H.S. Bowling: County schools have great day at league tourney

This story has been edited to correct Jacek Gomez's year in school. He is a junior at Avon Lake High School. LORAIN — County schools dominated the 20th annual North Shore Bowling Conference Tournament at Rebman Rec. Despite a challenging sport pattern, local teams controlled the action Sunday in the Division 1 and 2 fields. The Amherst girls led the way, winning their fourth straight Division 1 title and fifth overall. The Amherst boys won Division 1 for the second time in three years and third time overall. For Division 2, the Clearview boys and Firelands girls carried the torch. The Clearview boys won their second title, the other in 2018. The Firelands girls also captured their second title, the other in 2017. The Amherst girls trailed North Olmsted by 65 pins (813-748) after the first game but rebounded nicely to lead the Eagles by 108 pins through three games. The Comets put the pedal down in Baker to win by 369 pins. The Comets' Baker total of 1,087 was 155 pins better than the next-best team (Buckeye, 932). Junior Ally Taylor led the Amherst girls, finishing No. 2 overall for high series with 578, including a high game of 213. Junior Sabrina Stawicki (550), senior Hannah Aschenbach (509), sophomore Melissa Nunez (483) and junior Amanda McElheny (445) finished Nos. 3, 9, 12 and 19 overall. "It was tough," said Taylor. "I missed a couple of makeables today. The adjustments seemed like it didn't really do what it was supposed to. We struggled but we picked it up. "I think everyone was a little bit tired. We just didn't make our spares. We definitely can do better." The Amherst boys won Division 1 by holding off Avon Lake 4,051 to 3,990. The Comets were led by senior JP Gregory and sophomore Micah Mercado. Gregory rolled the No. 2 series of the day with a 644 and had the tournament's high game with a 268. Mercado was Amherst's No. 2 bowler and No. 7 overall with a 614. Gregory, a 2022 Division I state qualifier, went with his seldom-used third ball after warm-ups. "Even though I haven't thrown it much since I got it in the past year I had to get it to work," he said. "Overall, I felt very confident and was just staying relaxed and slow." Mercado also found a good line. "It was a challenging lane pattern," he said. "The outside was hooking so I had to play inside a lot, around the second arrow. I just needed to be consistent following through into my phase. I just stuck to my good, positive attitude and went with my team." The Amherst boys led second-place Berea-Midpark by 152 pins through three regular games, 2,958 to 2,806. The Comets rolled 1,093 in the six-round Baker to outlast Avon Lake. The Shoremen were in third with 2,766 after three games and were 192 pins back before rallying to second place with a 1,224 Baker. "It was exciting from the word 'go,'" said Amherst coach Steve Taylor, Ally's dad. "We got off to a great start and then it was just about maintaining the lead." The Clearview boys won their second Division 2 title by outdistancing Lutheran West by 83 pins, 3,916 to 3,833. Junior Drew Staller (659) and senior Patrick Robles (654) were the catalysts for the Clippers. Clearview led Lutheran West by 74 pins through three games, 2,862 to 2,788, then held on to win. "We really struggled in the Baker," said Robles. "We struggled with spares. What brought it together was (Staller) had some big games, I had some big games and so did junior Anthony Rodriguez (575 series), so I think that really helped." "It was just great team effort," said Staller. "Overall we bowled very well. There were some bumps, some obstacles we had to deal with, but I think as an entire team we bowled very well." The Firelands girls were the class of the Division 2 field, blowing past Lutheran West by 400 pins, 3,353 to 2,953. Freshman Katie Smith (516), senior Lesi Leskovska (472), junior Hailey Hilton (463) and senior Ashlee Deremiah (430) led Firelands' efforts and they finished Nos. 4, 8, 11 and 16 for high series. "We work well as a team," said Smith. "Everyone gets along well and we all have positive attitudes. I know how to put my feet on the boards and I know how to hit my marks. Making adjustments wasn't easy, but I know how to do it. Today I made my way through it." "The girls pulled through. They did well," said first-year Firelands coach Willie Smith, Katie's dad. "They practice hard. Today was a different shot than what they were used to, so we had to make some adjustments. All in all, I think they did well." Lorain County also fared well in singles action. Avon senior Kilee Falish (Division 1) and Wellington junior Whitney Kirschner (Division 2) repeated as winners. Falish rolled a 584 with a tournament-best game of 237. Kirschner bowled a 577 with a top game of 218, which was second in Division 2 to teammate Heather Reininger (247). "Switching up my balls helped," said Falish, a two-time district qualifier. "I switched three different times. They just weren't working so I changed. I felt pretty confident on the shot once I got ahold of what I was doing." "It was a struggle," said Kirschner, also a two-time district qualifier. "The lane conditions were definitely a lot harder this year. My ball wasn't reacting the way I wanted it to. I had to move a whole bunch. I had to stay in my head and not get too frustrated with my ball and throw my whole game." Avon Lake junior Jacek Gomez had the No. 1 series for Division 1 boys, rolling a 664 as he finished 49 pins over average. Last year Gomez finished 12th at the NSBC tournament with a 584. Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Division 1 Boys Team scores 1. Amherst 4,051; 2. Avon Lake 3,990; 3. Berea-Midpark 3,924; 4. Midview 3,918; 5. Olmsted Falls 3,810; 6. Medina 3,788; 7. Buckeye 3,745; 8. North Olmsted 3,691; 9. Avon 3,572; 10. North Ridgeville 3,566; 11. Lakewood 3,526; 12. Elyria 3,194; 13. Lorain 2,823 High series 1, Jacek Gomez (Avon Lake), 664; 2. JP Gregory (Amherst), 644; 3. Alex Fedydszyn (Midview), 637; 4. Brandon Poore (Olmsted Falls), 635; 5. Dominic Sprungl (North Ridgeville), 625; 6. Justin Lacquement (Lakewood), 616; 7. Micah Mercado (Amherst), 614; 8. Wyatt Kunz (Buckeye), 598; 9. Tara Teubl (Medina), 596; 10. Chase Gordon (Medina), 596; 11. Brendan Tinay (Berea-Midpark), 595; 12. Sammy Ellis (Berea-Midpark), 594; 13. Brenton Dill (Avon), 590; 14. Nathan Palos (Amherst), 585; 15. Will Bobek (Amherst), 581; 16. Austin Soukop (Berea-Midpark), 578; 17. Dylan Traylinek (Buckeye), 576; 18. Aiden Bedock (Elyria), 573; 19. Edwin Ortiz (Buckeye), 564; 20. Aiden Salkiewicz (Midview), 563 High game 1, Gregory, 268; 2. Sprungl, 266; 3. Gomez, 259; 4. Cam Thorpe (Avon Lake), 255; 5. Mason Invinskas (Lakewood), 246; 6. Jacob Lemmons (Olmsted Falls), 236; 7. Palos, 232; 8. Lacquement, 232; 9. Mercado, 231; 10. Henry Church (Lorain), 231; 11. Salkiewicz, 228; 12. Fedyszyn, 227; 13. Ellis, 225; 14. Kunz, 225; 15. Caleb McDonald (Buckeye), 225; 16. Poore, 225; 17. Teubl, 224; 18. Ortiz, 220; 19. Joe Trzaska (Lakewood), 220; 20. Ayden Amato (Elyria), 214 Girls Team scores 1, Amherst 3,652; 2. North Olmsted 3,283; 3. Buckeye 3,149; 4. Avon Lake 3,065; 5. North Ridgeville 3,047; 6. Berea-Midpark 2,867; 7. Avon 2,695; 8. Midview 2,480; 9. Lorain 2,401; 10. Lakewood 2,344; 11. Elyria 2,091 High series 1, Kilee Falish (Avon), 584; 2. Ally Taylor (Amherst), 578; 3. Sabrina Stawicki (Amherst), 550; 4. Andi Plowman (North Olmsted), 544; 5. Amber Gall (North Olmsted), 530; 6. Taylor Radon (Buckeye), 529; 7. Reese Berns (Avon Lake), 511; 8. Olivia Persico (Avon Lake), 520; 9. Hannah Aschenbach (Amherst), 509; 10. Marissa Jones (Berea-Midpark), 491; 11. Kiersten Wozniak (North Ridgeville), 491; 12. Melissa Nunez (Amherst), 483; 13. Ava Shell (Buckeye), 479; 14. Josie Cehelnik (North Ridgeville), 476; 15. Alissa Jacovetti (North Ridgeville), 461; 16. Abby Schuerger (Avon Lake), 458; 17. Patricia Ardelean (North Olmsted), 454; 18. Amanda McElheny (Amherst), 445; 19. TJ Ellis (Lorain), 445; 20. Paige Hall (Berea-Midpark), 443 High game 1, Falish, 237; 2. Persico, 222; 3. Aschenbach, 215; 4. Taylor, 213; 5. Grace Snahnnicon (North Olmsted), 213; 6. Radon, 200; 7. Nunez, 198; 8. Berns, 198; 9. Plowman, 198; 10. Cehelnik, 197; 11. Stawicki, 193; 12. Jacovetti, 192; 13. Gall, 189; 14. Katie Arth (Lakewood), 184; 15. Schuerger, 179; 16. Cesarski, 179; 17. Jones, 176; 18. Shell, 174; 19. Wozniak, 174; 20. McElheny, 169 Division 2 Boys Team scores 1, Clearview 3,916; 2. Lutheran West 3,833; 3. Firelands 3,755; 4. Wellington 3,417; 5. Fairview 3,348; 6. Keystone 3,315; 7. Open Door 3,167; 8. Black River 3,137; 9. Brookside 3,132; 10. Elyria Catholic 2,902; 11. Columbia 2,700 High series 1, Josh Maslanich (Lutheran West), 710; 2. Drew Staller (Clearview), 659; 3. Patrick Robles (Clearview), 654; 4. Andrew Brown-Carroll (Firelands), 600; 5. Cole Joseph (Fairview), 589; 6. Jacob Bolyard (Firelands), 589; 7. Mason Clapp (Brookside), 580; 8. Anthony Rodriguez (Clearview), 575; 9. Thomas Ulrich (Firelands), 574; 10. Anthony Coray (Lutheran West), 561; 11. Alex Rudnickas (Lutheran West), 559; 12. Eli Ross (Keystone), 541; 13. Kane Davison (Wellington), 541; 14. Marty Hoskin (Fairview), 539; 15. Reese Harrell (Wellington), 536; 16. Ryan Graves (Black River), 518; 17. Logan Klamer (Clearview), 510; 18. Landon Davison (Wellington), 490; 19. Gavin Williams (Firelands), 486; 20. Jacob Schurdell (Keystone), 462 High game 1, Maslanich, 268; 2. Rodriguez, 257; 3. Hoskin, 254; 4. Robles, 246; 5. Harrell, 240; 6. Staller, 234; 7. Bolyard, 234; 8. Brown-Carroll, 223; 9. Luke Swartz (Columbia), 217; 10. Joseph, 215; 11. Jeremy McKenzie (Elyria Catholic), 212; 12. Coray, 209; 13. Parker Loescher (Open Door), 207; 14. Clapp, 205; 15. Rudnickas, 202; 16. Graves, 200; 17. Ulrich, 199; 18. Zachary Smeal (Lutheran West), 195; 19. Aleks Boardwine (Open Door), 195; 20. Tyler Henderson (Firelands), 194 Girls Team scores 1, Firelands 3,353; 2. Lutheran West 2,953; 3. Wellington 2,935; 4. Open Door 2,810; 5. Keystone 2,806; 6. Brookside 2,606; 7. Fairview 2,494; 8. Black River 2,423; 9. Elyria Catholic 2,322; 10. Clearview 2,182; 11. Columbia 843 High series 1, Whitney Kirschner (Wellington), 577; 2. Payton Clapp (Brookside), 543; 3. Irene Norton-Miller (Keystone), 523; 4. Katie Smith (Firelands), 516; 5. Heather Reininger (Wellington), 516; 6. Sky Zavatsky (Lutheran West), 515; 7. Shu Shu Harp (Open Door), 504; 8. Lesi Leskovska (Firelands), 472; 9. Isa Penland (Lutheran West), 470; 10. Gabby Riba (Open Door), 464; 11. Hailey Hilton (Firelands), 463; 12. Bella Rudnickas (Lutheran West), 459; 13. Sarah Racut (Black River), 451; 14. Anna Koglman (Open Door), 443; 15. Marcella Orsini (Lutheran West), 434; 16. Ashlee Deremiah (Firelands), 430; 17. Georgia Ross (Fairview), 418; 18. Elizabeth Yates (Keystone), 414; 19. Kitty Hill (Wellington), 414; 20. Saige Green (Brookside), 396 High game 1, Reininger, 247; 2. Kirschner, 218; 3. Zavatsky, 209; 4. Penland, 205; 5. Clapp, 200; 6. Norton-Miller, 196; 7. Orsini, 182; 8. Smith, 181; 9. Harp, 177; 10. Deremiah, 168; 11. Leskovska, 165; 12. Hilton, 165; 13. Rudnickas, 163; 14. Hill, 163; 15. Racut, 162; 16. Riba, 162; 17. Ross, 159; 18. Koglman, 155; 19. Victoria Santana (Clearview), 154; 20. Mandy DeWitt (Firelands), 148