Gazette MVP: Wadsworth's Aubrey Masuda's great season ends with whirlwind weekend at state

There's a lot to unpack from the outstanding start-to-finish season that earned Wadsworth junior Aubrey Masuda her first Gazette MVP award for girls bowling. The rather large suitcase she brought to Columbus for a two-night stay at the Drury Inn for the Division I state tournament is not included. Having already won individual titles at the Suburban League Preseason Tournament, the Suburban League Postseason Tournament and Stark County Sectional, the 5-foot-1, 96-pound Masuda planned on being dressed for success on and off the lanes at HPL Bowling Center, where she ultimately finished 11th with a 588 three-game series to earn honorable mention All-Ohio honors. The entire packing process took approximately four hours over two days, but Masuda was finally sure she had all the hoodies, pants, leggings, shoes, hair products, toothpaste and makeup she would need. "My mind was scattered," the 16-year-old said, "but clearly I'm an overpacker." When the Grizzlies departed Wadsworth early on a Thursday afternoon, everything seemed to be perfect. The team drove by Isham Elementary School, where students and teachers were outside waving, cheering and holding signs, then went around the town square before heading south. Once the Grizzlies checked into the Drury Inn, Masuda headed to the room she would be sharing with senior teammates Morgan Shaeffer and Addy Martin. "I didn't fully unpack," she said. "I just hung up my hoodies, put my toiletries in the bathroom and that was it." After practicing at HPL Bowling Center and staying up rather late Thursday night, the Wadsworth girls team went to watch Grizzlies junior Hayden Eagon-Mohlmaster compete in the boys state tournament on Friday morning. After a day of relative freedom and relaxation, the Grizzlies headed back to their hotel. "We didn't get the ideal amount of sleep for having a bowling tournament the next day," Shaeffer said. "We stayed up even later the first night." Finally sound asleep, Masuda suddenly was once again wide awake. "At 5:30 (a.m.) I jumped up out of my sleep, called my mom and said, 'I don't have my (bowling) jersey,'" she said. "She was like, 'What?' I knew they were definitely already on the road because they wanted to get there early to get good seats, but she didn't seem mad. She was just, 'Really, you didn't bring your jersey, the most important part?'" Masuda not only didn't bring her jersey, she also didn't pack the black skirt she was planning to bowl in, so Samantha Masuda, already 40 minutes outside of Wadsworth, turned around, went back home and got them. A drive that should have taken a bit under two hours ended up taking more than three, but Samantha arrived at the lanes in plenty of time for her daughter to change. Still, Aubrey Masuda knew she had to inform Wadsworth coach Heidi Steele why she was the only team member not in uniform as the Grizzlies prepared to check out of their hotel and head to HPL Bowling Center. "I told Heidi, 'No stress, it's on its way, but I don't have my jersey or my skirt,'" Masuda said. "She just giggled a bit and told me we had a backup plan if we needed it." Steele's emergency plan was twofold. Her niece, 2024 Wadsworth graduate and former Wadsworth bowler Jordan Zakikian, was in Columbus to watch the team compete and had packed a black skirt because she planned to go out after the tournament. For a jersey, Steele would give the bowling shirt she always wears under her pullover to Shaeffer, the tallest player on the team, and have Shaeffer give her jersey to Masuda. "If I had given Aubrey my shirt, she would have been swimming in it," the coach said. In part because the weather was great and slow drivers are seemingly never an issue on Interstate 71, Samantha even found a fairly decent spot to watch her daughter compete. The three-step ladder she brought also helped. "We were just in the mindset that there's no reason to stress or worry about it," Aubrey Masuda said. "The problem was solved and we didn't want it to sabotage me later in the day. I just put my jersey on and forgot about it." That approach worked. Masuda had no way of knowing it because tournament-wide scores are not made available while play is in progress, but she was tied for sixth after starting with games of 215 and 213. She then shot 160 in her final game after missing a pair of 3-10 baby splits and going without a strike until the seventh frame. "I just went in there doing what I know how to do, but the last game, I'm not exactly sure what I did," she said. "It haunts me a little bit." Still, Masuda exorcised many postseason demons while earning All-Gazette honors for the third time in as many seasons after moving to Wadsworth from Hawaii prior to her freshman year. Rumors of her bowling prowess actually reached Northeast Ohio before she did. "During the summer before she moved, I heard a really good girl bowler who would be a freshman was coming from Hawaii," Steele said. "I heard averages ranging anywhere from 220 to 170." Not long after Masuda and her family got to Wadsworth, Steele was at Kolony Bowl, where the Grizzlies hold their home matches, for a meeting. "A league was going on and someone said, 'Hey, that Aubrey girl is out there,' so I watched from a distance for a while, then I went up and introduced myself," Steele said. "She was doing really well until I went up and talked to her. I think she had a four-bagger, then she went open, open, so I got out of there, but I think she still shot 218." The majority of Masuda's teammates didn't meet her until the first day of practice for the 2023-24 season. "She just showed up one day," Shaeffer said. "Then I saw her bowl and I was like, 'Dang, she's really good.'" As a freshman, Masuda led Medina County with a 180.4 average but bowled poorly at sectionals, as did her team, and her season ended at that point. She again bowled poorly at sectionals as a sophomore, but this time the Grizzlies advanced to districts and then to the state tournament as a team, where she rolled a decent but disappointing 538. This season, Masuda started strong and never looked back. She won the individual crown with a 611 series as the Grizzlies captured the team title at the SL Preseason Tournament, then helped her team go undefeated in dual matches before shooting a county season-high 685 series as Wadsworth won the SL Postseason Tournament to claim the overall league title for the second straight year. Still not done, Masuda rolled a 602 series to earn the individual title at the Stark County Sectional. The lone glitch came at the Northeast District, where she rolled a 523, but the Grizzlies again advanced to state as a team. "Individually, I was very disappointed in my performance," she said. "It was one of those days for me. I was making good shots, but the scores didn't reflect that. As a team, it was one of my favorite performances ever. We were all so happy and hyped. It was an amazing feeling to be so connected with my team." Given a second chance, Masuda started strong at the state tournament before losing her line in the third game as the Grizzlies finished 12th as a team. It wasn't the first-team All-Ohio honor — junior teammate Cassidy Myers got that by finishing fifth with a 630 series — or state title Masuda craves, but it was a much more positive ending than her first two high school seasons. In addition to leading the county in three-game series, Masuda finished second in the area in average (192.7) and two-game series (473) and fourth in high game (268). Next season, she wants even more, and she's preparing for it by bowling in leagues on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday and sometimes on Friday, with plans to also compete in a number of tournaments. "There will be a lot more focus," Masuda said. "It's the last year I have in high school, so why not make the most of it, right?" Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.