Boys bowling: Avon's Brenton Dill finds redemption, earns top state qualifying spot

AKRON — Brenton Dill stuck around this time. After struggling so badly at last year's Division I district bowling tournament that he left shortly after rolling his last ball, the Avon sophomore had reason to stay put Sunday. But then earning a spot in the state tournament and rolling the highest series of any bowler not on a state-qualifying team can do that for you. Dill had a 718 series with games of 255, 236 and 227 at Stonehedge Lanes on Sunday to advance to the state tournament being held March 6 at Webb Bowl's Columbus Bowl. He is the first state qualifier for the Avon bowling program, which in its second year. "Of course I'm thrilled after coming here last year and not doing so well," Dill said. "It's a great feeling. High hopes. Can't stop working. I have to keep practicing and get ready for state." Dill won the North Olmsted sectional at Buckeye Lanes with a 711 series a year ago, but never got on track at the district. He rolled only a 544 series and finished 63rd out of 129 bowlers. "Last year I didn't stick around," Dill said. "I knew the score wasn't good enough to make it so I wished everyone good luck and left after the individuals were done." Dill didn't dwell on last year's performance. He knew what he did wrong, forgave himself and tried to learn from it. Then he defended his sectional title Feb. 15 with a 747 series (223-257-267). When the final singles result was announced Sunday, Dill had his redemption. "It was almost a sense of relief. It made it official," Dill said. "I performed. I came to do what I wanted to do. So now I've got to keep moving forward. "These two weeks (before state) give me more time to prepare mentally, physically, along with my equipment, to get used to the pattern." Dill defeated Boardman senior Joe Taraszewski (231-198-266—698) and Highland sophomore Dylan Esterle (245-232-211—688) for the top qualifying spot. In all, six individuals advanced to state. "To come out here and to lead individuals on non-advancing teams is great," Dill said. "It goes back to the fact I'm not doing it just for myself. I'm doing it for my coaches (Sean Sindelar and Tyler Pierce), everybody who has ever helped me, family, friends, everybody back at school. Coach Sindelar kept me on track today, to mark switches and all of that. They've been great support. They always help me to stay level-headed. It definitely helps me in my success." The only better series Sunday were turned in by Mentor senior Richard Iannetta with a 731 (242-243-246) and Nordonia sophomore Bryce Lewin with a 728 (184-258-286) but both are on teams that qualified to state. "I'm so proud of him," Sindelar said. "Yesterday we had an extra practice session on the pattern at Buckeye (Lanes). Just talking to him I could tell how much more confident he is. Over the season he would say how much better he felt about his game this year versus last year. "He made the right adjustments. He knew what he had to do when he came into this. He was doing exactly what he needed to do. He had a couple of unlucky breaks, but only one open frame in three games. I'll take it." Making all the right changes was paramount and Dill met the challenge. "The pattern was changing a lot all day, shifting back and forth," he said. "I just stayed on top of it as best as I could. A couple got away from me, but that's fine. That's your indication that it's time to move. From the practice session I had a much better plan than last year. I really took action on it right away. Last year I didn't have a great practice session. I was a little unsure what I was going to do when I got here. That's the difference. Coming here with a good solid plan makes all the difference." The Avon Lake boys finished 14th out of 18 teams with a 3,749 total. The Shoremen were 12th after the three regular games, then struggled in Baker with a 1,039 score, the fifth-lowest mark of the tournament. Junior JJ Toth (187-215-214—616) and senior Brandon Nieding (190-164-203—557) led the Shoremen. "We had some good games, but overall it wasn't great," Toth said. "The energy wasn't super high. Everyone was kind of down. If our energy was a little higher we would have done better. We were getting bad breaks. When we switched lanes, it was harder for everyone to adjust." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Top 6 teams advance to state tournament March 61. Mentor 4597; 2. Boardman 4,334; 3. Padua 4,118 (won tiebreaker in rolloff); 4. Louisville 4118; 5. Nordonia 4,069; 6. Perry 4,066; 7. Berea-Midpark 4,059; 8. Stow 4,043; 9. St. Edward 3,958; 10. Norton 3,939; 11. Hoover 3,915; 12. Cuyahoga Falls 3,826; 13. Kenston 3,752; 14. Avon Lake 3,749; 15. Medina 3,619; 16. Springfield 3,558; 17. Green 3,544; 18. Lakeside 3,291 Individual state qualifiers from non-qualifying teams (6)1. Brenton Dill (Avon), 718; 2. Joe Taraszewski (Boardman), 698; 3. Dylan Esterle (Highland), 688; 4. Jerry Koeber (Springfield), 656; 5. Matt Richards (Roosevelt), 644; 6. Nate Merrill (Norton), 643 High series (local bowlers): 3. Dill, 718; 25. JJ Toth (Avon Lake), 616; 52. Brandon Nieding (Avon Lake), 557; 64. Jacek Gomez (Avon Lake), 540; 70. Nik Gomez (Avon Lake), 525; High game (local bowlers): Dill, 255; Toth, 215; J. Gomez, 212; Nieding, 203; N. Gomez, 202