They did it! St. Henry comes back with a strong Baker round to reach the top 8, then goes all the way in the afternoon with 3, 5-game Bakers over Napoleon, Fort Recovery and Coldwater to take home the Division II State Bowling Title at HP Lanes in Columbus. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
After qualifying for the championship round as the sixth seed, the Redskins endured three consecutive five-game matches to win the Division II title.
Columbus, OH – As the St. Henry boys bowling team demonstrated Friday, achieving the most satisfying moments on the lanes sometimes takes more than just overcoming rough moments or relying on adrenaline.
In the Redskins’ case, the Division II state championship trophy they left HP Lanes with was ultimately a victory built on stamina.
After standing in 10th place heading into baker competition, St. Henry bounced back to place sixth in the qualifying round.
Veteran central Ohio columnist Jarrod Ulrey writes the OCC and sports at large for Press Pros
The Redskins then proceeded to win three matches in the championship round all by 3-2 scores—including a thrilling five-gamer over top-seeded Coldwater in the state final match.
It marks St. Henry’s first title.
“It was a long, hard day,” coach Noah Stammen said. “Our regular games weren’t good. Luckily in bakers we shot 974 and that put us in the running, and then we went five games, five games, and five games. I didn’t envision it, but I couldn’t be happier.”
In the title bout against Coldwater, the Redskins lost the first game 174-169 but won the second game 212-179 and the third 188-164.
That set up an opportunity for St. Henry to close it out in the fourth game, but the Redskins ended with back-to-back open frames and the Cavaliers survived 167-165 to force a fifth game.
St. Henry bounced back to win the fifth game 180-169 as Coldwater settled for runner-up for the third time in six seasons.
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“When I came in today, I wasn’t really expecting that we were going to win it,” junior Jack Siefring said. “The second game (of regulation), we shot one of our lower scores (777) and I was thinking we were about to be out of it. We picked it all up. It means a lot. It was a lot of dedication and practice, and I’m really glad it all worked out.”
Jenson Siefring proudly displays the hardware that he and his Redskin teammates earned, a school-first state championship bowling title.
During regulation, junior Ben Wendel led the Redskins with a 15th-place finish (607) as Brooklyn senior Adam Cowper was state champion (729) and Coldwater sophomore Andrew Myers was runner-up (696).
Siefring tied for 41st (549) and senior Jenson Siefring and juniors Connor Jacobs and Vincent Lochtefeld also were key contributors for the Redskins.
“My nerves were completely high, so much that my head started hurting,” Wendel said. “Most of us have been bowling since fifth or seventh grade, and we’ve bowled against (Coldwater) our entire life. It’s a crazy experience, especially being the first time in St. Henry history winning state.
“I knew we were capable of anything. Last year I (placed seventh) at state, so I was hoping I could re-create something like that and I ended up 15th which I was happy with. We overcame a lot.”
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Coldwater rolled a 1,083 in its opening game of regulation and closed out baker play with a 3,986 to easily earn the top seed heading into the championship round.
Coldwater’s Andrew Myers earned First Team All Ohio Runner Up (696) during regulation play, second only to Brooklyn’s Adam Cowper (727)
After beating eighth-seeded Versailles 3-0 in the first round, the Cavaliers lost the first game of their semifinal to fifth-seeded Mentor Lake Catholic 175-164 but bounced back to win games of 203-188, 258-225, and 213-147 to reach the final.
Coldwater has won four state titles, the last of which came in 2020.
“That wasn’t like Coldwater bowling at the end (against St. Henry),” coach Rick Hartings said. “We kind of got a little tight. We were proud to get to the finals, but we felt like we were bowling well all day. Things kind of spiraled out of control. We had some bad shots that last game. I thought we could come in and figure it out, but they edged us out. It’s a lot of pressure. I’m happy for St. Henry, they bowl out of our center, (but) it still really stings that we couldn’t bowl any better.”
While Myers led the way for Coldwater, sophomore Drew Schulze tied for ninth (653) to earn second-team all-state honors. Also during regulation, sophomore Carter Miller was 18th (602), sophomore Braylon Brown tied for 22nd (590), and junior Clay Schulze and sophomore Isaac Delzeith also were among the contributors.
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“Wish we could have gotten first, and I feel like one of these days we’ve got to come through and be state champions again,” Myers said. “We’ve got five sophomores and three juniors on the team. I bowl year-round and try to build myself to be better for the team, and hopefully we’ll get a title the next two years.
“(Getting state individual runner-up) meant quite a bit. I did better than I expected getting runner-up and first-team (all-state).”
Fort Recovery finished fourth and Versailles placed eighth.
St. Henry junior, Ben Wendel, led all Redskin scorers with a 607, good enough for 15th place, and an All-Ohio honorable mention.
Fort Recovery sat in ninth after regulation but responded by moving up to seventh during baker competition to qualify for the championship round.
The Indians continued their solid play by upsetting second-seeded Springfield Shawnee 3-1 in their first match of the championship round before falling to St. Henry.
“They don’t give up and they just keep fighting,” coach Jim Sheppard said. “I’m proud of them. We had that one unfortunate open in the seventh frame (against St. Henry), and you can’t do that to them. You can’t give them a break.”
During regulation, senior AJ Siefring was Fort Recovery’s top bowler with a 578 (30th), followed by seniors Reece Lefevre (48th, 536) and Anthony Roessner (61st, 519). Garrett Diller and Gabe Acheson also were key contributors among a seven-member senior class.
After a dominant performance all day by the Cavaliers, the Coldwater fans’ nerves started to show a bit as the Championship match against a charging St. Henry team went to the 5th game.
“It was our second year in a row (at state), and we finished 11th last year,” Sheppard said. “Our goal this year was to make it to the finals, and we did.”
Versailles was back at state after a two-year absence and made the most of the experience, opening with a 954 first regulation game and placing eighth (3,578) during the qualifying round.
Junior Caiden Green led the way during regulation with a 581 (tied for 27th), followed by seniors Gavin Hecht (33rd, 568) and Sam Albers (40th, 552), and sophomore Carson Schwartz (47th, 537).
In the Tigers’ match against Coldwater, they lost the first game 155-148.
“We started off the day well,” coach Tyler Phlipot said. “There in the bakers against Coldwater, they had three splits at the end of the (first) game and we didn’t take advantage of it. If you win that first game, it’s a totally different ball game. It puts the pressure on them to win the next three.
“I’m proud of the boys and proud of the seniors for how they stepped up. We battled all day. It was a real good team effort. We’ve got two sophomores and two juniors coming back so it was nice for those four underclassmen to experience that atmosphere.”
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