By BILL SNIER
AKRON — To say Coventry High School junior-to-be Wade Allen had a July to remember would be an understatement.
He compiled a junior career basically in less than 30 days. Consider:
- The 16-year-old two-handed right-hander rolled his first 800 series, 805, at Spins Bowl-Akron on July 7 — two years after his first 300 game rolled at the same center.
- He participated in the Junior Gold Championships for the third time in Green Bay, Wis. Although he didn’t make the cut to the advancers’ round in the 1,341-player 18U boys field, he finished 514th overall while averaging 182.81 over 16 games.
- After missing that cut, he bowled the Junior Golf Survivor event at Buzz Social in Green Bay and topped the field, finishing with 1,258 total pinfall — an average of 251.80 — in a field of 354 U18 boys.
- After being named as Akron-Canton Boys Bowler of the Year by Gannett newspapers in June, he was named High School Athlete of the Year on Friday by the Akron Beacon-Journal after garnering over 8,000 votes in online voting. He also participates in golf and baseball for the Comets.
“I just feel like I’ve been bowling some of my best scores lately,” said Allen, the Metro Athletic Conference player of the year and 2025 honorable mention All-Ohio pick. “I’m very confident in my game. I feel like I’m getting better.”
One of his changes is taking lessons from Ten Back Pro Shop owner-operator Frank Testa at Park Centre Lanes.
“He has really worked with me on my speed … slowing me down,” Allen said. “When he first saw me, he told me I threw the ball really well, but we have to make some tweaks to your speed.
“He told me, ‘I know you can throw it fast, but there are going to be patterns where you have to slow it down and let the ball work.’ That really helped at Junior Gold.”
FIRST 800
Allen came out firing in July with his first 800 in a doubles summer league at Spins Bowl-Akron, bowling with his mother, Lyndsey. He had games of 290, 288 and 227 for the 805. His previous high came during a practice session with his father, John, in December 2024.
Allen started with a 10-pin spare in the first frame of Game 1 and then ran off 11 strikes in a row. He then started Game 2 with the first 10 before going high and leaving a 2-pin spare on his second ball in the 10th — a run of 21 in a row.
“I was really thinking about that 300. There were people who said they would like to have a 300 with an 800, but I wanted one with or without it,” Allen said.
He started off Game 3 with the front four strikes before leaving 10-pin. He missed the spare.
After another strike, he left a 2-10 split, but “I completely whiffed that one.”
Allen began to feel the pressure.
“I knew going in what I needed to do to get there. After the two misses, I knew I had to double in the 10th frame to get the 800,” said Allen, who used a Roto Grip Gem for his milestone. “I was very nervous, but the first two shots were both good. I threw the third one just like normal to get the pins.
“It was just amazing … it’s been on my bucket list for bowling for quite a while and I was able to scratch that off.”
JUNIOR GOLD — AND A WIN
Next up was Junior Gold, and Allen admitted his confidence was high going to Green Bay —which incidentally is the home of his favorite NFL team, the Packers.
But he admitted his consistency across the four days of competition on four patterns was lacking.
“I was very inconsistent the whole time … I would hit my mark sometimes and, the next frame would come up and I didn’t hit it,” Allen said. “I just think it was nerves, being on such a big stage.
“But I think this was one of my better years. Every year, I feel more confident with the experience and I have new equipment in my arsenal.”
But after those 16 games, things changed in the Survivor Tournament with a new oil pattern.
Employing the 43-foot 2025 JRG Survivor oil pattern — which Allen said played like “a modified house shot” — he was able to find his rhythm right off the start.
“I just felt so much better on that shot. I had more confidence from my first ball in practice without any warmups and it came nice into the pocket,” Allen said. “That gave me all the confidence in the world.”
He started with his Gem, but switched to his Roto Grip RST Hyperdrive for his final two games.
“The oil started to get into my line more so I went to something more aggressive,” Allen said. “That ball was hammering the pocket the whole time.”
Shooting 278 and 258 his final two of the five-game block, he earned the win by just eight pins over Zack Grothus of Bettendorf, Iowa.
“Yeah, I was surprised (to finish on top). I knew that the best of the best were there … kids who were capable of throwing the ball better than me,” said Allen, whose win earned him a spot in the 2026 Junior Gold Championships in Minneapolis. “I’m just glad it held up.”
PREPARING FOR FUTURE
Allen has been trying to get as much golf in as possible in preparation for that season before helping the Comets seek another run at the OHSAA State Bowling Championships. The Comets were state runner-up during his freshman year, but didn’t make the cut to match play last season.
This will mark the Comets’ final season in the MAC, but Allen says the team is looking at another state Division II run.
The Comets lost senior Andrew Naugle off the team that finished 10th overall last season.
“We believe in this group … that we can return even without Andrew and make another run,” Allen said.
Personally, where does Allen feel he still needs to improve?
“I have to stop letting the negative frames get to me,” Allen said. “That would be the big change I would want to make, but it’s very hard.”
But with enough positives happening in July 2025, that task may become easier.