Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Boardman and Austintown Fitch bowling teams are competing in the Federal League for the first time this season after their previous affiliation with the Mahoning Valley High School Bowling Conference.
Boardman’s boys varsity team vaulted into first place Jan. 15 with a win over Massillon Jackson.
“We’ve got a stronger schedule than last year when we went undefeated, but our individual scores are a lot higher overall as a team,” said Boardman coach Brian Umstead. “Last year, we had one big gun and shooting 1000 for a game would have been a big deal. This year, if we shoot 1000, we’re probably going to be down [after the first game].”
The Spartan boys finished ninth at state last year. Boardman’s boys have made state appearances five of the past eight seasons.
Back from that team are seniors Tony Ricchiuti, Mark Lias, Michael Nigro and Andrew Skrinyer — products of the junior system at Boardman Lanes.
Also in the top-seven rotation are senior Eric Grischow and juniors Andrew Watterson and Vinnie Zimbardi.
Zimbardi and Ricchiuti were the Federal League’s highest-average bowlers with 237 and 232 averages, respectively.
“They’ve helped out a lot,” Umstead said, “but our team Baker average is really high, too.
Boardman’s 2168 two-game set average is tops in the league, while the Spartans’ Baker game average is 207.1.
“We’re strongest in our regular games because of high individual averages, but our Baker games certainly are not a weak thing, either,” said Umstead, who has been with the Spartans all nine seasons.
Fitch’s Vince Viglio, a freshman, had the Federal League’s fourth-best average of 218, while Watterson was No. 8 with 215.
The OHSAA sanctioned bowling for the first time for the 2006-07 school year, although the Federal League didn’t organize its schools for bowling until this season.
The biggest difference from the MVHSBC is the switch from Monday and Wednesday matches to Saturdays.
“This season, 10 of our 14 Federal matches are on Saturday,” Umstead said. “That’s OK if you’re not traveling, but, regardless, it’s hard to adjust to the fact that there are seven days between matches.”
“We’ve got a good group of kids,” Umstead said. “The top two things we stress are spare-shooting and adjusting to different conditions. When we practice, we lay out different conditions on each pair of lanes and have the kids sweep across pairs to adjust quicker than other teams,” Umstead said of different oil patterns on each pair of lanes, whether it’s done over four lanes or six lanes.
“Rob Theis and Rich Wilson are some pretty easy-going guys when it comes to the high school teams,” Umstead said of the patience of the Boardman Lanes’ co-proprietors. “We also get support from our school district and the parents who get involved at practices and in fund-raising. They’ve definitely worked in our favor.”
Two other seniors bolstering the varsity squad are Nate Demitra and Bob Mruczek.
“Nine kids rotate in our varsity roster,” Umstead said. “We have eight boys bowling varsity and eight JVs. We can’t switch once we start the first game.”
In addition to Dohar and Umstead, Boardman’s junior varsity boys coach is Dave Ellis. Theis and Steve Harper Jr. offer outside help during practices.
XJohn Bassetti reports on bowling for The Vindicator. Write to him at bassetti@vindy.com.