High school bowling: Amherst boys win sectional championship while Comets girls place second

PARMA HTS. — Amherst was swinging for the fences Sunday at Yorktown Lanes and almost came away with a sweep. The Comets boys were on fire from the start and won its third sectional championship in four years to advance to the district tournament for the ninth straight year after taking the team trophy at the Division I sectional bowling tournament. Amherst amassed a 4,604 pinfall to outdistance runner-up Berea-Midpark (4,405) by 199 pins. Padua (4,304) took third while Avon Lake (4,188) rallied in Baker to edge North Royalton (4,168) and North Ridgeville (4,157) for the fourth and final qualifying spot. The Amherst girls were also on fire but had to settle for second place. North Olmsted won its first sectional since 2018 with a 3,786 pinfall. The Comets scored 3,586, while North Ridgeville finished third with 3,329 and notched its second straight district berth. Padua (3,308) held off Magnificat (3,287) by 21 pins for the fourth and final qualifying spot. The Amherst boys were led by senior Brady Smith (202-262-279-743), junior Ethan Burich (257-224-248-729) and senior Grant Taylor (232-236-246-714) who grabbed the top three singles spots. All three finished ahead of Padua sophomore Zachary Mayne (690), the defending Division I state singles champ. "We bowled great, but you can always improve," Smith said. "My first game, 202, wasn't that great. I struggled in the second game a little bit on the front nine. I had an open, but you can't worry about it. You just keep bowling." Smith finished 83 over average, Burich was 78 pins over while Taylor was 69 pins above average. "For me personally, I picked up my spares, most of them," Burich said. "That was the best part in my opinion. All three of us were all very consistent throughout. It's nice to be a part of the team." Amherst won its first sectional in 2023 at Brunswick AMF in North Ridgeville with a 4,281 pinfall. It repeated the following year at Spevock's Nautical Lanes with a 4,305 pinfall. The Comets advanced to state both those years, placing 10th in 2023 and 16th in 2024. "It's good to be in this atmosphere," Taylor said. "We keep pushing each other whether it's in tournaments or practice. We always get on each other about not doing enough or what we need to work on. When we come out here it shows. Like making sure Ethan is working on his spares. He makes sure I'm working on things that I need to work on, just building each other up. "Spare bowling is something we drill in at every practice. I think it's something that's going to take us far this year and something we always need to keep working on. The best thing we can take from this is to take the same team energy level like we had in Baker today. It's a great group of guys and we all get along very well. It's nice to be a part of it." Last year Amherst finished third at the Lorain sectional hosted by Rebman Rec to qualify for districts with a 4,104 pinfall. "Every player really gets along," said Amherst boys coach Steve Taylor, Grant's father. "If they're not having a good day, they don't take it out on the rest player. They just let someone else step up to the plate. It makes all the difference. They are all team players and it really shows this year." Junior Trenton Roberts (33rd, 541) and senior Garrett Smith (39th, 565), Brady's twin brother, rounded out the Amherst top five. Senior Peyton Zakrajsek (572) led the Amherst girls as she finished No. 5 for high series. "It's an amazing feeling. I couldn't be happier," she said. "I was able to go to state my sophomore year. I can't wait to try to go back. I'm so excited. "The key today was listening to each other. Everyone's line is different. Everyone is throwing different things. It's just all about helping each other out, communicating, checking with our coaches always and keeping each other hyped up." Amherst senior Kiara Taylor (543), freshman Isabell Mendosa (513) and senior Sophia Chapman (467) finished Nos. 8, 18 and 30, respectively, for high series. "The girls did great," said Amherst girls coach Teri Burich, Ethan's mom. "We had some rough times, too. We had a girl that wasn't feeling well. Each of them picked each other up. They don't get down on each other. They cheer each other on. It's all about the next frame. We just kept moving on." It's the sixth time in seven years that the Amherst girls advanced to the district tournament. The Comets missed qualifying by only 23 pins last season, taking fifth. The Avon Lake boys and North Ridgeville girls were the other Lorain County teams that qualified. The Shoremen advanced for the third time in four years. They rebounded from a rough 10th-place sectional finish a year ago. They were led by seniors Jeff Toth (662) and Luke Slogar (599), who finished Nos. 8 and 28, respectively, for high series. Avon Lake was in seventh place after three regular games with a 2,897 pinfall and 113 pins from qualifying. The Shoremen rallied by having the second-highest Baker with a score of 1,291. "The kids grinded all day," Avon Lake boys coach Chaz Velasquez said. "I knew what we needed to do. I told them to take it one frame at time. We came out hot in Baker. We had one bad pair (150), but I told them to keep plugging away because I knew it was close. Every pin counts. I'm very proud of the kids." Junior Gabriella Burz (549) and senior Bailey Starkey (519) led the North Ridgeville girls as the two finished Nos. 7 and 14, respectively, for high series. Burz and Starkey both were 39 pins over average. "There's no words that describe this except it feels very good," Burz said. "Definitely spares helped us. We missed a few spares in Baker but overall the key was being consistent. Today we were mentally very tough." Avon senior Ava Benninghofen finished No. 2 (578) out of the girls four singles qualifiers while Midview sophomore Addison Salkiewicz (522) was No. 4. Benninghofen was 140 pins over average and had the high game for the tournament as she opened with a career-high 279. She's the Eagles' first girls district qualifier since Kilee Falish in 2023. "Honestly whenever I'm on a roll I can just keep going," Benninghofen said. "I was just very consistent doing the same thing and I was able to maintain the strikes. This is only my second year on the team. I had bowled off and on for years with my friends, but nothing serious." North Ridgeville senior Kevin Peto was Lorain County's lone singles qualifier on the boys side. Peto rolled 660 to finish third out of the four singles to advance. Peto was a Division I state qualifier last year as a team member. Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Boys TEAM SCORES: 1. Amherst 4,604; 2. Berea-Midpark 4,405; 3. Padua 4,304; 4. Avon Lake 4,188; 5. North Royalton 4,168 (20 pins behind); 6. North Ridgeville 4,157; 7. North Olmsted 4,144; 8. Olmsted Falls 4,122; 9. Avon 3,943; 10. Lakewood 3,879; 11. Brecksville 3,855; 12. Midview 3,765; 13. St. Edward 3,553; 14. Westlake 3,443; 15. Elyria 3,422; 16. Lorain 2,848. INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: 1. Matthew Jernejcic (Olmsted Falls), 675; 2. Hayden Waywerka (North Royalton), 665; 3. Kevin Peto (North Ridgeville), 660; 4. Gavin Fallat (North Olmsted), 651. HIGH SERIES: 1. Brady Smith (Amherst), 743; 2. Ethan Burich (Amherst), 729; 3. Grant Taylor (Amherst), 714. Other top local bowlers: 8. Jeff Toth (Avon Lake), 662; 9. Peto, 660; 12. Conor Nowak (Midview), 648; 15. Bennett Ernst (Avon), 637; 21. Jakob Holland (North Ridgeville), 617; 24. Aiden Salkiewicz (Midview), 607; 27. Grady Stipe (Avon), 600; 28. Luke Slogar (Avon Lake), 599; 33. Trenton Roberts (Amherst), 581; 35. Henry Chapman (North Ridgeville), 580; 37. Aidan Corbin (Midview), 570; 39. Garrett Smith (Amherst), 565. HIGH GAME: 1. Brady Smith, 279; 2. Hayden Wanyerka (North Royalton), 266; Burich, 257; 3. Grant Taylor, Luke Nedoma (Berea-Midpark) and Vince McIntosh (Padua), 246. Other top local bowlers: Cooper Poling (Avon Lake), 238; Ernst and Austin Cork (North Ridgeville), 236; Toth and Salkiewicz, 234; Holland, 226; Peto, 225; Stipe, 219; Corbin, 218; Chapman, 212; Slogar, Garrett Smith, Noah Brady (Midview), TJ Allen (Lorain) and Trenton Roberts, 211; Liam Amato (Elyria) and Nickolas Sanchez (Avon), 210. GirlsTEAM SCORES: 1. North Olmsted 3,798; 2. Amherst 3,586; 3. North Ridgeville 3,329; 4. Padua 3,308; 5. Magnificat 3,287 (21 pins behind); 6. Avon 3,241; 7. Midview 3,226; 8. Berea-Midpark 3,209; 9. Brecksville 3,052; 10. Westlake 2,995; 11. North Royalton 2,758; 12. Holy Name 2,601; 13. Elyria 2,465. INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: 1. Eleanor Zbiegen (Magnificat), 592; 2. Ava Benninghofen (Avon), 578; 3. Riley Brophy (Berea-Midpark), 537; 4. Addison Salkiewicz (Midview), 522. HIGH SERIES: 1. Andi Plowman (North Olmsted), 674; 1. Grace Metzger (North Olmsted), 645; 3. Zbiegen, 592; 4. Benninghofen, 578; 5. Peyton Zakrajsek (Amherst), 572. Other top local bowlers: 7. Gabriella Burz (North Ridgeville), 549; 8. Kiara Taylor (Amherst), 543; 11. Salkiewicz, 522; 12. Grace Freeman (Avon), 521; 14. Bailey Starkey (North Ridgeville), 519; 18. Isabell Mendosa (Amherst), 513; 23. Olivia Price (Midview), 483; 25. Molly McEwen (Avon), 481; 29. Kaylani Carrucini (Midview), 467; 30. Sophia Chapman (Amherst), 467; 31. Emily Ratzel (Avon Lake), 456; 39. Mady Schafrath (Midview), 432. HIGH GAME: 1. Benninghofen, 267; 2. Metzger, 254; 3. Zakrajsek (Amherst), 250; 4. Plowman, 247. Other top local bowlers: Freeman, 233; Taylor, 215; Carrucini, 187; Ratzel, 186; Mendosa, 183; Starkey and McEwen, 182; Price, 180.