Saturday, February 29th, 2020
Division II Boys State Bowling Championships
Coldwater wins state title
Coldwater's Schoenherr, New Bremen's Alig earn All-Ohio honors
By Gary R. Rasberry
Submitted Photo
The Coldwater boys bowling team poses with their trophy after winning the Division II State Bowling Tournament on Friday at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. Pictured are Hayden Beougher, front row, from left, Keaton Bruns, Caleb Sutherin and Brandon Hammond. In the back row are coach Rick Hartings, Matt Meinerding, Nathan Snook, Trent Berkenstock, Michael Schoenherr and coach Kyle Bruns.
Correction:
Brandon Hammonds' name was misspelled in the photo caption. The error was made in information provided to the newspaper.
After going to the wire in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches, Coldwater did not want to drag out the championship match of the Division II state boys bowling tournament.
The Cavaliers swept Fairport Harding 3-0 to capture the program's fourth state championship on Friday at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. Coldwater had to come back to force five games in each of the first two rounds of the championship to advance.
Coldwater finished in the middle of the pack during the qualifying rounds. After three regulation and three baker games, the Cavaliers had 3,589 pins, easily locked into the fourth-seed spot in the eight-team knockout round.
Up first was Urbana. Coldwater won the opening game 208-179 before the Hillclimbers came back to take the next two games 182-176 and 236-211 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five games format. Coldwater bowed its back and took the fourth game 197-177 before winning the rubber game 193-177 to move on.
Next up was Galion, which finished ahead of Coldwater in last week's district tournament. The Tigers won the opener 182-149 with Coldwater taking the second game 186-163. Galion took Game 3 177-156 to set up another must-win-two situation. The Cavaliers held on 227-220 in Game 4 before taking Game 5 206-198.
"We just wanted to get to the finals, and it wasn't easy," said Cavaliers coach Rick Hartings. "About as hard as we ever had because we had a young team. It was not easy."
Facing Harding, which defeated Girard and Heath in the first two rounds to advance, the Cavaliers won a close 194-188 opening game. From there, the Cavaliers would not be denied, storming out to a 2-0 lead with a 230-160 win in Game 2 and then bringing home the title with a 199-172 win in the third game.
"We finished strong the first game. We threw two or three (strikes) in a row to take the lead," said Hartings. "Second game we won big. Third game (Harding) struggled and all we had to do was stay clean the last couple of frames to get the win."
Michael Schoenherr, the lone Coldwater senior, came through time after time when the Cavaliers needed him. Schoenherr bowled a 668 series (243-202-223) to finish 10th in the individual standings and earned second-team All-Ohio honors.
"Michael was clutch all day," said Hartings. "He had some huge shots in the quarters and semis. We were kind of out (of sorts) but put some strikes together to set him up. He threw a couple of doubles (two straight strikes) in the 10th (frame) in those matches and came through."
Caleb Sutherin finished with a 598 series. Keaton Bruns rolled a 581 and Matt Meinerding bowled a 565.
"We had a lot of guys step up," said Hartings. "Trent Berkenstock didn't bowl much at the districts, but today was a huge spark. Caleb was a spark and Keaton and Matt had a big day. We didn't sub a lot because it was a crucial part of the season, but the final five got in there."
New Bremen's Spencer Alig had a strong day, bowling a 683 series (234-225-224) to set a school record for best series and earn second-team All-Ohio honors with an eighth-place finish.
"I was pretty happy," said Alig, the first Cardinal bowler to qualify for state. "I felt pretty good. I thought I was going to be more nervous than I was. … It was a good time."
The Division II girls state tournament, featuring defending champion St. Marys and three-time state champion Coldwater, begins this morning in Columbus.
Submitted Photo
Coldwater's Michael Schoenherr holds up the championship trophy while surrounded by his teammates at the Division II state bowling tournament.
