In just three years the Green boys bowling team have gone from a brand new sport to qualify for the State Tournaments on March 5. The "Bulldog” bowlers finished fourth in the Northeast Ohio District to qualify for a chance at the state championship.
The team averaged a 204 for 21 games at the district to qualify. They were fourth after Kent Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, and Struthers. They were only 44 points behind the first place team. Close behind them was North Ridgeville and Austin Town Fitch. There were a total of 38 teams in the tournament.
The top four Green bowlers had scored more than 600. Chris Hardesty had a 657 series, Justin Bridgeman, 641, Ryan Trowbridge, 626 and Nate Ripley, 623. In the baker games Green had 256, 244 and 204.
“We worked really hard,” said Hardesty, a senior and three-year varsity player. “We started slow, had a few good scores, then began to pick up the pace in the first and second games. Then during the baker games we started off really big and kept the momentum and tone up for the rest of the tournament.”
Three-year varsity bowler and senior Trowbridge said, “This was the best as we came together as a team at the tournament. We are happy to be going to the State, we have to make the best of it because this is my last year.”
Zach Gray, another senior and two-year varsity bowler said, “It was a great experience to be part off, it was great to have all the passion, and great to be in the game. I think this will be a big boost for Green sports.”
“I am proud of where we are,” said Lee Dewalt, three-year varsity player. “We stayed focused and stayed pumped up during the tournament.”
Freshman Ripley said, “Overall we have done lots of work. Without Chris and Ryan we wouldn't have made it this far. They gave us lots of tips during the game. I am very excited about going to the tournament as a freshman.”
“It feels pretty good to be going to the State, we all want to do good, hope we can get high scores and get our spares,” said freshman Justin Bridgeman.
“It was a great team effort,” said coach Mark Wirbel. “All seven guys contributed, and our great baker games kept us in one of the top spots.They are a great group of boys.”
Summers qualifies on
Sophomore Marissa Summers, in only her second year of varsity bowling, has advanced to the State Finals this weekend down in Chillicothe. Her final score was a 678 which placed her 2nd in the Northeast Ohio District.
“I was pretty excited,” said Summers. “That score was higher then I bowled last year. My high game was 279, a new high for me. I was one strike away from a 300. I am really proud to have been able to keep accomplishing these goals.”
The Green girls were not able to advance to the finals, which was restricted to the top five teams.
The Green girls came in 19th out of 33 teams with a final score of 3,399.
“We did really well as a team,” Summers said. “The team kept up its sportsmanship. Everybody tried to keep everyone's spirits up. We continually kept encouraging each other to do their best. I was really disappointed that the team didn't qualify for the finals.”
“The girls were very consistent with their scores. Overall they did a great job. We are looking forward to next year and seeing how good they can do. And I am really happy to see Marissa qualify for the State finals for the second year in a row,” coach Dawn Davis said.
