By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Green High School boys bowling coach Phil Krumlauf says many feel getting out of the OHSAA Northeast District Division I Stark sectional tournament is more difficult than getting out of the district event for a state berth.
“This is just so competitive every year with all the Federal League teams here,” Krumlauf said. “I think the Federal League is the most competitive conference in the state.”
But the Suburban League champions did them one better.
Wadsworth put up a 1,118 in Game 3 to pull away early and top the 14-team field during Saturday’s sectional at Eastbury Bowling Center.
The Grizzlies finished with 4,272 total pinfall, averaging 203.3 during Baker System games, to earn the win.
“I think it was important,” Wadsworth coach George Steele said about winning the event. “I think it gave them that edge to tell them, ‘Hey, you guys really are that good.’
“We won a bunch of tournaments this year, but we still fall back into that thing every once in a while where they’re saying let’s just make the cut. We didn’t just do that here; we won, so let’s move on to district and do the same thing.”
Also earning district berths are Lake (4,187), which topped the field by averaging 215 during Bakers; GlenOak (4,010), which shot 266 during its final Baker game to move up from fourth to third; and Green (4,003), which ran off four straight 200 games in the first four Bakers to earn the final spot by 94 pins over Federal League champion Perry (3,909).
The format was three regular games and six Baker games, with total pinfall determining the top four teams and top four individuals who were not members of those teams that will be moving on to district play.
Individual qualifiers included Louisville senior Landon Geisey, Wooster senior Sam Fleming, Perry junior Eli Nave and Jackson senior Alex Lovas.
The Division I boys district is set for 10 a.m. Feb. 23 at Roseland Lanes in Oakwood.
STRONG PERFORMANCE
“Did I think we would come out and be strong, yes,” Steele said of the Grizzlies. “But to put up a number like that was a surprise even though they are capable of it. Honestly, in bakers we started a little bit shaky and Lake was putting a number on us. So we had to finish it out if we wanted to finish in front.”
Wadsworth, which has just one senior in its starting lineup, fell behind Lake by 21 pins in Game 2 before its Game 3 performance.
“Was it our best performance of the season? I would say yes,” Steele said. “We’ve had a couple of good tournaments this year, but overall, this was a good day under pressure.”
Sophomore left-hander Hayden Eagon-Mohlmaster led the Grizzlies with a tournament-high 697 series, shooting 256 in Game 1. Junior Nate Weyand also had 609 and senior Cayden Sponsler shot 597.
“The big thing is covering spares. The strike percentage was high for a lot of teams today,, but when we left easy spares, we took care of them,” Steele said. “That was the big difference.”
SENIORS HAVE THEIR DAY
For Lake’s three seniors, it will be their first district appearance.
“We just came on a little late, but you don’t have to win it to be in it,” said Lake coach Jeff Mowls, who led the Lake girls to their first state appearance last season.
“They drove me nuts for the first two games, and then they started coming along, making good shots, making spares at least. They came together pretty well today.”
Senior two-handed righty Zac Abbott led the Blue Streaks with 642, with fellow seniors Logan Hamrick and Brady Tompot adding 613 and 609, respectively.
“I didn’t expect to finish second … I expected to win it,” Mowls said. “My mentality for these guys is they bowled in five tournaments and led three of them, so how do you bet against them?
“It was a big day day for these seniors who have never made it out of sectionals. It was an emotional day and I’m happy for them. They deserved it.”
After leading after Game 2, the Streaks never fell below second the entire tournament, finishing 177 pins ahead of third-place GlenOak.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE
To say the 2024-25 season has been a roller-coaster ride for GlenOak coach Jossett Petrick in her second season would be an understatement.
“This is how our season has gone. They are just hit and miss,” Petrick sad. “They will put themselves completely out when it seems the next thing you know they are bowling big games and putting themselves back in or getting close.
“That’s why it has been so frustrating. Matches they do bowl well, the other team is bowling better. And the the matches where we struggle, we try to put it back together and it has been difficult to get them all on the same page.”
Saturday was an exception as senior Xzavier Gardener led the Golden Eagles with an individual runner-up 663 series, senior Anthony Vacanti added 623 and sophomore Braxton Burns had 574.
But after dropping to as low as sixth after Game 2 of the regular games, the Eagles remained around the cut line and were 26 pins ahead of Perry heading to the final two Baker games. That’s when they shot 160 in Game 5 — but 266 in Game 6.
“That’s the million-dollar question. If I could find that secret sauce to do this consistently,” Petrick said. “But they kept good energy today when they were having bad games and they didn’t get down on themselves. They brought it back and I think that was probably he secret.
“Having good energy helps keeps their swings free.”
GlenOak had a pair of 160 games among their six Bakers, but followed each with 213 and 266, respectively.
“If I could answer why, it would have completely changed our season. After the first two Bakers I told (assistant coach) Dawn (Davis) they could go 150 or 250, and they went 160,” Petrick said. “But they have heart, that’s for sure. They are promising me to finish off the season with a bang. This is the first step, now we have to keep it going.”
REBUILDING FOR BERTH
Krumlauf had a plan for his Bulldogs the past four weeks — lots of work on the OHSAA sectional-district oil pattern, including tournament play. It paid off.
“I was confident that if we could get to Bakers in good shape, we had a chance,” said Krumlauf, whose team will be making its first district appearance since 2020.
“I told the boys the difference between shooting 185 and 190 during the regular games. Shooting 190 will keep you in the hunt. We just didn’t have any bad games among the first three to take us out of it.
“I knew that if we could get to Bakers, we’re a good Baker team and we could get there.”
Green was sixth after the opening game, moved up to fifth and then stayed in fourth the remainder of the day. The Bulldogs started Bakers with four straight 200 games, including 255 in Game 2, to protect their spot.
The Bulldogs returned only one starter this season in senior Anthony Bordonaro, who led them Saturday with a 641 series.
“Jason (Bidinger) and Anthony throw a lot of strikes and they’ve done that all season in Bakers. If we could stay out of opens, make the easy spares, we’ll put strikes together, and that’s the way it’s been,” Krumlauf said. “We get in trouble if we don’t strike. But, the last three weeks, we’ve managed to string strikes and that’s been key.”
Bidinger, a sophomore, backed up Bordonaro with 574 and senior Logan Kosmos added 548.
“With four new starters, they all had to get comfortable with each other and they all stepped up,” said Krumlauf, who also lost one player to academic problems this season. “We had to make a readjustment at one point, but we were competitive in every match.”
While the girls program has enjoyed a lot of success with four straight state appearances the boys have not.
“I’m excited for the boys,” Krumlauf said. “They’ve been in the shadows of the girls the past four years.”
INDIVIDUALS QUALIFIERS
Geisey, a senior, finished fifth overall to lead individual qualifiers after a 638 series, three pins ahead of Generals senior Fleming (635), who will be making his second straight district appearance after leading the Stark sectional a year ago with a 719 series.
Also advancing are Perry junior Nave (598) and Jackson senior Alex Lovas (593), who edged teammate Jackson Langton by just one pin for the final district individual spot.
Now, it’s on to Roseland.
“The big thing is practicing spares. We know the shot and we know the house, since we’ve been there four times this year in the league,” Steele said. “Now, it’s time to do what you do.”
NOTEBOOK: There were two 1,000 game shot during the opening three games, with Jackson having the other of 1,018 in Game 3. … GlenOak posted the high Baker game of 266, followed by Green with 255. …Eagon-Mohlmaster had the high game of 256 in Game 1. .. Wadsworth led after the opening three games by 155 pins over Lake after finishing with 3,052. .. The Stark Division I girls sectional is set for 10 a.m. Sunday also at Eastbury. Tickets at $8 for adults and $5 for students are available online only. … Tickets sold for Saturday’s sectional were at 200. … Our thanks to tournament director Ray Stalnaker for his assistance.