Clean sweep for the Roughriders

Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry

Before the start of the Division II boys state bowling tournament, St. Marys felt that this team could win a title.

It was a struggle to get to the championship match, but once they made it to the title match, there was no stopping the Roughriders as they won the program's second state title in three seasons at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl.

The boys title, along the with the one the St. Marys girls team won on Friday, is the first time a school won both state titles since 2015, when Coldwater swept the titles for a second time.

The Roughriders also redeemed themselves after having fallen short at state last year, when they missed the championship round by a mere 21 pins.

"Once we made match play and won our first match, it made me feel better about the year before," said St. Marys boys coach Scott Ross. "St. Marys bowling has tremendous support from the parents. The kids work hard and it shows."

The Roughriders had to work their way into the top eight after a rough first regulation game of qualifying in which they bowled a 920. St. Marys came back to finish the first round of qualifying and tied for first. In the baker-game round, St. Marys was slow at the start with a 171 before bowling 221 and 247 in the final two games to finish with 3,627 pins, good for the fourth qualifying spot.

"We started on lanes 9 and 10, a horrible set of lanes for some reason," said Ross. "We were in 12th place, then we found better pair (of lanes) and kept moving up and up."

Up first for St. Marys in the championship round quarterfinals was Cadiz Harrison Central. The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five baker game series, but the Roughriders bounced back with a 239-183 win in the third game to avoid the sweep and then won the final two games 243-156 and 226-211 to advance to the semifinals.

"We went down 0-2 and were throwing the ball bad," said Ross. "I kept telling the kids that I knew we were the better team. … We got the momentum going. We shot 700 (actually 708) in those final three games."

Next up was Woodbridge, which won the opening game before St. Marys took the second and third games. Woodbridge won the fourth to force one more game and the Roughriders hung on for a 203-179 win to advance and face Jonathan Alder in the final.

"Woodbridge was probably the second-best team there," said Ross. "I felt if we beat them, we had a good chance of winning the finals. A couple kids came up big. Junior (Hurley) came up big, Gunner (Kruse) came up big."

St. Marys took the first game from Jonathan Alder 258-201 and then won the final two games 194-180 and 219-192 to capture the title.

"I told them they did what I wanted them to do," said Ross of the title match. "They got to the final and it was up to them if they wanted to win. They bowled three solid games."

Hurley was the highest-finishing Roughrider in the individual standings with a 665 series, good for 17th. Kruse (627) and Evan Tennant (626) were 27th and 28th, respectively. Also bowling for the Roughriders were Nathan Kuffner (545) and Derek Fisher (who bowled the final two regulation games of qualifying).

The area's two other teams, St. Henry and Coldwater, had mixed days. St. Henry qualified second in the prelims with a round of 3,656. In the opening round against Mechanicsburg, the teams split the first four games and then tied 167-all in the fifth game, resulting in a roll-off. The teams tied 49-49 in the first roll-off and went to a second, allowing Mechanicsburg to win 39-28 to advance.

Redskin bowler Jordan Thomas had a big day, bowling a 700 series (203-264-233) to finish second overall and earn All-Ohio honors. Belmont Union's Albeto Dunlap was the state medalist with a 719 series. St. Henry's Noah Stammen was 25th with a 632. Michael Gelhaus added a 619 and Matthew Mescher bowled a 614.

Coldwater was unable to make the top eight to move on, missing the finals by 70 pins and finishing 10th overall. Versailles finished 14th. Coldwater's Kendall Homan was 34th overall with a 614. Teammate Derek Siefring was 41st with a 594.