Donny Bishop GIRARD, BOYS BOWLING

April 2, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

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Finishing second can carry a wide range of emotions from jubilation to frustration to relief. Finishing second place in the state of Ohio was such a feeling for Girard’s Donny Bishop, he could barely describe it himself.

“There’s no way to describe it,” Bishop said. “I knew what I wanted to do. I just fell a little bit short. But I was still very pleased with where I ended up.”

Bishop, a sophomore, bowled a 243-236-220 for a 684 series, seven pins behind first place.

For Bishop, you could almost say that the tournament started for him before the first ball rolled down the lane at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. The preparation was vital.

“The amount of practice doesn’t change but the quality of practice does,” Bishop said of his plan leading up to the state tournament. “You really zone in at practice like you were actually there in the tournament.”

That focus paid off because Bishop said the state tournament is so loud you can barely hear yourself think.

“The tournament was just unbelievable,” Bishop said. “You couldn’t hear anything. That’s how loud it was.”

And then there’s the pressure of the tournament on top of it with stakes as high as they can get.

“You know everything you do, the preparation for it and what you’re doing in the moment is part of something you’re going to think about for the rest of your life,” Bishop said.

Not long after his runner-up finish individually at state, Bishop bowled in a Junior Gold Qualifier. A 675 series was good enough to advance him to the Junior Gold Championship this July in Cleveland.

“I’m going to approach it exactly the same as I would any other tournament,” Bishop said.

—Charles Grove