High school bowling: Open Door's Gabriella Riba has high hopes for first state tournament

Gabriella Riba has been in plenty of big-time bowling tournaments. A bowler since age 8, the Open Door junior has competed in Junior Tournament Bowlers Association, Greater Cleveland Youth Association and Lorain County United States Bowling Conference tournaments. Still, this is something new: The Division II state tournament. "I'm focusing on keeping myself in the moment," Riba said. "I'm taking in everything I can because it's my first time going. I've put in a lot of hard work with my coaches over the summer and then also during the season. In addition to our scheduled practices I also scheduled more practice time on my own so I could get in more work." Riba qualified for Saturday's tournament at HP Lanes in Columbus by finishing second out of four individual qualifiers with a 609 series at the Northeast district tournament last week at Rebman Recreation. That came after she rolled a 595 series to win the sectional tournament and lead the Patriots to second place as a team Feb. 11 at Medina AMF. A three-time district qualifier, Riba finished 15th as an individual at last year's district tournament at Stonehedge Lanes in Cuyahoga Falls. She also helped the Patriots win their first North Shore Bowling Division 2 Conference title, sharing honors with Firelands as both teams finished 16-1. "For me, staying on top of my mental game and remaining calm is key," she said. "Sometimes I get really amped up when I bowl right so I have to keep myself calm so I can make the right move, make the right shot and not pull the ball." Riba is the first Open Door bowler to reach the state tournament since Selena Frazier twice earned second-team All-Ohio (top 10) honors, finishing sixth in 2015 and seventh in 2017. Riba also plays volleyball and softball, but bowling is No. 1 for her. Maybe that's because she comes from a family of bowlers in her dad, Frank Jr., and her grandparents, Frank Sr. and Alma Riba. "I'm hoping that I get high numbers for state," Riba said. "This is my first time going ... so the nerves are definitely going to be high. If I don't do well there's always next year but I really do hope that I get high numbers this year." Her dad also has high hopes for her. "After just missing state last year, Gab has worked very hard this past year on bettering herself to get there," he said. "Keys for Gab is to stay in the moment, stay focused on her game and get ahead of lane transitions as they happen. She has a great coach in Mark Frazier that's helped her tremendously. If she does these things I have no doubt that Gabriella will do well. We're so proud of her and her accomplishments." Frazier hosted weekly clinics at Nautical Lanes over the summer and Riba attended nearly every one of them. "We worked on ball drills, drills like one-step approach and work on timing," Frazier said. "We did little workstations. "The training programs are hooked up through Skype to where you can see where you throw the ball and study or see approach on your phone. ... Our high school program has really come along. We're up to about 30 kids and have two junior varsity teams, compared to when Selena bowled for the team there were only about three other girls." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.