Ben Logan junior earns individual championship, Lady Raiders finish 5th at Division II state tourney
It was the surprise of a lifetime for Kaylee Nicholas Saturday at the OHSAA Division II state bowling championships.
The Benjamin Logan junior was left in disbelief after her name was announced as the individual Division II state champion at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. Nicholas rolled games of 212, 229 and 187 for a tournament-best 628 series.
“It’s a really weird feeling,” said Nicholas. “It’s hard to process and I still can’t believe it. It still doesn’t feel real.”
“We just figured another girl had done better than Kaylee,” said Ben Logan girls head coach Tammy Poling. “There is usually one girl that blows everyone out. We had no idea how the 18 individual bowlers did, in addition to the bowlers in the team race. Once we got closer to the finish we thought maybe she might have done it.”
As a team, Ben Logan finished fifth overall. The Raiders started the day in fifth after three individual games with 2,550. After three baker games (150, 160, 206) the team moved up to third with a score of 3,066.
The top eight teams advance to a bracket tournament. Ben Logan was defeated by Wooster Triway 702-654 in the first round.
Bryan defeated Coldwater in the state finals to win the Division II team championship. Greenon finished third and Wooster Triway was fourth.
For Nicholas, her closest competition was Fredericktown’s Hannah Vaughn, who was the state runner-up with a 602.
“It’s not really something I thought was possible,” said Nicholas. “I wanted it to happen, but I didn’t go into the bowling alley thinking to try hard and be a state champion. All I wanted to do was get my average and stay positive, even if I was doing bad. I think focusing on staying positive the whole time helped me a lot.”
The final individual scores are not known until the awards ceremony at the end of the tournament. Waiting to hear her placement took a toll on Nicholas.
“It was definitely nerve wracking,” said Nicholas. “It’s very unreal, but I’m really excited. I thought I was going to pass out when they hadn’t said my name yet and announced the runner-up. All my teammates were saying it was me and I just thought they forgot about me.”
“We were pretty surprised,” said Poling. “They don’t give you any indication how the other individual bowlers did. We were really surprised when they announced it.”
Nicholas is the first female state champion in Benjamin Logan school history. She is the school’s first state champion since 1971 when Jerry Wenger won a state title in track and field.
“My friend’s mom told me afterward that I was the first girls state champion in school history and I started tearing up,” said Nicholas. “I don’t feel like a champion. You think of phenomneal people and I don’t feel super special. It’s still processing. I still can’t believe it, but its a really good feling.”
Two years ago, Ben Logan’s girls reached the Division II state tournament and finished 12th. Last season the Raiders did not even get to the district tournament. That made Saturday’s performance even more special.
“They bowled great,” said Poling. “We had some of the younger girls really pick it up in their tournament play leading up to this. They contributed to our success and got us to where we were.”
In the qualifying round, Ben Logan junior Erica Warne finished 10th out of 207 bowlers to earn second-team all-Ohio honors. She rolled games of 200, 169 and 187 for a 556 series.
Freshman Malori Barnes had games of 188, 134 and 166 for a 488 series, sophomore Addie Buckenroth recorded games of 146, 148 and 180 for a 474 series and sophomore Avery Green had a game of 156.
“We had a few girls struggle, but like I said we had a lot of our younger girls step up,” said Poling. “Mallori and Addie are both new to this whole situation and us moving on was due to them. I was amazed at how well they handled the pressure.
“Mallori did pretty well for being a freshman. A lot of our success has been those girls stepping up to help our veterans. It’s a team sport so we need everyone to contribute. The younger girls were huge for us to get where we did. The girls all get along and work so well as a team. It has been amazing to watch them as this has gone on.”
After finishing 12th two years ago, Poling was thrilled her girls were able to reach the finals and finish in fifth.
“From all the scores we had looked at, we were pretty confident that we could make it into the top eight,” said Poling. “It was a good day. They all pulled together, they all stayed positive and no one got upset. I can’t complain at all. I’m thrilled for those seniors and all the girls we have coming back. They fought hard the whole time and had some good shots. Some just didn’t fall for us.” Martin earns 2nd-team all-Ohio honors for Lakers
Indian Lake freshman Jalan Martin also competed in the Division II state tournament and turned in a stellar performance.
Martin finished ninth overall with games of 189, 188 and 184 for a 561 series. That was good enough to earn Martin second-team all-Ohio honors.