43
Hubbard girls roll to another Zitnik title
By Greg Gulas
HUBBARD
Since its inception in 2007, the Hubbard High girls bowling team has had a stranglehold on the annual Ed Zitnik Memorial High School Bowling Classic trophy, winning the coveted championship every year.
After winning their second title in three seasons, Fairport Harbor’s boys are bent on challenging the Eagles for boys’ supremacy.
The Eagles’ girls beat Cardinal Mooney in Baker games, 1576-1534 to capture their seventh consecutive crown while the Skippers, participating after a year’s absence, topped defending champion Hubbard 2065-2045 Friday at Bell-Wick Bowl.
“We have just one returning letterwinner from last year’s title team so this is a fairly new varsity unit,” said Hubbard’s first-year coach, Ken Miller. “We played five Baker games in the first round, another 10 in the second round and we just said not to worry about what anyone else does, just have fun and do the best they could. We did, however, constantly remind them to pick up their spares and in the end that was the deciding factor.”
Hubbard players Miranda Romano and Michalia Dudley said staying focused and helping each other was very important.
“With as many new team members as we have, repeating as champions is quite an accomplishment,” Romano said. “Each game was tight, so staying focused was necessary.”
“We couldn’t let any of the screaming get to us and just had to keep our heads in the game,” Dudley added. “You cannot scoreboard-watch and still do your best.”
Mooney’s Christian Dama, who rolled a 257, took top individual honors among girls while Maplewood freshman Larry Sudano rolled a 278 for top boys laurels.
“I bowl at Bell-Wick Lanes every now and then so the lanes aren’t exactly foreign to me,” Dama said. “I was able to find my mark early and just stayed with it the entire day. We gave it our best as a team and out up a good fight so finishing second is a big accomplishment because we’ll only learn for this and get better.”
Sudano, who started with eight consecutive strikes, lost his bid for a perfect game in the ninth frame when he left the No. 4 pin standing.
“I stayed on the right side of the lane the first eight frames because I knew I had to keep the ball straight so it would go into the pocket,” Sudano said. “Even though I left the four-pin standing in the ninth frame, I was really pleased with my game.”
Sudano’s coach, Mark McCloskey, called his first-year bowler a steady player who never gets rattled.
“Larry is a smart bowler who is very consistent,” McCloskey said. “He’s not a fast bowler, paces himself and never gets nervous.”
Fairport Harbor couldn’t compete due to a scheduling conflict last year but reasserted itself this season. Its roster consists of five seniors, a sophomore and freshman.
“We don’t normally pay attention to the teams we are up against, but today it was a little different in that both teams were aware of the situation and how close the scores were,” Skippers’ coach Jerry Rich noted. “It was nip and tuck between us and Hubbard in the Baker games and that’s a fun thing. Katelyn Dickerson went four or five Baker games without missing a strike and she really set the table for us as our leadoff bowler.”
Dickerson, one of two underclassmen and the only female on the squad, said everyone feeds off each other.
“They’re like my big brothers and we’re always helping each other out on ball throws, where to stand and most of all, trying to throw a strike,” she said. “It was a different feeling for me in that the lanes today were excellent wooden lanes, compared to our house back home which is a synthetic lane. What got us over the top was our ability to pick up spares.”
Teammate Casey Cohagen added “our younger bowlers stepped up and everyone remained focused on the task at hand. The lanes hold up so well and it’s a fair reaction for all of the bowlers.”
Lowellville’s John Cowher, who coaches the boys and the girls, called the tournament a learning experience.
“Both fields had a little bit of everything to offer and it was a great experience for us, despite not qualifying for the Baker games,” Cowher said. “We’ll learn from our mistakes and hopefully this will help us prepare for [today’s] high school holiday tournament at Camelot Lanes in Boardman.”
Francis Zitnik, who along with his late brother helped start scholastic bowling in the area, said some great bowlers have performed at the Classic.
“Our passion was for the kids and it’s still like that today. We’ve seen some great bowlers over the years and today’s tournament was no different,” Zitnik said.