Wheeling Park, Weir Win OVAC Bowling Titles
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PARKERSBURG -- Saturday's OVAC big school bowling championships at Parkersburg's Pike Street Lanes was all about the new.
New individual champions, new team champions, and a new format, both for team competition and for selection of all-OVAC bowlers.
The one constant? Weir.
The Red Riders' co-ed team, competing in the boys division, won their fourth team championship in five seasons, including third in a row as head coach Bob Babinchak's bowlers would not be denied.
Weir technically defended its title from the previous two seasons, but not exactly.
Weir was the two-time defending OVAC 4A/5A champion. But that crown was not awarded Saturday.
The conference split up the 4A and 5A teams into their respective divisions and crowned four team and four individual champions. Much like the 2023 championships, Weir needed to come from behind in the Baker rounds to claim victory.
In '23 East Liverpool's boys held the lead after three individual rounds. This year? That honor belonged to Harrison Central. The Huskies led 2,747 to 2,708 thanks in large part to strong showings from juniors Kyle Blake and Kobie Hennis.
Blake closed strong, rolling a 204 and 214, respectively during his final two games to finish with a 615 series. His efforts were good enough for second place.
Hennis set the tone early that the championship was his to lose, rolling a 288 in the first game and backing it with a 203 in the second. After two games, Hennis held a commanding edge and not even Blake, nor Weir's Jackson Parsons could catch him. Parsons closed strong with a 258 third game to vault himself into the Top 3, passing teammate Shane Arnold at fourth (605) and St. Clairsville freshman Brenden Thoburn, who rolled a 579 series in his first OVAC tournament to finish fifth.
Thoburn tied with teammate Sebastian Lewis for the third highest individual game at 224, a score they both rolled in the first round.
In 5A, it became apparent quickly that it'd be a three-man race for champion. Wheeling Park junior Kaden Miller started strong with a 268 in his first game, as did Parkersburg South's Logan Fling with a 247, and Miller's teammate Zac Davis with a 235.
Davis kept his consistency with a second 235 in Game 2, while Miller fought his way through some momentary struggles with a 198, still only four pins behind Davis. It was Fling who flung down the gauntlet, posting a 275 in Game 2 to take a 523 to 470 and 466 lead into the final individual game.
While 53 pins seemed like a solid cushion, it didn't stop either Miller or Davis from coming back. Miller regained form with a 220 to finish with a 686 series, four better than Fling at 682.
But Davis, in his final OVAC bowling championships, was perfect through 9 2/3 frames, leaving four pins hanging in the 10th to finish with a 296, just four shy of a perfect 300.
Park's Sam Metzner finished with 574 to come in fourth while South's Logan Utt rolled a 566 to come in fifth, one ahead of Brooke's top finisher, Damian Maine at 565.
Girls
Defending girls' champion Dover did not participate, meaning two new champions were crowned on the girls' side, though one came with little surprise.
Led by the Rudibaugh's--junior Addison, sophomore Lani, and head coach Brian--East Liverpool, took a commanding lead after the first three games and only expanded it during the Baker rounds, defeating runner-up Harrison Central 3,005 to 2,536 in convincing fashion. Buckeye Local (2,456), Saint Clairsville (2,361), and Beaver Local (1,975) rounded out the team standings.
Addison Rudibaugh bested her 2023 OVAC individual performance by two pins, rolling a 623 series as the only bowler to crack the 200 mark for all three games, to earn the 4A championship. In '23, Rudibaugh finished as the runner-up to then senior Kaylie Gibson of Dover.
This year also featured a Rudibaugh as the runner-up in the younger Lani Rudibaugh, who held on to second with a solid 491 in the third game.
Harrison Central's Angel Utter came in third with a 473, followed by St. Clairsville sophomore Kailin Hughes (467) and East Liverpool's Paige Grimes (451) to round out the Top 5.
Grimes came from behind in the fifth game with a 144 to overtake Harrison's Ty Lynn Smith (446 total).
Buckeye Local's Haylee Brown (435) followed in seventh.
Host Parkersburg South won the four-team 5A championships behind a solid performance from individual winner Brooklyn Taylor.
The freshman rolled a 222 and 210 in her second and third games to finish at 587, 35 pins better than Brooke's Tegan Williams.
The Patriots led 2,363 after the individual rounds and after posting the top Baker total of 583, took the team title with 2,946 total pins.
John Marshall came in second at 2,605, thanks in large part to a 507 series from junior Shelby Crow, who came in fourth overall behind Taylor, Williams, and South's Addison Giffin at 520. Wheeling Park, which was fourth in the team standings, was led by Sarah Seivertson, who came in fifth at 595.