Saturday, February 29th, 2020

Division II Boys State Bowling Championships

Coldwater wins state title

Coldwater's Schoenherr, New Bremen's Alig earn All-Ohio honors

By Gary R. Rasberry
Submitted Photo

The Coldwater boys bowling team poses with their trophy after winning the Division II State Bowling Tournament on Friday at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. Pictured are Hayden Beougher, front row, from left, Keaton Bruns, Caleb Sutherin and Brandon Hammond. In the back row are coach Rick Hartings, Matt Meinerding, Nathan Snook, Trent Berkenstock, Michael Schoenherr and coach Kyle Bruns.

Correction:

  Brandon Hammonds' name was misspelled in the photo caption. The error was made in information provided to the newspaper.

After going to the wire in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches, Coldwater did not want to drag out the championship match of the Division II state boys bowling tournament.
The Cavaliers swept Fairport Harding 3-0 to capture the program's fourth state championship on Friday at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl. Coldwater had to come back to force five games in each of the first two rounds of the championship to advance.
Coldwater finished in the middle of the pack during the qualifying rounds. After three regulation and three baker games, the Cavaliers had 3,589 pins, easily locked into the fourth-seed spot in the eight-team knockout round.
Up first was Urbana. Coldwater won the opening game 208-179 before the Hillclimbers came back to take the next two games 182-176 and 236-211 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five games format. Coldwater bowed its back and took the fourth game 197-177 before winning the rubber game 193-177 to move on.
Next up was Galion, which finished ahead of Coldwater in last week's district tournament. The Tigers won the opener 182-149 with Coldwater taking the second game 186-163. Galion took Game 3 177-156 to set up another must-win-two situation. The Cavaliers held on 227-220 in Game 4 before taking Game 5 206-198.
"We just wanted to get to the finals, and it wasn't easy," said Cavaliers coach Rick Hartings. "About as hard as we ever had because we had a young team. It was not easy."
Facing Harding, which defeated Girard and Heath in the first two rounds to advance, the Cavaliers won a close 194-188 opening game. From there, the Cavaliers would not be denied, storming out to a 2-0 lead with a 230-160 win in Game 2 and then bringing home the title with a 199-172 win in the third game.
"We finished strong the first game. We threw two or three (strikes) in a row to take the lead," said Hartings. "Second game we won big. Third game (Harding) struggled and all we had to do was stay clean the last couple of frames to get the win."
Michael Schoenherr, the lone Coldwater senior, came through time after time when the Cavaliers needed him. Schoenherr bowled a 668 series (243-202-223) to finish 10th in the individual standings and earned second-team All-Ohio honors.
"Michael was clutch all day," said Hartings. "He had some huge shots in the quarters and semis. We were kind of out (of sorts) but put some strikes together to set him up. He threw a couple of doubles (two straight strikes) in the 10th (frame) in those matches and came through."
Caleb Sutherin finished with a 598 series. Keaton Bruns rolled a 581 and Matt Meinerding bowled a 565.
"We had a lot of guys step up," said Hartings. "Trent Berkenstock didn't bowl much at the districts, but today was a huge spark. Caleb was a spark and Keaton and Matt had a big day. We didn't sub a lot because it was a crucial part of the season, but the final five got in there."
New Bremen's Spencer Alig had a strong day, bowling a 683 series (234-225-224) to set a school record for best series and earn second-team All-Ohio honors with an eighth-place finish.
"I was pretty happy," said Alig, the first Cardinal bowler to qualify for state. "I felt pretty good. I thought I was going to be more nervous than I was. … It was a good time."
The Division II girls state tournament, featuring defending champion St. Marys and three-time state champion Coldwater, begins this morning in Columbus.
Submitted Photo

Coldwater's Michael Schoenherr holds up the championship trophy while surrounded by his teammates at the Division II state bowling tournament.

Additional online story on this date
COLDWATER - Carrying out a proud agricultural tradition, FFA students paraded a convoy of tractors down North Second Street on Friday before pulling into the high school parking lot to celebrate FFA Week. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Errors by law enforcement also alleged
WAPAKONETA - Lawyers for a man charged in connection with a fatal St. Marys shooting argued in court on Friday that an informant had improperly acted as a state agent and that law enforcement officials had made errors when interrogating their client and administering a photo lineup.
Election 2020
CELINA- Celina City Schools District voters will decide during the March 17 primary election whether to approve a bond issue and levy to build new schools.
ST. MARYS - Three Democrats running to challenge 4th District U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, in the November general election faced off in an Auglaize County Democratic Party debate on Thursday.
Flyers oust top-seeded Indians; Cards top 'Skins in OT
ST. MARYS - Two teams, each riding seven-game winning streaks, will collide in the Division IV district semifinals at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Wapakoneta High School.
LIMA - Celina's brief postseason run came to an end on Friday.
The Bulldogs had their season ended by a team primed for a state-tournament run.
Top-ranked Shawnee improved to 23-0 with a 64-24 victory over Celina in the Division II sectional final at Lima Senior High School.
COLDWATER - The third quarter was important to both Parkway and Minster on Friday night.
The Panthers outscored Upper Scioto Valley 17-4 in the third quarter of their Division IV boys basketball sectional to move on with a 63-39 win over the Rams in the opening game at the Palace in Coldwater.
Area Roundup
Compiled by Colin Foster
The Coldwater boys basketball team had a long tournament run last year.
Maybe another one is in store?
On Friday,