Fitch’s Learn and Viglio are tops for bowling sectional

The Fitch High bowling team had the distinction of having the two bowlers with best individual scores following the 24-school Mahoning/Trumbull sectional on Feb. 11.

Junior Dwayne Learn Jr. rolled 791 and sophomore Katie Viglio had 693 for the Falcons, who advanced to districts next weekend.

Out of 24 teams, Fitch’s girls finished first at Holiday Bowl, while the senior-less Fitch boys were runner-up behind Struthers.

Sort of like the lull between the AFC and NFC championship games and the Super Bowl, the bowlers have a two-week wait this year between the sectional and district, which will be Feb. 25 for boys and Feb. 26 for girls. Both will be at Twin Star Lanes in Kent.

The 791 was a personal high for Learn — aka D.J., who needed a double in the 10th frame for an 800.

“He came up short,” said Dino Balkan, who is in his first year as boys coach after being a girls assistant the previous five years.

Viglio’s 693 was a season-best with her high school team, which is coached by Don Morrison.

Viglio’s 197 average tops the girls.

It also shouldn’t have been any surprise that a student the Falcons lost via transfer to Maplewood — Zac Thompson — ended up being the top individual on a non-qualifying team for the Rockets.

Thompson rolled 700 to advance.

“He would have been my only senior this year,” Balkan said of Thompson.

In final All-American Conference averages, the 17-year-old Learn’s 209 placed behind Fitch’s No 1 bowler, sophomore Kyle Condrick, who had a 215. Third-best was sophomore Kyle Sharisky with 204, then juniors Chris Mauro (195), Corey Cox (195), John Greenlund (191) and Tim Ponzi (165).

Waiting in the wings with a JV average of 185 is Matt Cox, who rounds out the varsity lineup.

Morrison has coached the girls 12 of the last 13 years.

His assistant is Matt Clipse, a member of the 2002-03 season’s state championship team.

“Our program is starting to recycle itself,” Morrison said of the Fitch graduate. “He [Clipse] went through our program, went to school [YSU], and now he’s back to coach. It kind of tells me that our program works and they want to come back and be involved and help.”

Other post-season team members and their averages from are: freshman Jessica Halas (191), sophomores Lynnette Seebacher (189) and Laura Wilson (201) and seniors Molly Custer (170), Andrea Campbell (158) and Tiffany Lindberg (159).

Just as the boys team’s nemesis has been Struthers, the girls team has struggled against Hubbard.

At the sectional, Struthers beat Fitch by 13 pins, 4528-4515.

In their first meeting this season, Fitch lost to Struthers by 60, then by 70 the second time.

“Our [three] matches have been close,” Balkan said. “We’re just about evenly matched with them, I think we make each other better.”

Marty Sharisky is Balkan’s assistant.

Morrison’s girls’ only two losses in the AAC regular season were to Hubbard.

“Of our 16 AAC matches, two losses were to Hubbard [in AAC American division], but we beat them by 51 points [4229-4178] in the sectional,” Morrison said of a bit of payback.

Fitch’s girls team, which won the Buckeye Classic in Columbus by beating Troy back in December, has missed only one state tournament appearance in the last 12 years.

“We’re not used to not making it,” Morrison said of the school’s girls team.

The girls were state champs for the 2002-03 season — the same season Fitch’s boys team won its second straight state crown.

“Fitch is the only team in Ohio to have both boys and girls win the same year and the only team in the state with their boys winning back-to-back,” Morrison said proudly.

Maplewood undefeated

With a lineup of senior Dan Wolfe, juniors Zac Freeman and Matt Horner, sophomores Justin Gardner and Chris McCoy and Thompson, Maplewood’s boys varsity went undefeated (14-0 as an independent) for 2011-12.

Third-year coach Tim Pappagallo said that Cody Ramsey was the school’s first bowler to qualified for districts when Maplewood competed as a club sport. Now Thompson is the first Rocket to advance since bowling gained varsity sport status at the school.

Thompson’s 700 was Maplewood’s highest in post-season play and his 280 against Mooney beat previous record-holder Dan Wolfe’s 266.

Thompson carries a 195 average in match play and Horner bowled a 299 during practice.

“Zac is a very talented bowler,” Pappagallo said of Thompson, who participated in a Sports Ambassador program called People-to-People.

“He bowled in Austria and finished 17th internationally in a tournament. He competed against bowlers throughout the world.”

Maplewood’s girls team, which finished 5-9, was led by junior Phyllis Armstrong with a 170 average.