Amherst, Avon Lake advance to the state tournament in boys bowling

LORAIN — For the third time in four years, Amherst and Avon Lake are headed to the Division I boys state bowling tournament. Amherst (4,246) and Avon Lake (4,222) finished third and fifth, respectively, out of the five team qualifiers at Sunday's Division I Northeast district tournament to advance to the state tournament March 7 at HP Lanes in Columbus. Boardman defended its title with a 4,360 pinfall. Uniontown Lake (4,303) and St. Ignatius (4,223) were the other team qualifiers. Avon Lake senior Jeffrey Toth racked up the No. 1 high series for the tournament held at Rebman Recreation. Toth rolled a 275-182-268-725 series for the district title. Wadsworth junior Hayden Eagon-Mohlmaster (206-221-289-716) and Olmsted Falls junior Matt Jernejcic (227-216-258-701) rounded out the top three. Shoremen senior Luke Slogar (225-247-212-684) also finished in the top 10 at No. 9. Junior Ethan Burich (246-217-287-650) and senior Garrett Smith (188-242-214-644) led the Comets as they finished Nos. 13th and 16th, respectively, for high series. "We struggled a lot. Some of us are sick," Burich said. "We didn't bowl great but we did enough to move on. There's a lot of great schools here. It's my first year on the team but for some of my teammates that are seniors, it's their last year on the team so it's nice that we can go on that far." Amherst came up 89 pins shy of a third straight trip to state last year as it finished eighth. "It feels pretty good. We fell one step short last year. This year hopefully we're going to win it all," Smith said. "Lanes were a little tough but our team performed the way we had to. Our spare games were pretty good today. We had a lot of good shots. Energy was good. It feels good, especially to be a part of one of the best teams in Amherst history. State is going to be about spares but we also have to be able to strike. It's going to be a strike shootout." Amherst finished 10th at the 2023 state tournament and 16th in 2024. Avon Lake was 14th at state in 2023, and state runner-up in 2024 after losing to defending champ Centerville 3-2 in the state title match in a best-of-five Baker elimination round. "We have the flu bug through the whole team," Amherst coach Steve Taylor said. "As soon as we get through that we'll be OK. We'll be OK no matter what. We have a great group of kids that are fabulous spare shooters and they can strike under pressure. "We'll be ready. That's the goal (for state). Make match play (top eight). We'll give all we got. I feel confident. If everything goes their way, they'll be fine. Now that we're there we just have to get ready for the day." It was also quite a day for both Toth and Slogar. Toth was 71 pins over average. Slogar was 81 pins over average. "We pushed through. It was great," Toth said. "I'm thankful for my coaches obviously. Chaz (Velasquez), he is always putting the right ball in my hand and just letting me be me out there. My team did pretty well today. They are always picking me up. We're always picking them up. I would like to thank my pro shop, too. Aqua Marine Pro Shop. They get me with the right equipment." Last year for Toth and Slogar's junior years, it was a very rough finish. After finishing second in the state as sophomores, Avon Lake didn't manage to get out of sectionals as it placed 10th and 311 pins from the fourth and final qualifying spot. "It's all I can wish for it and I'm so thankful for it," Toth said. "Last year was rough. That was the mindset coming into this. We had to be better than last year. We had to come through with a new team. Last year was pretty much an off day." "It feels great to go back for a third time," Slogar said. "We were rolling pretty strong last year and then it just didn't come together (for sectionals). This year we have a much stronger team. We pulled it together at sectionals and here. I think what happened last year at sectionals probably hung to Jeffrey and I to about now. To go out in a tiebreaker (at 2024 state) was the hardest bit of it. Bad ending ... but this is a new beginning. "The weight of being a senior is no joke. Mentorship as a role model on the team, just helping them out, helping where Coach Chaz can't always see and being able to connect with the younger kids a little bit more." Freshman Cooper Poling (17th, 644) also provided a big series for Avon Lake. Just like seniors Brady Smith (27th, 620) and Grant Taylor (32nd, 632) bolstered Amherst. "Today was definitely more of a grind than I would want it to be," Velasquez said. "We started off strong first game (1,037), but then dropped down to fourth. But the kids kept plugging. We had a good third game (1.075). We had 180 across the board for five Baker. I told the guys that we needed 220 for the last Baker and we came through with a 225. I'm very relieved and very happy for these kids. They put the work in all year. We'll see what happens in a couple of weeks." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. TEAM SCORES (top five advance to state tournament): 1. Boardman 4,360; 2. Uniontown Lake 4,303; 3. Amherst 4,246; 4. St. Ignatius 4,223; 5. Avon Lake 4,222; 6. Perry 4,108 (114 pins behind); 7. Berea-Midpark 4,107; 8. North Canton Hoover 4,092; 9. Austintown-Fitch 4,092; 10. Tallmadge 4,066; 11. Louisville 4,046; 12. Twinsburg 4,042; 13. Buckeye 3,871; 14. Padua 3,844; 15. Mentor 3,778; 16. Willoughby South 3,777; 17. Eastlake North 3,756; 18. Kent Roosevelt 3,745; 19. Walsh Jesuit 3,738; 20. Medina 3,600; 21. Solon 3,491. STATE SINGLES QUALIFIERS: 1. Hayden Eagon-Mohlmaster (Wadsworth), 716; 2. Matt Jernejcic (Olmsted Falls), 701; 3. Chase Jonke (Tallmadge), 699; 4. Jeremy Stapleton (Twinsburg), 695; 5. Owen Emerick (Louisville), 685. HIGH SERIES: 1. Jeffrey Toth (Avon Lake), 725; 2. Eagon-Molmaster, 716; 3. Jernejcic, 701. Other top local bowlers: 9. Luke Slogar (Avon Lake), 659; 13. Ethan Burich (Amherst), 650; 16. Garrett Smith (Amherst), 644; 17. Cooper Poling (Avon Lake), 644; 26. Brady Smith (Amherst), 620; 32. Grant Taylor (Amherst), 612; 34. Kevin Peto (North Ridgeville), 610; 57. Trenton Roberts (Amherst), 581.HIGH GAME: 1. Eagon-Mohlmaster, 289; 2. Toth, 275; 3. Jernejcic 258. Other top local bowlers: Slogar, 247; Burich, 246; Garrett Smith, 242; Brady Smith, 238; Taylor, 235; Poling, 232; Peto, 231; William Sindelar (Avon Lake), 214; Roberts, 196; Chris Richard (Avon Lake), 182.