Westerville Central grabs first state title
Not even consecutive open frames to begin game 3 of the championship series could deter Westerville Central in the Division I boys bowling state tournament Saturday at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
The Warhawks won their first state title by sweeping fourth-seeded Wapakoneta 3-0 in the best-of-five Baker series, winning 244-150, 202182 and 226-206.
“I am so proud of the guys and the way they kept battling and never gave up, from being down 2-1 in the quarterfinal and rallying (to beat sixth-seeded Vandalia Butler 3-2) to beginning the third game (of the final) with open frames,” coach Julie Wells said. “They just never give up.
“We’ve been to the dance many times and sixth place was our best finish before this. But now that we’ve got one championship under our belts, we’ll be working and planning for more.”
In game 3 of the final, the Warhawks overcame open marks in the first two frames by rolling six consecutive strikes.
“You can never give up. We proved things can change in a hurry,” said junior Cameron Gonce, who finished 10th overall with a 654 (232-210-212) during the individual part of team qualifying. “We were able to put things together and just kept building.”
The Warhawks qualified third (3,580) of 16 teams to reach the eight-team rolloffs, where they fell behind Butler 2-1 before winning the last two games 189-160 and 180-173. The first four games were won on lane 36.
“We finally made adjustment to lane 35 and pulled one out,” Wells said. “We relaxed a bit from there and our scores showed it,” Wells said. “Once we got over the hump, the boys just started bowling better.”
Central beat second-seeded Centerville 3-1 in a semifinal, winning the last three games 205-175, 234-177 and 225-184 after losing the first 202-163.
Sophomore Devon Richardson (630) finished 19th of 79 bowlers who rolled three games.
Pickerington North (3,120) finished 14th, Whitehall (3,076) was 15th and Whetstone (2,863) was 16th. North’s Jarrett Powers (626) finished 29th.
Worthington Kilbourne’s Evan Place, competing as an individual qualifier, rolled a 551 to place 54th.