Returning depth boosts optimism for Wooster-area bowling teams in 2025-26

The high school boys and girls bowling seasons begin Nov. 14. Here are season previews for area schools.

Wooster boys

Wooster will have a good mix of veterans and youth this year. How fast the two blend into one cohesive unit will go a long way in telling how good the Generals will be on the lanes.

Last year Wooster was 10-7 overall and finished fourth in the Ohio Cardinal Conference with a 4-6 record. The Generals saw two players, Isaac Ebie and Sam Fleming, graduate from that team. Fleming was the team’s top bowler last season, averaging 208 in league matches. Ebie was third at 196, and both garnered all-conference postseason honors.

Back are five players with experience, a pair of whom will be part of the lineup for a fourth consecutive year. Seniors Kellen Buckley and Gavin Ennis, the only upperclassmen on the roster, each have three years of experience.

Behind those two are juniors Owen Schneider and Jayden Wills, both third-year varsity members. Their classmate Aiden Coleman is in his second year.

“With strong leadership and the incoming talent, we should be able to form a strong varsity roster that will be able to compete,” veteran Wooster coach Tracie Leiendecker said.

A year ago Ennis, a second-team all-conference performer, led the team with a strong 194 average. Schneider was next at 171; his 277 was the highest game by a General all season, and his 473 was the best series. Wills (168), Buckley (158) and Coleman (156) all were steady and all could go well above 200 in the right conditions.

Without a sophomore in the fold, Leiendecker will rely on five freshmen to make an impact. They include Alex Covey, Noah Greene, Zach Johnson, Joe Widman and Peter Widman.

“With half the team being first-year bowlers, it will all be new to them,” Leiendecker said. “Although a couple have bowled before during junior leagues, high school bowling is a little different format. I am sure they will get accustomed quickly.”

The longtime coach had simple goals for the season.

“As always, we’ll do our best to be competitive in the OCC,” she said. “As other programs are continuing to grow, our conference has become stronger and stronger. As a coach you want your team to succeed, and our hopes are to improve on our record last season.”

Ashland should be an overwhelming favorite in the conference. The Arrows last year had the top four bowlers in the league and five of the top seven, and only one graduated.

Wooster girls

Leiendecker didn’t have to worry too much about knowing who was who on the first day of bowling practice this fall. She saw nothing but familiar faces.

Oh yeah, and a handful of newcomers, which had to make the veteran coach smile as much as the veteran-laden varsity roster.

This is what happens when you don’t graduate anybody, and in this case from a very solid team. Wooster last year was 12-5 overall, 7-3 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. That left Wooster in fourth place.

The Generals are likely conference favorites this year. Defending champ Ashland graduated its top three players, though runner-up West Holmes returns a lot. Third-place Lexington also was hit hard by graduation.

“We are returning all of our varsity members, and we are one of the stronger teams in the league this season,” Leiendecker said. “As a coach you want your team to succeed, and our hopes are to improve on our record last season."

Mackenzie Jentes, one of four returning juniors on Wooster’s roster, enters the season as the Ohio Cardinal Conference’s top returning player. As a sophomore she was second in the OCC Bowler of the Year race to Ashland’s Aubrie Cooke, who graduated.

Along with Jentes, who averaged a team-best 182 overall last season, in the junior class are Cadence Anna and Mallory Legg, who were second-team All-OCC, and Aaliyah Rauf, who received an all-conference honorable mention last season. Anna Legg averaged 157 in conference matches, one pin better than Mallory Legg.

Seniors Ainsley Shetler and Morgan Covey are the elders on a still-young squad. Shetler averaged 135 in league play as a junior.

Elle Lipnos and Nicole Ring, who both played as freshmen last season, round out the veterans. Newcomers include junior Karmyn Blair, sophomore Isabella Combs, and freshmen Jaylyn Howton, Abigail Sanders and Rylee McCullough, who all will look to crack the lineup.

“These ladies have come close to making it to the next level in postseason, and it has lit a fire in them,” Leiendecker said. “With the added incoming talent, the challenge will be to come together and achieve their goals as a team. I believe it will not take long. The difference from last season to this is accountability. They are all stronger mentally and physically, and teamwork will ultimately be our team’s strength.”

Triway girls

Triway lost Kennedy Finley, who finished 26th in the state a year ago, and Dana Armstrong to graduation. The Titans have two returning letter-winners in team captain Alexanderia Wallace, whom head coach Chriss Steiner said will be the team’s anchor, and Kadence Duncan, whom Steiner said will miss time early on with a knee injury.

Otherwise, Steiner will turn to a fivesome of sophomores: Kinsley Merkle, Cadence Shilling, Aubriegh Banfield, Savannah Starcher and Ellen Holmes.

If there’s one thing about that age distribution that is cause for good vibes, it’s the youth movement indicates more interest in the program and represents a potential foundational group as the Titans look to the future.