Wooster edges West Holmes in epic OCC girls bowling title match

An epic battle for the Ohio Cardinal Conference girls bowling championship unfolded Jan. 31 at Wayne Lanes, with West Holmes nearly repeating as champion while seeking revenge against Wooster.

In the end a pair of late strikes from Wooster's Mackenzie Jentes propelled WHS to a win in the deciding game to give the Generals the OCC title in dramatic fashion.

It was a matchup Knights coach Chris Young anticipated.

“We only lost two during the season, and they were both to Wooster,” he said. “They are a very tough team. They are a very good team, and we respect them tremendously. We were pretty sure it would come down to this.”

“West Holmes has great kids,” Generals coach Tracie Leiendecker said. “They’ve given us great competition all year. When they asked who our competition was going to be, I knew who that was going to be. They were right behind us all season.”

Led by senior Aubree Young and sophomore Madison Brenneman, West Holmes rallied from a first-game loss. With chants echoing throughout Wayne Lanes and rallying for each other, the Knights forced a third game with a win in the second game.

In the end Wooster junior Mackenzie Jentes sealed the deal with back-to-back strikes in the final frame of the third game.

“The girls just kept supporting each other,” coach Young said. “That team-first mentality and support for each other enabled us there at the end to force that third game. I couldn’t be happier. We played it down to the last game like we did last year; we just came up a little short this time. I am so extremely proud of them. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Leading the way this year have been his three seniors: Young, Lily Galehouse and Adrienne Stump. Young earned first-team all-conference honors and was named to the conference all-tournament team, and Galehouse was named third-team All-OCC.

“It’s been an up-and-down season, but our three seniors have all stuck together," coach Young said. "They are behind each other 100%, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Joining the list of all-conference honorees were Brenneman and fellow sophomore Hallie Maurer, who both earned third-team honors.

Young was tabbed the conference’s Coach of the Year.

“It’s just a title to me,” he said. “I do what I can to show these girls what I can to help them be able to pick up the pins that they need to and go frame by frame.”

On the boys side, West Holmes finished fifth with a score of 3,597 in the conference championships. Leading the way and earning third-team All-OCC honors was freshman Cole Rusk, who finished with an average of 183. Just missing the cut was sophomore Ryan Rowland, who also finished with an average of 183.

Next for both teams is the upcoming OHSAA tournament.

“Our three seniors are looking forward to it,” coach Young said. “Unfortunately, it’s about three weeks away for us, but we do have a few matches to finish up. As a team we are ready for it, but we will just keep working at it and keep practicing until the time comes around.”