LORAIN — After losing three seniors from a year ago, Fairport Harbor Harding coaches Dean Vargo and Jerry Rich weren’t sure what they had coming into the 2025-26 high school bowling season.
After falling to Urbana during the title match of the 2025 OHSAA State Division II Championships last season, the future of the girls team was in question.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Vargo said after the 3-1 title match loss. “The worst case scenario is the girls are good enough to join the boys.”
But the Skippers don’t rebuild; they simply reload.
Using two players who had never bowled before this season, including converting one from a one-hand deliver to two hands, Fairport Harbor Harding took a 98-pin lead after the opening three games during Saturday’s OHSAA Northeast District Division II girls tournament and claimed its second straight title at Rebman Recreation.
The Skipper girls will join the boys team in Columbus after the latter qualified Friday.
The Skippers finished with 3,512 total pinfall to claim the title, finishing 23 pins ahead of second-place East Canton (3,489), which made school history by becoming the first Hornets bowling team — boys or girls — to advance to state.
The top four teams and top four individuals who were not members of advancing teams move on to the 2026 state tournament, set for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 28 at HP Lanes in Columbus.
Joining the Skippers and Hornets will be Rootstown (3,473), which will be making its third straight state appearance after finishing seventh a year ago; and Open Door Christian (3,352),, which was able to maintain at least a 40-pin lead over fifth-place Lakeview during the six-game Baker System round and will be making its second straight state trip.
The format also included three regular team games.
Senior Lauren McKinney, one of three Skipper returnees, was the high individual overall with a 648 series, including the day’s high game of 247. Fellow senior Sophia McLaughlin finished 10th overall with 526 also for Fairport.
Senior Logan McDonald led the Hornets, finishing fourth overall with a 580 series, while senior Madison Lint, a state qualifier as an individual last season, finished ninth with a 537 series. East Canton trailed Rootstown by eight pins heading into the final two Baker games, but finished with 188 and 187 to earn the runner-up trophy, including four straight strikes to finish the final game.
Senior Kaitlyn Hammerschmidt led the Rovers with a 540 series, eighth overall and the final spot on the all-tournament team, and junior Nina Gill added 475. Senior Molly Felty was high for Open Door with 522 and junior Hannah Thomas added 518.
INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS
The four individual qualifiers all finished among the top six overall, with the top eight overall being named to the all-tournament team. Only one was an individual qualifier.
Triway freshman Savannah Starcher — one of five freshman who started for the Titans during the sectional tournament — claimed the final individual spot with a 550 series, shooting 202 her final game to earn the berth by five pins. She finished sixth overall.
Other individual qualifiers included Oberlin freshman Keira Phillips, who finished as district runner-up with 598; Firelands senior Katie Smith, who finished third overall with 582; and Struthers senior Maddie Marshall, who finished fifth with 558. The Wildcats were seeking their fifth straight state appearance.
Division I takes center stage at 10 a.m. Sunday at Rebman Recreation, with the Northeast District tournament. The girls will follow at 10 a.m. Monday. Again, all tickets must be purchased online with no cash accepted at the door.
