Watterson Roundup
Coach: Boys bowling team ready to strike
Clark Sabula and the Watterson boys bowling team will compete in the sectional tournament Friday, Feb. 17, at Columbus Western Bowl. Buy This Photo
Watterson High School bowling coach Jerry Wagner believes his boys team is flying under the radar heading into the sectional tournament Friday, Feb. 17, at Columbus Western Bowl.
The top nine teams and top nine individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the district tournament Feb. 25 at HP Lanes, and 14 teams are seeded ahead of the Eagles in their sectional.
However, after seeing the way his team practiced last week, Wagner is confident the Eagles have the potential to advance to district.
Last year, Watterson finished 12th (3,430) in the 21-team sectional at Tiki Lanes behind champion Utica (4,013), as the top six teams and top six individuals not on a qualifying team advanced to district. Clark Sabula rolled a 602 to place 12th and move on to district.
“We’re seeded behind 14 other teams for sectional, but the reality is we could surprise some people if all our kids bowl well that day,” Wagner said. “At practice, I buy the kids a cookie when they shoot a 200 or more. On (Feb. 6), I had to buy 14 cookies, so I have a feeling that we may surprise some people because our boys are getting focused and bowling their best scores at the right time. Our boys just need to keep their minds on the game and they’ll do well.”
The Eagles went 7-10 overall and tied Columbus Academy, Grandview and Hartley for seventh in the Central Ohio High School Bowling Conference-Central Division at 7-7, behind St. Charles (14-0), Brookhaven (12-2), DeSales (11-3), Centennial (10-4), Northland (10-4) and Ready (9-5) and ahead of Columbus West (4-10), Beechcroft (4-10), Mifflin (2-12), Linden-McKinley (1-13) and Haugland Learning Center (0-14).
Wagner said his team didn’t always reach its potential during the regular season, but the Eagles turned in strong performances in a 2,191-1,878 win over Academy on Dec. 8, a 2,234-2,030 loss to St. Charles on Jan. 9 and a 2,056-1,786 win over Centennial on Jan. 19.
David Carter leads Watterson with a 177.9 game average, followed by Anthony Viola (173.8), Sabula (164) and Luke Byorth (157.6).
“Our boys were inconsistent during the (regular) season, but we should do better than that in the tournament with the way they are starting to throw now,” Wagner said. “David Carter is capable of shooting big games and he’s already had a 233 this season. And Clark will be the surprise of the tournament because he’s improved a lot toward the end of the season.”
•The girls bowling team will compete in the sectional tournament Saturday, Feb. 18, at Columbus Western Bowl.
The top nine teams and top nine individuals not on qualifying teams advance to district Feb. 24 at HP Lanes.
Claire Enderle leads Watterson with a 151.1 average, followed by Colleen McDaniel (140.1), Hunter Bryant (130.4), Anna Toborg (127.7) and Miranda Barnewall (126.3).
Last year, the Eagles finished seventh (2,839) in the sectional at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl behind champion Westerville Central (3,574), as the top six squads and top six individuals not on a qualifying team advanced to district. Alexa Gainer, a 2011 graduate, rolled a 451 to place 26th and qualify for district.
“There’s 10 teams seeded in front of our girls, but they have a good chance of making it, too,” Wagner said. “Claire and Colleen have been our top two bowlers, but Hunter and Miranda have come out of nowhere to help them out. If Miranda and Anna start to click for tournament play, our girls should do decently.”
The Eagles finished 10-4 overall and tied Academy and Hartley for third in the COHSBC-Central at 8-3, behind Ready (11-0) and Northland (9-2) and ahead of Brookhaven (6-5), Mifflin (4-7), Beechcroft (3-8), Centennial (3-8), Grandview (3-8), West (2-9) and Linden (1-10).
Wagner said his team had strong showings in a 1,678-1,525 win over Olentangy Liberty on Dec. 6, a 1,706-1,657 win over Northland on Dec. 13 and a 1,615-1,532 win over Hartley on Jan. 12.
However, he believes his team missed an opportunity with losses to Academy 1,432-1,431 on Dec. 8 and Beechcroft 1,133-1,017 on Jan. 23.
“We finished third in our division, but we should have finished second,” Wagner said. “Our biggest problem was getting all of our girls to show up at some matches. When we lost to Columbus Academy by one pin, two of our girls had to leave early for work and missed our last two Baker games, so we had to put down four zeros in that match. And we had only three girls show up to our match against Beechcroft because five of our girls were sick that day, and that was like losing 400 pins right there.
“If everyone shows up and bowls well, our girls team could finish in the top five at sectional.”
•The girls basketball team defeated Columbus School for Girls 69-17 on Feb. 11, as Kayla Cook scored 17 points and Annie Gavin and Ellie Ganz each scored 10.
With the win, the Eagles tied DeSales for first in the CCL at 6-2 to capture their fifth consecutive league championship. Hartley (5-3) finished third, followed by Ready (3-5) and CSG (0-8).
“One of our goals was to be CCL champs and we’re happy to be co-champs,” senior point guard Ashley Andracki said. “We wanted to win the CCL outright, but I’m proud that we were able to win the CCL all four years that our seniors have been here.”
