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District bowlers are off to Canton
The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s postseason bowling tournament continues at the district level in Canton this weekend.
Qualifiers from last week’s Mahoning/Trumbull sectional at Holiday Bowl compete at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
The district represents a collection of qualifiers from six sectionals.
The district will comprise 39 boys teams and 33 girls teams, plus 39 boys and 33 girls as individuals not on a qualifying team.
The boys bowl today and the girls on Sunday. The boys teams start at noon, while individuals begin at 1 p.m. The girls will compete using the same schedule on Sunday.
The Struthers boys team won the sectional at Holiday with total pinfall of 4472, followed by Liberty with 4368 and Howland with 4365. Other boys teams are Warren Harding, Austintown Fitch, Canfield, Hubbard and Ursuline.
Among girls, Boardman was sectional champion with 4050, followed by runner-up Hubbard (3794) and third-place Struthers (3736).
Morgan Alden, 16, of Howland was the top female qualifier with 726 and one of eight individuals not on a qualifying team to advance.
The top male individual was Chaney’s Richard Mauro with 785, followed by Fitch’s Vince Viglio (708), Howland’s Nick Wolcott (694) and Liberty’s Rickey Evans (692).
The fifth-best three-game series of 691 belonged to Chaney’s Kyle Staton, who also advanced as an individual.
Chaney’s Michelle Heldreth also advanced as an individual after rolling 554.
In addition to Mauro and Staton, the area’s other individuals not on a qualifying team are: Girard’s Clayton Cupan, McDonald’s Tyler Burk, LaBrae’s Zachary Ewing and Shelby Persons, Campbell Memorial’s Tom Pulice and Mineral Ridge’s Patrick Celli.
Alden, a junior, is the daughter of Howland coach Dave Alden. Her 726 was ahead of Boardman’s Ciarra Moran by 38 pins. One of Alden’s games in the three-game series — a 278 — is one of the highest in the state this season.
Last year, Alden missed state by eight pins when she rolled 568 at the district meet at Wedgewood. In 2008, Alden also competed as an individual.
She had 685 recently in the All-American Conference tournament at Bell-Wick, although the event was team-scoring only.
Her regular-season average for 16, two-game matches was 193.
A three-game series, not two-game, Dave Alden said, fits to his daughter’s strength.
“She’s got to shoot one more good round,” he said.
Other females who qualified individually were: Liberty’s Jillian Barker, Chaney’s Hildreth, Harding’s Katie Discerni, Lakeview’s Kayla Reese, Cardinal Mooney’s Rachael Letscher, Ursuline’s Monica Simon and Mineral Ridge’s Jordan Kolesar.
Admission for the Canton tournament costs $6 for adults and $4 for students.
bassetti@vindy.com