District bowling: Amherst, North Ridgeville girls fall short of state qualifying bid

LORAIN — It wasn't in the cards for Amherst or North Ridgeville at Monday's Northeast Division I Girls District tournament at Rebman Recreation. But that didn't diminish the pride in their performances. The Comets finished 10th with a 3,299 pinfall and North Ridgeville finished 13th with a 3,235 score out of a 19-team field. Massillon Perry defended its district title with a 3,727 pinfall. Wadsworth (3,516), Austintown-Fitch (3,504), Wooster (3,484) and Nordonia (3,455) were other team qualifiers to state March 8 at Columbus' HP Lanes. Amherst freshman Isabell Mendosa was the top Lorain County finisher — 12th out of 94 bowlers that bowled a complete full three-game set — with a 180-190-173-543 series. "The team did OK, but we just were not consistent with our scores and with the Baker games," said Mendosa. "We came up short at the end, but there is always next year. I hope all my teammates (seniors) had a good last day of bowling together and hope that they just have a fun life wherever it takes them. "My performance for my individual games was pretty good. I stayed consistent with my numbers. I did not do that well for Baker, but I will work on it for next year and hope for us to go to state." Seniors Peyton Zakrajsek (506), Sophia Chapman (479), Kiara Taylor (448) and Haydn Beischlag (405) of Amherst finished 32nd, 53rd, 69th and 88th, respectively, for high series. "The girls bowled their average. They did the best that they could," said Amherst girls coach Teri Burich. "Unfortunately, nobody got hot. We left a lot of unlucky spares, a lot of bad splits. It just wasn't there today, a lot of 10-pins just didn't fall. "We hit our averages but unfortunately to go to state that's not going to be good enough. We just didn't have it. The girls did great. It's unfortunate. There's always next year. These girls were amazing how much they were at practice, worked hard. They went above and beyond." Junior Gabriella Burz led North Ridgeville, finishing 19th for high series with a 151-174-199-524. "We did well today, but we just struggled a bit and couldn't pull ourselves out of it," said Burz. "I think not having a lot of time practicing on the lanes and with the oil pattern definitely played a role. We all tried our best today and just sadly couldn't make it." Senior Bailey Starkey (511), junior Layla Catanese (476) and senior Sydney Watt (452) finished 27th, 57th and 67th, respectively, for high series to round out the Rangers' top scores. "The third game (710) threw us out of contention from moving on," said North Ridgeville coach Russ Markel. "We missed a lot of easy spares and I had some young kids that were bowling. It was a learning experience. "Overall, we had a pretty good season. We had a tragedy at the school where a young girl died. She was friends with some of them on the bowling team and I think that may have affected some of them. We're such a young team that we didn't have anyone that could step up yet, but next year we should be a pretty solid team." Midview sophomore Addison Salkiewicz (221-168-134-523) and Avon senior Ava Benninghofen (115-151-175-441) finished No. 20 and 71 for high series in singles. Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Top 5 teams advance to state March 8 at HP Lanes 1, Massillon Perry 3,717; 2. Wadsworth 3,516; 3. Austintown-Fitch 3,504; 4. Wooster 3,484; 5. Nordonia 3,455; 6. Akron Hoban 3,390 (65 pins behind); 7. North Olmsted 3.360; 8. Buckeye 3.335; 9. Walsh Jesuit 3,313; 10. Amherst 3,299; 11. Mentor 3,265; 12. Padua 3,264; 13. North Ridgeville 3,235; 14. North Canton GlenOak 3,214; 15. Eastlake North 3,154; 16. Norton 3,057; 17. Streetsboro 3,012; 18. Willoughby South 2,885; 19. Firestone 2,662 Individual state qualifiers – top 5 from non-qualifying teams1, Aubrey Reuter (Buckeye), 609; 2. Olivia Hanna (Padua), 607; 3. Mikayla Tucker (GlenOak), 589; 4. Andi Plowman (North Olmsted), 579; 5. Marley Draft (Walsh Jesuit), 575 High series1, Reuter, 609; 2. Hanna, 607; 3. Tucker, 589; 4. Arielle Clapper (Perry), 580; 5. Plowman, 579. Top local bowlers: 12. Isabell Mendosa (Amherst), 543; 19. Gabriella Burz (North Ridgeville), 524; 20. Addison Salkiewicz (Midview), 523; 27. Bailey Starkey (North Ridgeville), 511; 32. Peyton Zakrajsek (Amherst), 506; 54. Sopha Chapman (Amherst), 479; 57. Layla Catanese (North Ridgeville), 476; 67. Sydney Watt (North Ridgeville), 452; 69. Kiara Taylor (Amherst), 448; 71. Ava Benninghofen (Avon), 441; 88. Haydn Beischlag (Amherst), 409 High game1, Hanna 234; 2. Becca Nauman (Hoban), 224; 3. Salkiewicz, 221. Other top local bowlers: Burz, 199; Starkey, 198; Mendosa, 190; Catanese, 182; Benninghofen, 175; Zakrajsek, 173, Chapman, 172; Beischlag, 162; Taylor, 160