Gahanna girls, Central boys to state bowling
A mix of familiar powers and programs newer to the big stage will represent central Ohio in the Division I state bowling tournaments.
The Gahanna girls won their third consecutive district title Tuesday at HP Lanes, bowling a 3,530 to edge runnerup Jonathan Alder by five pins, and on the boys side, Westerville Central (4,232) captured its first championship since 2019.
Big Walnut junior Aidan Furukawa (738) and Marysville senior Madison Strouse (701) were the boys and girls individual champions, respectively.
The top four teams and top four individuals not on qualifying teams advanced to state at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. The girls tournament is March 10, followed by the boys the next day.
The other girls team berths went to Marysville (3,437) and Chillicothe (3,386), a first for both programs.
For the boys, Hilliard Davidson (4,225), Big Walnut (4,174) and Thornville Sheridan (4,133) also advanced. Davidson and Big Walnut are headed to state for the first time as teams, while
Sheridan finished 11th two years ago.
Delaney Rossette's 644 series paced Gahanna, which built an 89-pin lead through three regulation games and had to hold off a charge from Jonathan Alder, last year's state runner-up, in the seven Baker games. The Pioneers outscored the Lions 1,052-968 in Bakers.
Central's boys were second to Big Walnut by 38 pins in regulation (3,0753,037) but pulled ahead with a 1,1951,150 advantage in Bakers. Ben Cantieri's 705 series, good for fifth place, paced Central.
The girls individual qualifiers were Central's Payton Hartgrove (second, 661), Olentangy's Phoebe Anderson (fourth, 616), Newark's Jade Gabor (fifth, 578) and New Albany's Taryn Jolly (sixth, 569). All are seniors except Gabor, who is a junior. Hartgrove finished second at state last season.
Boys individual qualifiers were Jonathan Alder sophomore Drew Damron (second, 734) and three seniors in Marion Harding's Jayden Combs (third, 727), Harding's Jordan Hensley (sixth, 691) and Olentangy Orange's Jay Mccorkle (seventh, 690). dpurpura@dispatch.com @dp_dispatch