” Young said. “We told them just to relax and bowl and pick up spares. Just don’t get too down on yourselves.
“You know what you can do so just do it.”
The Titans shot just 890 out of the gate in qualifying to sit eighth after Game 1. But with 936 and 999 their last two games plus 1,142 in Bakers, Berea-Midpark moved up to the No. 2 seed to earn the first-round bye.
“They did really well. There were some challenges out there, particularly in the first game when the oil pushed down a lot,” Berea-Midpark coach JT Jackson, a former Titans player, said. “But they really stuck through it, especially the third game when we ran into some trouble but came back for that 999.”
The Titans outshot Fairport Harbor 234-190 in Game 3 of the semifinal match to earn a 2-1 win.
But the Titans ran into problems in the title match, with an open frame in the 10th frame of Game 1 and Claymont’s run in Game 2.
“The lanes started hooking on us and we kept having to move left. We kind of hit a wall,” Jackson said. “If we got the ball out, it would hook too much. And if we got it in, it would skate in the oil and we’d leave something weak.
“That’s why we didn’t cover our spares. But they handled it well and made most of their spares. We just got outshot by the other team.”
Luke Nedoma led the Titans in qualifying with a 611 series and Jayden Miller added 593.
Claymont was led by Tyson Shetler with 577 and Milburn’s 576.
SKIPPERS ROLL ON
The only real drama in the girls division came in the semifinals, when Fairport Harbor took on No. 5 Rootstown. After the Skippers won Game 1 172-166, the two teams tied in Game 2 at 160, forcing a ninth and 10th frame rolloff.
Rootstown had a double and then left a 9-10 split in the 11th frame, getting one pin.
Rolling for Fairport Harbor, two-handed righty Mackenzie Pilny left a 6-7-9-10 split on her first ball. She covered the spare. Teammate left-hander Jillian Justinger then threw a double in the 10th and added seven pins for a 47-46 win to advance.
“This pattern suits a lot of our team because they like to go straighter between the first and second arrow,” Fairport Harbor coach Dean Vargo said. “They like to play that zone downlane between five and 10 (board), which is perfect on this.
“But the big thing is we had some bounce to the right. When we started getting the ball out, things started going our way.”
The Skippers shot just 803 in Game 1 to sit third behind Rootstown and Green. But they came alive with back-to-back 1,039 and 1,028 games to pull away, taking the No. 1 seed with 4,044 — 442 pins ahead of No. 2 Green.
“This place can be a little awkward. It’s tough to get a reaction at the mid-lane, which I learned from coaching and bowling here,” Vargo said. “The Ohio Masters was really tight here. The key was to keep the ball speed soft and just roll the ball.
“The shots where we kept it nice and soft, not necessarily slow, worked. We just couldn’t try to throw the ball through the back wall.”
Both teams in the title match had first-round byes, with the Bulldogs also advancing with a 2-1 win over No. 3 seed Struthers, winning Game 3 191-175.
“I think it was a solid day for the girls. It was our first time on this sectional pattern at the sectional house. I’m proud of the way the girls responded to it,” Green coach Alex Snowberger said. “We had practiced on it, but we hadn’t seen it play anything like this.
“For this shot specifically, we need to work on playing up the lane more and getting right. We like to play more around 15-to-20 (board), but we quickly realized in the first game that we had to be around five to 10. That’s something we’re going to be working on.”
The Skippers won Game 1 181-151 as the Bulldogs suffered three open frames among their first seven. In Game 2, Fairport Harbor — with Pilny and Justinger throwing four straight strikes to finish — rolled to a 226-158 win and the sweep.
“That pair just got tighter on us, and the girls started panicking a little. We just didn’t make any spares,” Snowberger said. “If we make spares, we’re still in it and close. But when it got tighter, we started making some bad spare shots.”
Senior Madison Perrine led the Bulldogs, finishing third overall individually with 584. Payton Taylor and Alyssa Gehring added 564 and 542, respectively, to finish among the top six.
Justinger (675) and Pilny (651) went 1-2 among individuals, with Sophia McLaughlin also adding 525.
“Obviously, (Justinger and Pilny) are two of the more versatile players around. Jillian likes to up the outside and it suits her game well,” Vargo said. “Mackenzie is really learning how to use her equipment to her advantage. She’s learning you don’t have to see that giant hook on the back end. Just straighten up and go smoother.”
While Fairport continued tournament play Sunday in Parma, Claymont’s boys next face the IVC tournament Friday and then it’s on to Division II sectional play at their home house — Boulevard Lanes in New Philadelphia.
“We had a nice comeback the last game earlier this week against East Canton here and then this,” Young said. “It’s our home house so let’s see what happens next.”
NOTEBOOK: The event drew 17 boys and girls teams, with East Canton being the host school. … In the boys division, it came down to the final Baker game in qualifying to determine the cut, with Canton McKinley gaining the sixth spot with 3,843 after shooting 178. Ravenna finished nine pins behind (3,834) after shooting just 151 its final Baker game. Minerva also missed the cut by 23 pins (3,820). … McKinley senior Jonathan Waggoner led the field with a 712 series, followed by Fairport Harbor’s Eddie Krofcheck (658), with a high division game of 279, and Champion’s Mario Humenik (638). … Champion led qualifying with 4,072, finishing 105 pins ahead of Berea-Midpark. … In the girls division, Pilny tied Krofcheck for high-game honors with 279. The top three series in each division were awarded all-tourney team honors. … Other high girls game honors went to Justinger (256) and Minerva’s Bailey Wood (246). … Waggoner and Akron Hoban’s Vinny Muran tied for second-high boys game at 255, with Waggoner gaining the silver medal due to the higher series. … Eastbury will be the site of the Stark Division I sectional tournament Feb. 15-16. … Our thanks to tournament director Craig Linerode and Jodi Thomas for their assistance with this report.
EASTBURY VARSITY INVITATIONAL SECTIONAL WARMUP
(Saturday, at Eastbury Bowling Center, Canton)
BOYS DIVISION
Quarterfinals
5 Claymont (190-153-200) d. 4 Rootstown (182-212-1910 2-1
3 Fairport Harbor Harding (249-141-206) d. 6 Canton McKinley (234-168-202) 2-1
Semifinals
Claymont (203-184) d. 1 Champion (188-183) 2-0
2 Berea-Midpark (202-146-234) d. 3 Fairport Harbor Harding (184-186-190) 2-1
Championship
Claymont (190-220) d. Berea-Midpark (175-170) 2-0
GIRLS DIVISION
Quarterfinals
3 Struthers (207-166) d. 6 Tallmadge (188-141) 2-0
5 Rootstown (157-158-161) d. 4 Minerva (159-150-135) 2-1
Semifinals
1 Fairport Harbor Harding (172-160) d. Rootstown (166-160) 2-0 (Fairport won Game 2 tiebreaker 47-46)
2 Green (192-172-191) d. Struthers (113-180-175) 2-1
Championship
Fairport Harbor Harding (181-226) d. Green (151-158) 2-0