Division II district bowling event peppered with locals

Eight Valley teams,

seven individuals will hit the lanes in Canton

By Greg Gulas

sportsvindy.com

WARREN

Eight Mahoning Valley teams and seven area individual qualifiers will compete in the Division II district bowling tournament Saturday at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes in Canton.

All action begins at noon with five boys, five girls teams and five individuals from each group set to advance to state March 3-4 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.

On the boys side of the ledger, head coach Pete Barta’s Girard Indians (3,862) took top honors by five pins over Struthers (3857) during the recent sectional tourney at Warren’s Freeway Lanes with Liberty (3,552) and Hubbard (3,349) also advancing this weekend.

In girls action, Ken Miller’s Hubbard Eagles (3,223) won their second sectional crown in four years, defeating Brookfield (2,927) for the title by 113 pins. Girard (2,927) and Struthers (2,743) also qualified.

Individually, Brookfield’s Michael Katko (570), Charles Click (558) of Wellsville, Lowellville’s Colin Boyd (534) and Sam Regalman (519) of McDonald will make the trek to Canton while on the distaff side, Jenna Simmons (483) of McDonald, Adriana Popovich (470) of Cardinal Mooney, Lowellville’s Haylie Rotz (466) and Liberty’s Daysha McConahy (446) are the individual qualifiers.

Katko was the highest individual qualifier, finishing 56 pins off the pace of Girard’s Dylan Puz whose 626 roll was 23 pins better than Adam Cifra (603) of Struthers. Rounding out the top five was Donny Bishop (583) of Girard and Liberty’s Andrew Everly (576).

Simmons finished fourth overall, 51 pins behind Sabrina Romano (534) of Hubbard who walked off with tourney laurels. Romano’s teammate, Alexis Cobbin (512) was runner-up, freshman Emilee Bebech (494) of Brookfield finished third with Emily Davis (476), also of Hubbard, fifth overall.

Barta is currently in his second season at the helm and has the Indians primed for their second consecutive district appearance.

“At sectionals, we needed Logan Kondzich to throw a strike in the ninth frame and then needed Donny Bishop to throw three consecutive strikes, needing all four strikes in order to win,” Barta said. “To beat a powerhouse like Struthers, a senior-laden team, was gratifying because they are just so good. If we expect to advance to state then we’ll have to bowl our very best and pick up our spares. I explain to the team that every time you miss a spare you’re spotting the field 11 pins. They have a real grasp of that analogy and are ready to go.”

The Indians count on three sophomores, two freshmen and a junior with Bishop’s 216 average tops among that sophomore group.

He was a first-team league honoree, the All-American Conference Player of the Year as a freshman and serves as team captain.

“We’re a young team that works hard and has all of the tools to get to state,” he said. “Pete’s a phenomenal coach and has us ready to go.”

Kondzich said the field is going to be tough.

“There are a lot of good teams that we will be going up against so we have to stay positive if we expect to advance,” he said.

Puz doesn’t foresee a problem, despite the fact that he has never bowled at Hall of Fame Lanes.

“They’re like the lanes at Holiday Bowl, but it will come down to paying your best,” he added. “We’re ready to get going.”

Kondzich (198) finished ninth at sectionals with a 548 roll, Brett Zeigler (185) was 24th with Puz (181), Justin Barnett (170), Jonathan Moore (153), Seth Kennedy and Jack Ryan Zeigler rounding out the Girard unit.

The Wildcats won this year’s AAC White Tier championship as Andrew Brabant, who placed eighth at sectionals earned tournament MVP honors.

Cifra and teammate Johnny Medvec were also named to the league’s first-team while Jarrod Sawyers’ 538 at sectionals was 11th overall.

Hall of Fame Lanes has been friendly to head coach Bob Eisenbraun Jr’s. team this year.

“We didn’t bowl our best at sectionals, but in the end it’s still about moving on so I am not disappointed in our finish because we were still in the top-5,” Eisenbraun said. “We’ve already won a tournament this year at Hall of Fame Lanes and winning the league’s white tier on Monday just gives us some added momentum heading into the weekend.”

Everly and Lucas Weisen both earned AAC White Tier first-team honors to lead the Leopards.

“Andrew is a strong bowler and a silent leader while Lucas is our only senior and team captain,” Liberty coach Mike Mikulich added. “He might be laid back, but shows excitement when he throws the ball well. Nothing gets him angry.”

Hubbard’s Caleb Johnson, who will bowl for Wright State University upon graduation, finished 12th at state last year and was seventh (557) overall at sectionals.

“We’re young and this team has exceeded all expectations,” Eagles coach Ron Killian said. “Caleb is still one of the top guys in the state and they give 110 percent every time out so anything can happen.”

The Eagles team that is enjoying their share of success is the girl’s team, having copped sectional honors by 113 pins over runner-up Brookfield.

Ken Miller has led his team to the district finals all four years as head coach, also making state appearances the last two seasons.

They also won this year’s AAC White Tier title, have won three of the past four crowns under Miller and feature Sabrina Romano (202), Alexis Cobbin (188) and Emily Davis (180) as all three finished in the top five at sectionals.

“It’s all about our spares and maintaining our focus this weekend,” Romano said. “We’re like family, a tight knit group that has faith in one another.”

Miller said everyone has to step up their game in order to move on.

“If we expect to advance to state, we’ll need our big three of Sabrina, Alexis and Emily to bowl some big games,” Miller said. “We’ll also need to string some strikes together, look for Ashligh George and Kennedy Julious to maintain their improvement while hoping for big games out of Jenny Reebel and Megan Heckert.”

Davis is the captain of the team.

“This is a team sport and you get it done as a team. There isn’t time to focus on individual play,” she said.

Cobbin carries a 188 average into district action.

“We have gone through a lot, both emotionally and physically so we are ready to get going,” Cobbin said. “We just have to stay positive and be ready for our next roll.”

Other girl’s teams looking to advance include Brookfield, Girard and Struthers.

The Warriors shared the AAC Blue Tier regular season title with Girard, copping the tournament crown this past Monday.

Freshman Emilee Bebech set the school record for average this year and is joined by classmate Hannah Williams as its two varsity newcomers.

Seniors include Kayla Haywood, daughter of the coach, Christine Lowers, Samantha Neral and Jessica Roszak.

“There’s a lot of leadership and experience,” Warriors coach Jim Haywood said. “To be successful however, we’ll need to close frames so if we don’t strike, we still need to mark.”

Barta is also the Indians’ girls coach with captain Jessica Shepherd their top sectional finisher, rolling 472 for a sixth-place finish.

“Execution is the key. With five girls we’ll need to keep our composure and concentrate on picking up our spares,” Barta said.

Wildcats junior Hannah Bruner (465) finished ninth at sectionals while seniors Jaime King (454), who finished 11th at sectionals and Michaelina DeMarco providing upperclass leadership.

“We’re young so this is clearly a big surprise for me heading to district’s,” Eisenbraun Sr. said. “They’ve worked really hard as a team and whether we advance or not, I’m just pleased to see their growth continue.”