The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor boys, girls win titles
Kenston also qualifies both teams to district
How dominating has the Mentor bowling team been of late at the Division I sectional at Wickliffe Lanes?
If the Cardinals’ strangle-hold on the championship trophies get any tighter, they might as well rename the tournament the Mentor Invitational. Both the Mentor boys and girls took home team championships on Feb. 16. It’s the eighth in a row for the Cardinals boys, according to coach Mike Phillips, and the fifth in the row for a girls program that Phillips termed as “rebuilding” this year.”
The Mentor boys will be joined at the district tournament next weekend by South, Kenston and Solon — the other top-four finishers at the Wickliffe Lanes Sectional — while the Mentor girls will be joined at the district by Kenston and Garfield Heights.
The girls district is at noon on Feb. 23, while the boys is at noon on Feb. 24. Both are at Roseland Lanes in Oakwood Village.
“Very happy,” Phillips said of his impression of his teams at the sectional tournament. “Now we have to go win districts. The boys should. The girls have a little bit of work to do in order to do that, but we’re capable.”
Mentor’s boys were paced by senior Nick Golic, whose 577 series was third behind the South duo of junior Antonio Bodziony (586) and Brennan Nameth (585), who finished 1-2 in the individual portion of the tournament.
Mentor then went out and had the best six-game Baker set with a composite score of 1,053.
Mentor’s boys finished with 3,713 total pins — 390 pins ahead of the secondplace Rebels.
“That was great,” Golic said. “I loved how our team performed.”
The key, said senior Charlie Ball, whose 564 series was fifth overall, was adapting to the lane conditions. The Baker game success shows the team did that.
“It’s all about staying ahead of the lane pattern,” Ball said. “If you can do that, you’re going to be in good shape.
“We did great. I think we can do better and win districts.”
Second-place South was happy with their performance, too. Getting a 1-2 finish individually from Bodziony and Nameth was huge, especially since the Rebels struggled a bit in Bakers by posting the sixth-best team total in that all-important phase that shows the true strength of a team.
“I used him as my motivation,” said Nameth nodding toward Bodziony. “He’s our top bowler. I want to keep up with him as much as possible.”
Third-place Kenston, which finished 12 pins behind South for runner-up honors, was led by sophomore Max Vollrath’s 502 series. The Bombers’ 1,050 Baker total was only three pins behind tournament leader Mentor.
Speaking of Kenston, the Bombers’ girls team will be heading to the district tournament thanks in large part to the 1-2 finish individually by freshman Jenna Stretch (578) and junior Alex Drsek (532).
The Stretch-Drsek tandem helped Kenston run away with the top score in the individual portion of the tournament, 2,239 to 2,164 over tournament champion Mentor. Kenston struggled in the Baker games — three teams finished significantly better there — but the individual performances guided Kenston to the district tournament.
“It’s cool because last year we didn’t have this,” Drsek said of team success. “Having the whole team go (to district) is a lot more fun. It’s better than going all alone.”
Medalist Stretch, a ninth-grader whose 219 game was the tournament high, played a big role in the day’s success.
“I came in here this year as a freshman and really wanted to help the team go far,” Stretch said. “We were first in the conference, and I knew we’d be top 3 today. I just knew it.”
Stretch said it’s exciting to have both the boys and girls teams advance.
Of the coaches, she said, “They are amazing.”
Mentor was paced by senior Cheyenne Peterson (488), frehman Emma Randa (477) and junior Katie Chrosniak (477), who finished fourth and (tied for) fifth, individually.
Aside from the local teams who advanced to the district tournament, the lone individual to advance — either boys or girls — was North sophomore Josh Horvath.
Horvath provided the day’s entertainment. When his name was announced as the fourth and final individual district qualifier, he scampered around in euphoria as his mother tried — in vain — to chase him down to hug him.
“I’m really surprised,” said Horvath of his district bid, which came by one pin over Lakeside’s Seth Cook. “I didn’t think I was going to make it to districts.”