High school bowling: Firelands boys break through in a big way to win first league title; Amherst, Wellington girls also champs

LORAIN — Simply put, the Firelands boys bowled over the field at Sunday's 19th annual North Shore Bowling Conference Tournament at Rebman Rec. Not only did the Falcons win their first conference title, they made it look awfully easy. Firelands piled up 4,190 pins to finish a whopping 452 ahead of second-place Clearview on the way to the Division 2 championship. Even more impressively, the Falcons, who have averaged 176 in Baker rounds during dual matches this season, averaged 233 in the six-game Baker on Sunday. Their 1,400 Baker score was the best of the day in any division, easily topping Division 1 winner Berea-Midpark's 1,263 total. Thomas Ulrich, a junior, led the Falcons with a 624 three-game series, which was good for third overall in Division 2 behind Lutheran West's Josh Maslanich (685) and Open Door's Drew Johnson (668). Seniors Alex Kyer (581), Mike Smith (545) and Connor Cordy (520) finished sixth, 11th and 14th in high series for the Falcons. "It was good," Ulrich said. "Everyone did their part. It's all teamwork. Winning this means a lot to everyone. It's starting to sink in. Not totally, but yes." Firelands finished third at last year's tournament after three straight fifth-place finishes. "Today was mostly about moving left and throwing straight up the boards," Ulrich said. "My coach (Chris Cordy) was right there for us to keep us pointed in the right direction." The Falcons' turnaround started late last season when they advanced to districts for the first time since 2009. "This probably the best team we've ever had," said Cordy, in his second season as coach. "The first three games were a battle for my kids. They put it together at the right time, especially when it came to the Baker matches. We started with a 185 first game in Baker and finished with a 289. We performed absolutely huge. They definitely played together. If one person was down the next person stepped up." Area teams swept the girls titles with Amherst winning in Division 1 and Wellington in Division 2. The Comets claimed their third straight conference crown and fourth overall, topping Buckeye by 366 pins. The Dukes, who also won last year's tournament, were 98 pins better than Open Door. Makayla Velasquez led Amherst girls with a 590 series, second overall to Avon junior Kilee Falish (619). Sophomore Allison Taylor (559), junior Hannah Aschenbach (545) and freshman Melissa Nunez (469) finished third, fifth and 17th in high series for the Cometss. "As an individual I felt like I executed my shots very well," said Velasquez, a senior. "I only missed one 10 pin all day. For the team, we started off very well with the Baker (192 and 226). We slowed down a bit (157) but then got back on (170 and 204). We just didn't finish quite how we wanted to the last Baker (127). Right now, for the most part, we're pointed in the right direction. We still need a little more practice. More practice is better for us." Wellington sophomore Whitney Kirschner had the No. 1 series in Division 2 with a 598, going 103 pins over average. She outdistanced Firelands junior Lesi Leskovska (501). Senior Trinity Farr (493) and sophomore Heather Reininger (465) had the fourth- and ninth-best series to help Wellington's cause. "Right from the first game I got my consistency going," Kirschner said. "I believe I earned the scores that I got. The lanes were very dry so I had to move a lot to the left. I moved 10 boards to the left of my actual mark. The more I moved left the better the ball moved on the lanes." Falish's winning series was 70 pins over average. "The lanes started off dry, which made things hook a good amount," she said. "We moved to our next pair and that set was very oiled so I had to switch balls. I went from my purple RST to my green RST." The Amherst boys started strong with a 1,046 first game to lead Berea-Midpark by 27 pins. Things went downhill the next game (870) for the defending champs, however, as they dropped 93 pins behind heading into the Baker round and never recovered. JP Gregory (622) and Zachary Zakrajsek (608) led the Comets. "The second game is what did us in," Amherst coach Steven Taylor said of his team. "They just didn't get the carry the second game, the lucky breaks. They all kind of fell apart the second game. They came back the third game, and in the Baker they did OK, but they didn't do great. They didn't have any big games in Baker. That's what held us back. It's a great field. You have to bring your A game." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Division 1BoysTEAM STANDINGS: 1. Berea-Midpark 4,210; 2. Amherst 3,992; 3. Avon Lake, 3,862; 4. Avon Lake 3,837; 5. Olmsted Falls 3,788; 6. North Ridgeville 3,708; 7. North Olmsted 3,669; 8. Midview 3,651; 9. Buckeye 3,566; 10. Elyria 3,314; 11. Lorain 3,226 HIGH SERIES: 1. Joey Scanion (Berea-Midpark), 662; 2. Christian Stuver (North Olmsted), 635; 3. Alex Fedyszyn (Midview), 633; 4. Steven Demchak (Olmsted Falls), 632; 5. JP Gregory (Amherst), 622; 6. Zachary Zakrajsek (Amherst), 608; 7. Aidan Ridding (Avon), 606; 8. Mason Garner (Berea-Midpark), 599; 9. Micah Mercado (Amherst), 598; 10. Collin Ellis (Berea-Midpark), 598; 11. Aiden Bedrock (Elyria), 598; 12. Jacek Gomez (Avon Lake), 584. OTHER TOP LOCALS: 13. JJ Toth (Avon Lake), 581; 14. Cam Thorpe (Avon Lake), 580; 15. Spencer Fife (Midview), 576; 16. Brenton Dill (Avon), 575; 18. Evan Molloy (Avon Lake), 567 HIGH GAME: 1. Ellis, 256; 2. Scanio, 247; 3. Demchak, 240; 4. Fedyszyn, 237; 5. Stuver, 234; 6. Dill, 228; 7. Shane Corpus (Avon), 226; 8. Zakrajsek, 225; 9. James Jones (Olmsted Falls), 223; 10. Clayton, 215. OTHER TOP LOCALS: 12. Bedrock, 214; 13. Fife. 214; 14. Molloy, 213; 17. Gregory, 212; 18. Mercado, 211; 19. Toth, 211; 20. Thorpe, 211 Division 2TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Firelands 4,190; 2. Clearview 3,738 (452 pins behind); 3. Lutheran West 3,609; 4. Keystone 3,511; 5. Wellington 3,299; 6. Open Door 3,288; 7. Brookside 3,245; 8. Black River 2,966; 9. Elyria Catholic 2,626; 10. Columbia 1,980 HIGH SERIES: 1. Josh Maslanich (Lutheran West), 685; 2. Drew Johnson (Open Door), 668; 3. Thomas Ulrich (Firelands), 624; 4. Josh Moran (Keystone), 608; 5. Brandon Rutkowski (Wellington), 587; 6. Alex Kyer (Firelands), 581; 7. Patrick Robles (Clearview), 575; 8. Michael Bilczo (Brookside), 563; 9. Eli Ross (Keystone), 555; 10. Drew Staller (Clearview), 549; 11. Mike Smith (Firelands), 545; 12. Mason Clapp (Brookside), 523; 13. Logan Klamer (Clearview), 523; 14. Conner Cordy (Firelands), 520; 15. Ryan Graves (Black River), 503; 16. Brayden Nieding (Wellington), 503; 17. Hayden Spence (Keystone), 498; 18. Aleks Boardwine (Open Door), 490; 19. Brandon Davison (Wellington), 485; 20. Ben Strelau (Black River), 475 HIGH GAME: 1. Moran, 253; 2. Maslanich, 238; 3. Johnson, 234; 4. Rutkowski, 234; 5. Bilczo, 231; 6. Robles, 221; 7. Ulrich, 219; 8. Patrick Tanner (Lutheran West), 214; 9. Kyer, 213; 10. Clapp, 204; 11. Ross, 204; 12. Gage Gallant (Clearview), 201; 13. Staller, 196; 14. Smith, 194; 15. Owen Bammerlin (Elyria Catholic), 192; 16. Boardwine, 191; 17. Klamer, 188; 18. Jacob Bolyard (Firelands), 188; 19. Patrick Donahue (Lutheran West), 187; 20. Davison, 185 GirlsDivision 1TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Amherst 3,621; 2. Buckeye 3,255 (366 pins behind); 3. North Olmsted 3,239; 4. Avon Lake 3,211; 5. Berea-Midpark 3,162; 6. North Ridgeville 2,924; 7. Olmsted Falls 2,924; 8. Avon 2,714; 9. Lorain 2,603; 10. Midview 2,572; 11. Elyria 1,926 HIGH SERIES: 1. Kilee Falish (Avon), 619; 2. Makayla Velasquez (Amherst), 590; 3. Allison Taylor (Amherst), 559; 4. Amber Gall (North Olmsted), 554; 5. Hannah Aschenbach (Amherst), 545; 6. Audrey Share (Avon Lake), 545; 7. Andrea Guzowski (Berea-Midpark), 537; 8. Bella Anzevino (Buckeye), 523; 9. Raychel Buettner (Midview), 516; 10. Marissa Jones (Berea-Midpark), 499; 11. Sienna Mangum (North Olmsted), 498; 12. Olivia Persico (Avon Lake), 497; 13. Danielle Boyer (Lorain), 495; 14. Grace Gallagher (Avon Lake), 490; 15. Taylor Radon (Buckeye), 479; 16. AJ Kinter (North Ridgeville), 474; 17. Melissa Nunez (Amherst), 469; 18. Katherine Dull (Lorain), 468; 19. Allie Klodny (North Ridgeville), 464; 20. Abby Schuerger (Avon Lake), 454 HIGH GAME: 1. Gall, 226; 2. Falish, 223; 3. Taylor, 214; 4. Elaney Condosta (Olmsted Falls), 214; 5. Velasquez, 212; 6. Persico, 211; 7. Anzevino, 206; 8. Buettner, 205; 9. Share, 203; 10. Dull, 203; 11. Guzowski, 201; 12. Aschenbach, 193; 13. Kinter, 190; 14. Boyer, 181; 15. Mallory Carroll (Olmsted Falls), 180; 16. Aubree Marchant (Midview), 179; 17. Jones, 177; 18. Mangum, 177; 19. Nunez, 172; 20. Gallagher, 172 Division 2TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Wellington 3,161; 2. Open Door 3,063 (98 pins behind); 3. Firelands 2,963; 4. Brookside 2,879; 5. Keystone 2,747; 6. Black River 2,433; 7. Lutheran West 2,421; 8. Elyria Catholic 2,376; 9. Columbia 1,960; 10. Clearview 1,501 HIGH SERIES: 1. Whitney Kirschner (Wellington), 598; 2. Lesi Leskovska (Firelands), 501; 3. Allison Skalba (Open Door), 497; 4. Trinity Farr (Wellington), 493; 5. Payton Clapp (Brookside), 492; 6. Mandy DeWitt (Firelands), 476; 7. Gabriella Riba (Open Door), 475; 8. Sky Zavatsky (Lutheran West), 466; 9. Heather Reininger (Wellington), 465; 10. Abby Davis (Brookside), 464; 11. Anna Koglman (Open Door), 464; 12. Gabby Salkowitz (Clearview), 438; 13. Alyssa Ortiz (Elyria Catholic), 434; 14. Gabby Reaser (Keystone), 430; 15. Saige Green (Brookside), 417; 16. Ginny Reaser (Keystone), 412; 17. Irene Norton-Miller (Keystone), 400; 18. Aubrey West (Firelands), 398; 19. Julia Colton (Lutheran West), 394; 20. Phoenix Navarro (Clearview), 383 HIGH GAME: 1. Kirschner, 217; 2. Skalba, 194; 3. Leskovska, 191; 4. Zavatsky, 191; 5. Davis, 188; 6. DeWitt, 182; 7. Salkowitz, 181; 8. Riba, 179; 9. Clapp, 177; 10. Farr, 176; 11. Ortiz, 174; 12. Gabby Reaser, 172; 13. Koglman, 169; 14. Reininger, 169; 15. Navarro, 159; 16. Ginny Reaser, 159; 17. Green, 156; 18. West, 151; 19. Colton, 150; 20. Jie Jie Harp (Open Door), 149