High school bowling: Highland's Kyle Dunne uses two hands, all his focus

Kyle Dunne doesn't just like bowling. The Highland junior is consumed by it. "I don't know a single person who puts in more effort than Kyle," junior teammate and reigning Gazette MVP Dylan Esterle said Wednesday. "The dude could live in a bowling alley. He'll practice all day and then come back and do it again the next day. "I don't know how he does it. I'm not a big fan of practicing, but Kyle is practicing all the time. I'll go for three games and he'll stay for five or six or eight. He's gotten a lot better. When I first started bowling with him, I was way better. Now we're so close." Esterle's prowess and Dunne's rapid improvement have coincided with Highland's rise as a team. In their third year as a program, the Hornets finished fourth at the Stonehedge Division I Sectional, beating fifth-place Copley by nine pins for the last team berth in the Northeast District, which will be held Monday at Roseland Lanes in Oakwood. Dunne led the way with a 655 series, which placed him fifth overall, while Esterle had a bad day and shot 592 to place 18th. The top six teams at Roseland will advance to the state tournament, as will the top six individuals from non-qualifying teams. "We can do it," Dunne said. "It will just take a lot of work. Districts is made up of the top teams, but I think we can do it." Esterle, who finished 19th at state last year, leads the Hornets with a 216.1 average. Dunne is next at 205.2, followed by Brian Musser (184), J.J. Bazan (166) and Gabe Kasper (161). All are right-handers, and all but Kasper bowl two-handed. "This is the next step," Highland coach Bruce Folkerth said of qualifying for districts. "That was really exciting that it happened, for sure. "I'm a realistic person. If we bowl how we can bowl, for sure we can be in the mix (for a state berth). But we really have to be the best we've ever been." The one certainty is that Dunne will put in plenty of practice time. An All-Gazette pick as a sophomore, when he averaged 206.7, the 17-year-old began bowling in youth leagues when he was 5. Dunne really got serious about the sport when he got to high school and started throwing two-handed, without inserting a thumb or any fingers in the ball. "It started with seeing my friends doing it," he said. "Seeing them throw the pins around, you want to do it, too. Once I saw the professionals doing it on TV, I thought, 'This might be for me.' "It was really tough for a while. You're changing your whole physical game. It's so much different than the conventional style. It takes a lot more lower body." The increased revolutions generated by bowling two-handed lead to better carry, which means more strikes and higher scores. Dunne, who has about 18 bowling balls and will bring the maximum six allowed to the district tournament, estimates he averaged around 140 the last year he bowled one-handed. Dunne, who is home-schooled, would like to bowl professionally after high school. If that doesn't pan out, he said he will go to college. "I'd love to be on the professional level," he said. "It takes a lot of work, so if I don't get there, it's OK, but my goal is to get there." With another full high school season still to come, the primary focus right now is helping the Hornets qualify for the state tournament. If that doesn't happen, Dunne hopes he and Esterle make it as individuals. "Really, my job is to take care of myself," he said. "That's all you can really do. If we all do that, we have a chance." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter.