Saturday, March 7th, 2015
Lady Cavs bring home third state championship
Division II Girls State Bowling Tournament
By Gary R. Rasberry
Submitted Photo
The Coldwater girls bowling team pose with their Division II state championship trophy after winning the title for the third time in four years. Members of the team are, front row from left, Madison Fox, Shannon Osterfeld, Emily Fortener. Back row from left, head coach Rick Hartings, Brianna Wenning, Paige Hartings, Jessica Butler, Carlie Schoenherr, Kailey Niekamp and assistant coach Wes Stienecker. Photo courtesy of Gary Osterfeld.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
After losing six seniors from a team that won two state titles and a runner-up trophy the past three seasons, some thought the Coldwater girls bowling team would be a little down.
The Lady Cavaliers set out to prove the naysayers wrong and did so on Friday, winning the school's third state girls bowling title at the Division II state tournament at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl.
Coldwater had a strong qualifying round and had to battle out of several close situations in the first match of the championship round en route to beating Napoleon in five games in the title match.
"We really wanted to prove them wrong," said Shannon Osterfeld, the lone senior on the state roster. "We just practiced hard and showed we could get here and win the state title."
"We definitely knew it would be a rebuilding season, but to get back to the state finals, we thought there would be a chance," Coldwater coach Rick Hartings said. "With the late charge at the end of the season, our girls worked so hard."
The day started out well in the qualifying round of three regular games and three baker games. The Cavaliers rolled a combined score of 2,692 in the regular series, firmly in second behind defending champion Mechanicsburg. In the bakers, Coldwater had another strong showing, finishing with a 603 to earn the second seed in the eight-team championship round.
"We all bowled well in the first two individual games and slowed in the third," sophomore Paige Hartings said. "Then we got it together in the bakers and came out firing in match play."
The Cavaliers faced Urbana in the opening round and won the first game of the best-of-five series 187-151. The Hillclimbers stormed back to take the next two to force the Cavaliers to win two straight to move on. Coldwater edged Urbana 201-185 in the fourth game before advancing with a 236-180 win.
"The girls the last two games threw some awesome shots to get us to the semifinals," coach Hartings said.
In the semifinals, Coldwater had no trouble with Kenton Ridge, sweeping the match to make the finals. Napoleon swept Mechanicsburg to make it an all-Northwest Ohio title match.
The Cavaliers took game one of the series 172-157 before suffering a big lull in the second, tallying just a 115 as the Wildcats finished with a 202. Coldwater won game three 211-173 and then Napoleon won game four 201-167 to force a final game.
The Cavaliers pulled through, winning the rubber game 177-144 for the title.
"Every game was won on the right lane (lane 28)," coach Hartings said. "Last year, we weren't the top seed and Mechanicsburg chose the right lane and we finished on the left lane (lane 27). Every match last year was won on 28. Not sure what the difference was."
"It came down to where we knew we would finish on 28. We just stayed clean toward the end and I told Shannon 'This was the last ball she would throw and make it your best.' She got the strike in the ninth (frame) to set up Paige to win it in the 10th."
"Things were not easy today," he added. "We were scrambling to get the right lineup in there. We were down in a couple of matches, but everybody stepped up and threw huge shots down the stretch."
The Cavaliers placed three bowlers on the All-Ohio list for their efforts in the individual games. Paige Hartings' 599 series was good for fifth place and first team All-Ohio honors. Freshman Emily Fortener bowled a 589 for eighth place and second team honors and Jessica Butler's 578 was 12th best for honorable mention.
"Those three bowled real consistent," coach Hartings said. "I know Shannon has been on a roll (winning sectional and district titles), but she battled and she's still our leader. ... It was a great team effort."
Bryan's Danika Hickey was individual state champion with a 678 series. Versailles' Megan Ward earned All-Ohio honors with a 579 series.
The Coldwater boys will look to make it a Cavalier sweep starting this morning in the Division II state tournament. St. Marys' Austin Cook will compete as an individual.
