Bellefontaine’s boys bowling team was at its best in Wednesday’s Division I district tournament at Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek.
The Chieftains, who narrowly qualified through the sectional tournament by finishing ninth among the 10 teams that advanced, won the program’s first district championship with a score of 4,468.
“We couldn’t be more proud of all of the boys today,” said Bellefontaine head coach Tammy Overholser. “Out of 210 frames, the boys only had 24 opens as a team for the day.”
The top five teams earned berths in the state tournament, which is Saturday, March 6, at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
The Chiefs held off Kettering Fairmont, which took second with 4,419, Centerville finished third, Cincinnati LaSalle took fourth and Cincinnati St. Xavier was fifth. There were 24 teams in the tournament.
In last Friday’s sectional tournament at Poelking Lanes, the Chiefs were unable to get completely comfortable with the conditions en route to a 3,946.
While that score was good enough to get the Chiefs through to the district tourney, they knew they were capable of doing better.
“We practiced in Urbana this week because they have a very similar pattern (as Beaver-Vu),” said BHS junior standout Beau Salyer. “That really helped us and gave us confidence.”
But the Chiefs surprised even themselves by winning the district championship and advancing its entire team to state.
“I don’t think we were really expecting to win it,” said Salyer. “We were hoping to get a few individuals to state. But it feels awesome to go as a team. Also, I think we are the first Bellefontaine team to win districts, so that’s a great feeling, too.”
The Chiefs came out hot Wednesday. They led the field after the three opening games.
“After that, we felt like we had a pretty good chance to get through,” said Salyer. “We had a lot of confidence going into the baker games. Everyone was bowling really well. All but one of us averaged a 200, and the other one was two pins off.”
The Chiefs carried their momentum through the baker’s format of the tournament. They rolled baker games of 234, 197, 203, 200, 210 and 194 for a baker average of 206.
Isaiah Henry was the high bowler for the Chiefs with games of 235, 233 and 238 for a 706 series. That earned Henry a spot on the all-district team.
The Chiefs’ Drake Argabright also had an outstanding performance with games of 230, 205 and 224 for a 659 series.
Salyer rolled games of 213, 203 and 239 for a 655 series, Ryan Carmen shot games of 182, 195 and 235 for a 612 series and Caleb Gonterman added games of 207, 193 and 198 for a 598 series.
The Chiefs will now begin preparing for next week’s state tourney.
“I personally have never bowled there, but the nice thing about state is we get a practice session before the tournament,” said Salyer. “That should help us get a feel for the lanes there.”