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Canfield boys narrowly miss finals in Division I bowling
By Ryan Buck
COLUMBUS
The Canfield boys bowling team looked to become the third team (Springfield Kenton Ridge and Coldwater) to claim two Ohio state titles and the second (Kenton Ridge) to repeat as champions.
The Cardinals will have to wait another year to accomplish that first feat as the defending Division I state champions finished ninth in the team standings Friday at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
“I think that, as a team, most of our bowlers pressed a little too hard and didn’t make quite as good of shots as they’re capable of making,” said Canfield coach Carl Hurd.
“We’re disappointed. For myself and the team, we had a goal to make the cut and missed it.”
After three games from each of their four qualifying scorers, Canfield missed the eight-team finals by 20 pins with a qualifying total of 3,326.
“The difficult thing in trying to relate to our team is last year, we went to state as team for the first time and won,” Hurd said. “In their eyes, probably anything outside of winning again would’ve been a disappointment and I think it took away from that fact that making it to state is a huge accomplishment in itself.”
Hurd never sensed overconfidence in his team, but added pressure from last year’s accomplishment was perhaps a burden.
“I think we’re always confident in our ability,” Hurd said. “We didn’t make very good shots today and that’s ultimately why we didn’t make the cut.”
Wapakoneta bested Olmsted Falls in the final round of the eight-team, single-elimination bracket.
Canfield placed four bowlers among the top 67 competitors.
Sophomore Andrew Letscher finished 14th individually with games of 213-192-219 for a combined 624.
“Andrew is a very accomplished individual and bowler,” Hurd said. “Even aside from high school bowling. He’s the best junior bowler in our area or right there.
“He’s generally very steady and considering that he’s a sophomore, I saw him step up as a team leader today and that’s something we need going forward.”
Tyler Frklech, a senior, rolled a 223-150-188 561 to finish 37th. Paul Harris, another senior, was 54th with a 182-162-192 536, junior Ben Shoman finished 56th with a 148-202-182 532 and senior Austin Leonard rolled a 140-177-180 497.
Hurd says the losses to graduation will hurt, but he expects another run at the state tournament. The presence of Austintown Fitch, Boardman and Struthers in the All-American Conference next year only helps matters.
“We’re really, really good as far as an area in high school bowling,” Hurd said. “Those could be potentially top four of 25-30 teams in the state, just in our division alone.”
Boardman junior Jake Wagner finished 59th with a 163-165-199 527.