H.S. Bowling: Luke Slogar rolls 300 to lead Avon Lake boys to NSBC Lake Division tourney title

LORAIN — The Avon Lake boys and Amherst girls made nice rebounds Sunday at the North Shore Bowling Conference Lake Division Tournament at Rebman Rec. The Avon Lake boys charged back from last year's ninth-place finish to win the NSBC classic for the second time in three years as they outdistanced Amherst by 197 pins, 4,400 to 4,203. The Amherst girls rose from fifth last year to finish second, just 11 pins behind Buckeye (3,584 to 3,573), which won the NSBC tournament for the first time. Senior Luke Slogar was the catalyst for Avon Lake, which boasted five bowlers with 600 series. Slogar bowled a 300 game in the middle of his 688 series, as he went 195-300-193 to hold off Avon junior Bennett Ernst (255-180-237—672) for high series. "A lot of it is mindset," said Slogar, who bowled 85 pins over average. "I just got very sound in prayer. With help from my coach (Chaz Velasquez) for a ball switch that really brought things together for 19 (strikes) in a row." Slogar is the third Avon Lake boy to roll a 300 in a high school match, joining JJ Toth in 2021 at Rebman Rec and Andrew Lane in 2016 at Strikeout Lanes. "I changed to Stealth Mode. It's a pretty reactive solid," Slogar said of his ball. "I just took advantage of a different part of the lane from where I was." Slogar nailed the final six shots of his first game after the ball switch from NU Blu Hammer, then was perfect in the second game. "Lane conditions changed and I had to switch over," he said. Freshman Cooper Poling (628), senior Jeffrey Toth (619), junior William Sindelar (616) and sophomore Chris Richard (601) also eclipsed 600 for Avon Lake. "It was a huge team effort," said Slogar. "Incredible bowling from Jeffrey Toth. Key freshman player Cooper Poling pulled it together along with Chris Richard, who had that 602 series. That's what really brought it home was having that fifth spot secure. It's an incredible reflection of the team and how the season has gone." The Avon Lake boys led Amherst 3,152 to 3,054 after three regular games. The Shoremen extended their lead by outscoring the Comets in Baker 1,248 to 1,149. Through the regular games and Baker, Avon Lake's scoring average for 21 games was 209.5. "We practice two or three days a week besides our matches," Velasquez said. "Today it all clicked. I'll take it. "This is the second part of the season here. We have the SWC Tournament next weekend then sectionals the weekend after that. We just have to focus on one match, one tournament at a time." Junior Ethan Burich (662) and senior Brady Smith (647) paced the Amherst boys. The Amherst girls led Buckeye by 21 pins through three regular games, 2,608 to 2,587. The Comets extended their lead to 48 pins through three Baker before the Bucks outscored Amherst 165 to 154 in the fourth Baker and then 201 to 147 in the fifth Baker for a 65-pin swing. Amherst outscored Buckeye 157-151 in the sixth and final Baker but it wasn't enough. Amherst freshman Isabell Mendosa had the No. 1 series for girls. She rolled 177-231-245—653 to outdistance Buckeye senior Aubrey Reuter (235-188-215—638) and Amherst teammate Peyton Zakrajsek (575), a senior. Comets senior Kiara Taylor also finished in the top six with a 553. "I was surprised with how my ball reacted but I think I did very well," said Mendosa, who was 143 pins above average. "These lanes are kind of oily for my ball. My ball reacts so much that it's sometimes hard to get strikes, but I'm proud of myself that I got strikes. When I threw the ball by the gutter, it literally turned left. "Overall the team performed very well. We just came up short, but it's OK. At the end of the day we did very well." Amherst was attempting to win a record sixth NSBC tournament. The Comets won in 2013, then four in a row from 2021-24. North Olmsted is the only other girls team with as many as five wins at the NSBC classic. "I thought they did a great job and gave everything they had," said Amherst girls coach Terri Burich, Ethan's mom. "Every one of them bowled over average. It was a great performance. It was nice that our pairs (with Buckeye) were side-by-side right at the end. We were able to kind of see neck-and-neck what was going on." The Midview girls came up short in their title defense as they placed fourth with 3,392. Sophomore Olivia Price led the Middies with a 529 series. "We all worked together very well and cheered each other on," said Price. "As we moved on I thought we made decent adjustments to the changing lane conditions." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Lake Division (Division I size schools) Boys Team scores 1. Avon Lake 4,400; 2. Amherst 4,203; 3. Olmsted Falls, 4,195; 4. North Olmsted 4,035; 5. Buckeye 4,006; 6. Avon 3,953; 7. Berea-Midpark 3,778; 8. North Ridgeville 3,768; 9. Midview 3,661; 10. Elyria 3,390; 11. Westlake 3.172; 12. Brunswick 3,122 High series Luke Slogar (Avon Lake), 688; Bennett Ernst (Avon), 672; Ethan Burich (Amherst), 662; Shawn Stetler (Berea-Midpark) and John Ambrose (Buckeye), 660; Brady Smith (Amherst), 647; Ty Cammenga (North Olmsted), 646; Johnny Birch (Olmsted Falls), 644; Matthew Jernejcic (Olmsted Falls), 630; Cooper Poling (Avon Lake), 628; Jeffrey Toth (Avon Lake) and Nathan Nudelman (Olmsted Falls), 619; William Sindelar (Avon Lake), 616; Jakob Holland (North Ridgeville), 615; Garrett Smith (Amherst), 611; Chris Richard (Avon Lake) and Aiden Salkiewicz (Midview), 601; Alex Marconi (Buckeye), 600; Mikey Jernejcic (Olmsted Falls), 594; Kevin Peto (North Ridgeville), 589; Trenton Roberts (Amherst) and Connor McKitrick (Elyria), 580; Andrew Gutschow (Olmsted Falls), 576; Nick Sanchez (Avon), 559; Grant Taylor (Amherst), 554; Grady Stipe (Avon), 520 High game Slogar, 300; Birch, 286; Cammenga, 266; Ernst, 255; Poling, 248; Matthew Jernejcic, 245; Nudelman, 244; Burich and Brady Smith, 239; Salkiewicz, 235; Stetler, 232; Brady Smith, 226; Peto and Brady Tabar (North Olmsted), 224; Roberts, 223; Mike Jernejcic, 221; Toth, 218; Garrett Smith, 217; Holland, 215; Richard, 210; McKitrick and Aidan Corbin (Midview), 206; Grant Taylor, 203; Stipe, 202 Girls Team scores1. Buckeye 3,584; 2. Amherst 3,573 (11 pins behind); 3. North Olmsted 3,476; 4. Midview 3,392; 5. North Ridgeville 3,199; 6. Berea-Midpark 3,147; 7. Avon 2,993; 8. Olmsted Falls 2,943; 9. Westlake 2,720; 10. Elyria 2,452; 11. Avon Lake 1,741; 12. Brunswick 1,357 High series Isabell Mendosa (Amherst), 653; Aubrey Reuter (Buckeye), 638; Peyton Zakrajsek (Amherst), 575; Andi Plowman (North Olmsted), 563; Riley Onyx (Buckeye), 560; Kiara Taylor (Amherst), 553; Olivia Price (Midview), 529; Leah Pehotsky (Olmsted Falls), 527; Nicolette Camp (North Olmsted), 525; Bailey Starkey (North Ridgeville), 517; Riley Brophy (Berea-Midpark) and Anna Wren (North Olmsted), 510; Mady Schafrath (Midview), 489; Jordyn Sprague (Midview), 484; Juliet Triplett (Avon), 475; Grace Freeman (Avon), 473; Sophia Harrison (Berea-Midpark), 471; Emily Ratzel (Avon Lake) and Amanda Shi (Westlake), 470; Kimara McCree (Berea-Midpark) and Mabelin Miller (North Olmsted), 469; Gabriella Burz (North Ridgeville), 466 High game Mendosa, 245; Reuter, 235; Zakrajsek, 220; Triplett, 217; Taylor, 214; Plowman, 205; Pehotsky, 204; Onyx, 193; Starkey, 191; Price, 188; Burz and Addison Fry (Buckeye), 184; Brophy and Camp, 181