Bellefontaine’s boys bowling team was unable to move on as a group Thursday from the Division I district tournament, but standout Ian Salyer performed well enough to earn a state berth.
The Chieftain senior fired games of 223, 258 and 214 for a 695 series at Beaver-Vu Lanes in Beavercreek. As a team, BHS finished 15th with a total score of 2,904.
The top five teams and top five individuals not on a qualifying team moved on to the state meet next Friday at Wayne Webb Lanes in Columbus.
“Ian tied and had a pressured roll-off against another bowler, which he did great to place him third overall heading into state,” said BHS boys head coach Tammy Overholser. “He handles pressure like a champ.”
Also for the Chieftains, Beau Salyer rolled games of 182, 255 and 175 for a 612 series, Caleb Gonterman had games of 190, 194 and 172 for a 556 series and Ryan Carman added a game of 199. The team rolled baker games of 203, 184, 192,197,193 and137.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the drive the boys had,” said Overholser. “They make it fun to coach. We had a great run.”
BHS girls come up short at DI district
Bellefontaine’s girls bowling team started off strong, but faded down the stretch as it failed to advance out of the Division I district tournament Wednesday at Beaver-Vu Lanes in Beavercreek.
The Chieftains were in the top six after two games and eighth after the third game, but slid down to 10th after the baker games. The top five teams earned spots at next week’s Division I state meet.
“The girls bowled well today, we just couldn’t get enough strikes together to move us up in the standings,” said BHS girls head coach Jane Kline. “They never gave up and they worked hard all day. It just wasn’t our day.”
Mercy McAuley won the district championship with a top score of 4,113. Springfield was runner-up with 4,005, Seton was third with 3,951, Troy took fourth with 3,874 and Fairborn grabbed the final state berth with 3,827. Bellefontaine finished 10th with 3,689, which was just 138 pins shy of the final qualifying spot.
While the finish was not what they had hoped for, there was still plenty to be proud of this season after winning the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail title and the first sectional title in school history.
“Winning CBC was a highlight and winning sectional was pretty awesome,” said Kline. “This group has a special bond and have a great way of talking to each other to keep each other up when things are not going their way. Win or lose they always yelled the Chieftain cheer.”
Brynn Noffsinger led BHS with games of 181, 191 and 184 for a 556 series, Lindsey Heminger had games of 177, 193 and 181 for a 551 series, Kayla Watkins rolled gams of 201, 179 and 166 for a 546 series, Ashley Ehmer recorded games of 160, 170 and 165 for a 495 series and Abby Bailey added a game of 221 and a 369 series.
“It has been great to coach this group of girls,” said Kline. “I am so proud of what they have accomplished. I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed watching them grow as bowlers and teammates. They are an awesome group of girls.”