Benninghofen leads strong showing at bowling sectionals

Avon’s bowlers got off to a red-hot start Sunday at the Division I sectional tournament at Yorktown Lanes, but when the final pin was knocked down, only Ava Benninghofen remained standing.

The boys were in first place after the first individual game with a team total of 1,062, and the girls were in second at the same point with a program record score of 902. Benninghofen played a big role in that initial score, as she opened with a personal record 267, the highest single-game score in the girls field.

However, by the end of the tournament that saw teams roll three individual games and six Baker games, the girls finished in sixth place, just 67 pins short of the fourth and final team qualifying spot, while the boys placed ninth. Benninghofen will be Avon’s lone representative at the district tournament Sunday at Rebman Recreation Lanes in Lorain, as she earned one of the individual qualifying spots with a three-game series of 267-144-167 (578).

“I’m honestly very proud of myself,” she said. “I didn’t think I would do as well as I did. I was a little disappointed with my second game, but I am very proud of how this entire thing turned out.”

It was quite a change for the senior, who just a week ago rolled a three-game series of 354 in the Southwestern Conference tournament. She ended up with the fourth-best series and the best individual game in the entire sectional event.

“I don’t know exactly what I did to turn things around, but I do know that I just kept making sure that I wasn’t getting in my head,” she said. “I wasn’t letting a bad frame mess up my entire game.”

Coach Robin McQuaid said, “She came out with her personal best of 267 and then just continued to stay solid throughout the day. The 267 is her high game ever, and so is her 578 series. It’s a dream for her. She wanted it and she deserves it.”

For much of the day, it appeared the Eagles might be one of the team qualifiers for the first time in program history. They were sitting third entering the Baker games, but they weren’t able to maintain that lofty status in the Baker games. North Olmsted won the crown with a total of 3,798. Amherst was second at 3,586, followed by North Ridgeville (3,329), Padua (3,308), Magnificat (3,287) and Avon (3,241).

“This is the epitome of our season,” McQuaid said. “This is the end game. For them to come out like they did was far beyond our dreams. They put everything together at just the right time. This is where you want to do it. For us to do that was really impressive, to come out of the gate like that and put some pressure on some of these other teams that didn’t expect us to be in that spot.”

Grace Freeman was agonizingly close to joining Benninghofen next week, as her 233-113-175 (521) series left the sophomore just one pin shy of qualifying as an individual. The two were backed by Molly McEwen at 141-158-182 (481), Kailynn Forbis at 137-148-118 (403), and Kara Patton, who rolled one game at 169. After opening with a team total of 902, Avon dipped to 676 in the second game before rebounding to 811 in the third.

“We didn’t expect this today,” McQuaid said. “But what I tell them is I can’t want this for you. They proved today that they wanted it more than ever. I didn’t have to want it for them. They talked to each other. There was some great leadership on the team and some coaching through trouble spots. We had a second game that wasn’t ideal, but we came back and put the pedal down again in game three. To be third after the initial round was a great spot to be and it made it really exciting for us.”

Avon’s boys stood atop the standings after opening with a 1,062, but they dropped to 883 in each of the final two games. Amherst won the title at 4,604, with Berea-Midpark (4,405), Padua (4,340) and Avon Lake (4,188) grabbing the other team qualifying spots. North Royalton was fifth at 4,168, followed by North Ridgeville (4,157), North Olmsted (4,144), Olmsted Falls (4,122) and Avon (3,943).

Bennett Ernst, an individual state qualifier last year, was the top bowler for the Eagles with a series of 217-184-236 (637). However, that total left him 14 pins shy of a qualifying spot. He was backed by Grady Stipe at 219-172-209 (600), Nick Sanchez at 210-183-145 (538), and Nathen Stewart at 182-180-160 (522), and Cole Corpus had two games at 234 and 164.

“We started off really hot, and I think thereafter we kind of got caught in our heads a little bit,” said coach Erin Loschetter. “But I’m very proud of how they performed today and how they performed the whole season together. We definitely had some standout members of the team who really bowled well today. It just, all in all, didn’t come together as we would have wished.”