West Holmes teams both finish fifth in OCC bowling

The West Holmes boys and girls bowling teams competed at the Ohio Cardinal Conference Championship at Luray Lanes on Feb. 4.

Ashland won both team championships with dominant performances, while both WH teams finished fifth in the final team standings in their inaugural seasons of competition.

West Holmes had three bowlers earn All-OCC honors — Kayden Worley (honorable mention) for the boys and Hailee North (second team) and Aubree Young (honorable mention) for the girls.

“I couldn’t be more excited for them,” West Holmes coach Chris Young said of the trio. “… They proved their point by getting the OCC (honors). I just want to keep them moving forward and keep them in the game and keep them having fun.”

Worley led the Knights at the Championships by rolling games of 214, 287 and 138 for a team-best 639 series. Caden Medley backed him with games of 154, 167 and 198 for a 519 series, while Adam Mast rolled games of 123, 202 and 126 for a 451 series.

Quinn Cornwell (191-184—375), Jesse Hickman (123-144—267), Tristin Middaugh (120) and Luke Snyder (110) also bowled for WH, which twirled Baker games of 144, 162, 156, 188, 140 and 133.

West Holmes finished seventh out of seven teams with 3,404 total pins during the qualifying round, but its final finish in the conference standings was higher because that also factors in results from matches during the regular season.

Ashland won the qualifying round with 4,592 total pins, then defeated Mansfield Senior in a best-of-five championship match. The Arrows also swept the conference’s top honors, as freshman Luke Rhine was named Bowler of the Year and Jim Brown was selected Coach of the Year.

Bella Gindlesberger paced the Lady Knights at the league tournament with games of 170, 164 and 174 for a team-high 508 series. North was next with games of 178, 106 and 192 for a 476 series, while Aubree Young rolled games of 175, 154 and 141 for a 470 series.

Chloe Miller (159-124-132—415) and Zaylie Shultz (129-114-95—338) also competed for West Holmes, which tossed Baker games of 118, 141, 185, 144, 131 and 164.

The Lady Knights ended with 3,090 total pins during the qualifying round, finishing fourth out of seven teams. Ashland won the qualifying round with 4,274 total pins, then defeated Lexington in a best-of-five championship match.

Arrows junior Jada Baker was selected Bowler of the Year and Wooster’s Tracie Leiendecker was picked Coach of the Year.

“I’m excited for both teams,” coach Young said. “This was our first year in the OCC. You can’t expect to be the head of the class when you first walk in. The only thing I care about is if they had fun. If they want to come back next year, we’ll be more than happy to have them. I don’t think I had too many who didn’t say they were having fun at least one time. That’s the main goal is to have fun.

“The more they have fun, the better they’re going to bowl.”