Boys bowling: Amherst's J.P. Gregory and Avon's Brenton Dill headed to state

A third and a fifth added up to a first and a second Monday at the Division I district bowling tournament. Amherst's J.P. Gregory turned in a 710 series with games of 227, 236 and 247 at Roseland Lanes in Oakwood Village to land the third of six individual state berths and become the first Comets boy to make it to state since bowling became an Ohio High School Athletic Association-sanctioned sport in 2006-07. Avon's Brenton Dill earned the fifth qualifying spot with a 693 (214-268-211) to make it to state for the second straight season. He was 10th at last year's state tournament, earning All-Ohio honors. The state tournament is March 11 at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. "I knew what I had to do coming into the tournament to advance so I gave it my all and it paid off," said Gregory, a junior. "The lane conditions today were just all different across the board. The first set of lines we were on I figured it out but not fully to where I could trust the ball completely." A district qualifier as a freshman, Gregory rebounded from an off tournament performance a year ago by bowling 98 pins above average. "As we moved each pair I had to adjust a little to the left or a little to the right to make sure I could get around the pocket," Gregory said. "It feels great to be able to go out and support my school and community, giving it all for what I love doing." Dill, also a junior, finished 24 pins above average. "A few things weren't working for me today but I mentally handled them to the best of my capability and it helped," he said. "A big second game helped. Converting a big 6-7 split in the third game helped, too. I adjusted well enough to the lanes but with a few more inconsistent throws than I would like." The day was somewhat bittersweet for Dill. He was happy to qualify to state again, but the Eagles struggled in the Baker round as a team after holding the sixth and final qualifying position through three regular games. The Eagles finished ninth out of 19 teams with a score of 4,041, 79 pins from qualifying. Amherst was 11th with 3,917. Other top bowlers for Avon were Jack Tippy (27th, 606), senior Aidan Reding (29th, 602), junior Leo Walters (58th, 537) and junior Jacob Love (66th, 528). Rounding out top bowlers for Amherst were senior Logan Stewart (46th, 561), freshman Micah Mercado (62nd, 532) and senior Zackary Zakrajsek (66th, 528). Midview sophomore Alex Fedyszyn was 31st with a 598 series. Through three regular games, Avon was right in contention. But in the Baker round, Avon had just a 1,075 (161-167-184-203-166-194) for a 179 average. "It was truly heartbreaking the team fell short with all the hard work everybody put forth," Dill said. "It just goes back to the importance of making spares which every person struggled with at some point today. Collectively we weren't able to get it done." Nordonia won the tournament with a score of 4,342, with Boardman (4,215), Perry (4,179), Berea-Midpark (4,177), Canton McKinley (4,171) and Padua (4,120) rounding out the six team qualifiers to Columbus. The team competition for the sixth and final spot was fierce to say the least. Padua was nearly 200 pins behind in 12th place going into the Baker round but put on a tremendous rally with a score of 1,355. Medina Highland just missed advancing by five pins with a total of 4,115. Willoughby South missed by only 18 with a score of 4,102. "The team put in a ton of time practicing all sorts of things this season," Dill said. "It just comes down to one tournament and at that point either you do or you don't. Sometimes it's just not your day." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.