High school bowling: Wadsworth sweeps Medina County Tournament

MEDINA — The Wadsworth bowling teams seem to want to change the name of the Medina County Tournament to the Grizzly Invitational. The Grizzlies won boys and girls team titles for the second straight year while dominating the competition Sunday at Medina Lanes. Coached by George Steele, the boys had a tournament-record 4,038 pinfal in three individual games and five Baker games to beat second-place Highland by 166 pins in a seven-team field. The girls, coached by Heidi Steele, had a 3,207 total to beat second-place Buckeye by 343 pins in a five-team field. Grizzlies sophomore Hayden Eagon-Mohlmaster, who shot a school-record 748 at the event as a freshman, was the boys individual champ for the second straight year with a 692, while Buckeye's Karlie Cesarski rolled a 529 to edge Wadsworth's Cassidy Myers by four pins for the girls crown. The Grizzlies had five bowlers place in the top eight in the girls field. "I just took my time," said Eagon-Mohlmaster, a big left-hander whose 259 helped Wadsworth shoot a sizzling 1,149 in the first game of individual bowling. "My shot stayed reliable all day. I moved left once (on the approach), but that was it." After his big opening game, Eagon-Mohlmaster stayed steady with a 205 and 228 while leading the field throughout the day. "Honestly, it was the spirit with the team," he said. "We use our moral together and continue from there. It shows how far we've come as a team. We did well against the Suburban League (in a second-place finish among 14 teams) on Friday and it carried through the weekend and into today." The Grizzlies also got a third-place finish from Nate Weyand (624), while Alex Espie was eighth (602) and Collin O'Connor was ninth (583). Buckeye sophomore John Ambrose was second in the boys field with a 631, 61 pins behind Eagon-Mohlmaster. "My goal was to average at least 180 today," said Ambrose, a varsity substitute last season. "I didn't think I was going to do this well. A small adjustment and a ball change made a big difference." Despite having five new bowlers in their lineup, the Bucks finished third in the boys field with a total pinfall of 3,588. Hunter Uehlein was 10th with a 581. "It's way different this year," said Ambrose, who shot 199-212-220. "This team's synergy is going to get built. We need to get the team bond stronger." Coming off a fourth-place finish at the SL Preseason Tournament, Highland was led by Tyler Oboy (4th, 623), Gabe Kasper (5th, 622), Thomas Nhok (7th, 610) and Gracie Dunne (12th, 560). Dunne would have won the girls competition by 31 pins, but the Hornets only have a boys team and she wasn't eligible. Brunswick's Mason Checovich was sixth with a 615. Cesarski used four straight strikes to shoot 193 in her third game and edge Myers. Bowling a few frames behind Cesarski, Myers needed a double in the 10th frame to win. She got the first strike, but not the second. "That's crazy," Cesarski said when informed she had won. "It's awesome. I had a good feeling all day. My second game (147) I usually drop, but in my third I usually go up, so I was staying hopeful. One strike led to another, and with all our good energy I started going up." Myers, a sophomore move-in who averaged 163 for Norton last season, began her day with five strikes en route to a 194, then slumped to 157 before shooting 174 in her final game. "It felt awesome," she said of her start. "Then I kept missing my mark." On a dominant day, the Grizzlies also got top-eight finishes from Aubrey Masuda (3rd, 510), Amelia Lutz (5th, 485), Addy Martin (6th, 475) and Cece Craig (8th, 415). Buckeye's Grace Miller was fourth with a 499 and Brunswick's Grace Mullen was seventh with a 431. "I've been bowling with all these girls since I was 8," Myers said of her Wadsworth teammates. "I know them very well. I love bowling with them." In another event: SL Preseason MACEDONIA — The Wadsworth boys and girls teams each finished second at the Suburban League Preseason Tournament on Friday at North Woods Lanes, while the Highland boys took fourth among 14 schools. The event counts 20% toward the overall league champion, as does the postseason. The regular season counts 60%. Twinsburg won the boys title with a 4,023 total, followed by Wadsworth (3,982). Highland had 3,789. Copley's Mike Molnar (736) was the individual champion, with Eagon-Mohlmaster (3rd, 657), Espie (10th, 615) and Weyand (14th, 596) leading the Grizzlies. Highland got top-20 finishes from Nhok (8th, 617), Kasper (16th, 587), Davis Slatkovsky (17th, 581) and Dunne (19th, 573). In the 13-team girls competition, Nordonia (3,479) beat Wadsworth (3,347) for the title. The Knights' Kaitlyn McNutt (657) captured the individual crown, with the Grizzlies getting top-20 showings from Masuda (2nd, 625), Lutz (5th, 565), Craig (8th, 479), Myers (13th, 445) and Martin (20th, 402). Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Results Medina County Tournament Boys Standings: 1. Wadsworth 4,038; 2. Highland 3,872; 3. Buckeye 3,588; 4. Medina 3,577; 5. Brunswick 3,150; 6. Cloverleaf 3,022; 7. Black River 2,547. Individuals: 1. Hayden Eagon-Mohlmaster (W) 692; 2. John Ambrose (Bu) 631; 3. Nate Weyand (W) 624; 4. Tyler Oboy (H) 623; 5. Gabe Kasper (H) 622; 6. Mason Checovich (Bru) 615; 7. Thomas Nhok (H) 610; 8. Alex Espie (W) 602; 9. Collin O'Connor (W) 583; 10. Hunter Uehlein (Bu) 581; 11. Brayden Scarbrough (BR) 563; 12. Gracie Dunne (H) 560; 13. Trevor Courie (C) 540; 14. Kevin Miller (Bu) 536; 15. Matthew Valenzeno (Bru) 533. Girls Standings: 1. Wadsworth 3,207; 2. Buckeye 2,864; 3. Cloverleaf 2,067; 4. Black River 1,785; 5. Brunswick 1,710. Individuals: 1. Karlie Cesarski (Bu) 529; 2. Cassidy Myers (W) 525; 3. Aubrey Masuda (W) 510; 4. Grace Miller (Bu) 499; 5. Amelia Lutz (W) 485; 6. Addy Martin (W) 475; 7. Grace Mullen (Bru) 431; 8. Cece Craig (W) 415; 9. Aubrey Reutter (Bu) 386; 10. Judy Dong (Bru) 382; 11. Brier Coe (C) 378; 12. Emily Molnar (Bru) 357; 13. Caroline Markert (C) 343; 14. Charlotte Falsone (BR) 342; Destiny Grayshaw (C) 314.