By BILL SNIER
COLUMBUS — Cleveland St. Ignatius completed its 2025 state boys bowling journey in a traditional way.
They said a team prayer and sang the school’s alma mater.
After failing to make the cut for match play during the 2024 OHSAA State Boys Bowling Championships by just one pin, the Wildcats made their second appearance pay off with a fourth-place finish during the 2025 event Saturday at HP Lanes.
Qualifying as the No. 4 seed with 4,092 total pinfall, the Wildcats rolled past No. 5 seed Springfield Kenton Ridge in three games during their best-of-five Baker System opening match, including games of 231, 258 and 256.
Next up was top-seeded Boardman, which took the Northeast District title away from the Wildcats with a late Baker surge at Roseland Lanes just two weeks ago.
“All of the matches were on fresh oil and we knew how they were going to play. But momentum is a big factor,” St. Ignatius coach Jim Viets said. “We had chances to throw 260s and 250s in the first round and had that momentum going.”
But after starting Game 1 with four strikes in a row against Boardman, the Wildcats left pocket 7-10 and 3-4-6-7-10 splits while the Spartans stayed clean for a 228-199 win.
Game 2 belonged to Ignatius, with the Wildcats starting with five strikes in a row for a 245-199 win.
Then the problems began.
“We had momentum going, but when you throw a four bagger, then a couple of strikes with a split, open and another split, it’s a momentum killer,” Viets said. “Splits are going to happen, but you can’t miss spares.
“Maximizing pin count is something we preach all along. That, and making spares.”
Both teams started Game 3 with the first five of six strikes, but the Wildcats left a 4-6-7-10 split in the seventh frame. They missed all four pins and went on to fall 237-210.
The problems continued in Game 4 as the Wildcats failed to convert a 1-2-4-10 washout after three strikes in a row and missed a 4-pin spare along with another 3-4-6-8-10 split. The three opens could not be overcome as the Spartans advanced with a 236-183 win.
Sophomore Teague Green made All-Ohio for the Wildcats with a 685 series. Junior Mason Melgaard, who was making his third state appearance, had 632 and sophomore Cooper Wilson added 591.
“We have four off our varsity team returning and couple of JVs who are bowling really well. We already have our seven set for next year,” Viets said. “We’re going to have a camp over the summer to do some retooling. We’re trying to copy what the soccer team’s doing to build their dynasty.”
FALLING SHORT
Cuyahoga Falls made a valiant charge in its final Baker game of qualifying, shooting 269. But the Black Tigers finished with 4,002 — just 11 pins short of the cut with Cincinnati LaSalle gaining the final spot. They also had Bakers of 179 and 183.
“We shot our average for all three regular games, which is normal for us,” said Black Tigers coach Dan Stuczynski, whose team shot 1,032 during Bakers. “We just got caught up in the moment.
“I don’t know .. maybe the pressure got to us. We missed some spares we shouldn’t have and here we are.”
Only junior Justin Miller had made a state appearance previously, bowling as an individual last season.
Sophomore Jonathan Rasch led Cuyahoga Falls with 656, finishing 18th and missing All-Ohio by nine pins. Senior Robert Rompf added 646 and senior Adam Walters had 600.
Falls loses six of its eight varsity players to graduation.
“We have Justin and Jonathan back so we will be on the rebuild,” Stuczynski said. “I expected to be here. I knew they had the potential. I’m just proud that they finished ninth in the state.”
RAVENS CAN’T GET UNTRACKED
Ravenna’s problems were with carry.
“The carry at the low end was just awful. We pounded the pocket all day with different players and it just didn’t work,” Ravenna coach Kelly Champ said. “We made all the adjustments we’ve been making all year to combat not carrying the corners and it just didn’t work.
“We did the best we could with what we were given.”
Junior Peter Jennings led the Ravens with a 615 series and junior Jeriah Miller added 605.
The Ravens are the smallest Division I school in the Northeast District — just one boy over the cut line. Their only state appearance came in 2023 — in Division II.
“It was just an amazing experience. They were just such a close-knit group,” Champ said. “It was just amazing to watch them transition from the beginning of the season to now. I’m so proud of them.”
North Ridgeville, which also qualified out of the Northeast District, finished 16th with 3,529. It was led by senior Ethan Greenly’s 637 series.
NOTEBOOK: Boardman topped qualifying with 4,311 as nine teams shot over 4,000. The Spartans, Ashland and Wapakoneta were the only teams with three 1,000 regular games. … High regular game was 1,163 by Boardman in Game 1. … Beavercreek had the high five-game Baker set of 1,100 as eight teams shot 1,000 or better in Bakers. The OHSAA converted to five Baker System games during qualifying this season after previously using just three games. … there were 18 1,000 games rolled during qualifying. … The 16-team field finished with a team average of 3,965.19 for qualifying and 981.56 for the Baker round. … The average regular game during qualifying was 994.54. … LaSalle, which fell to St. Ignatius in the quarterfinals, was 16th after Game 1 and reached the No. 8 seed with 4,013. … East District winner Hillsboro finished 10th overall with 3,960, missing the cut by 53 pins. It shot 990 in Bakers.