Bluffton bowls in the Kenton Holiday Baker Tournament on December 23.

By Cort Reynolds

COLUMBUS - The Bluffton High School boys bowling team finished a strong sixth at the prestigious 22^nd annual Ohio High School Invitational Div. II “Kickoff Tournament” in Columbus on Saturday, December 6.

“It was great to be part of this invitational,” said Bluffton head bowling coach Ben Nye. “Being that schools are only invited if they made it to the district event last year is a nice reward for the boys' hard work last season.

“Placing sixth overall for a first-time showing against some of the top programs in the state is still a good day, and is showing these bowlers can compete with the best,” he noted.

The 12th-seeded team, Akron Coventry, rallied to win the 27-team event, defeating second-seed Liberty-Benton for the title. Coventry edged L-B 515-501 in the championship round. 

Coldwater came in third, followed by Bucyrus, Napoleon and then the Pirates in sixth.

In the 16-team championship round stage, Bluffton beat Bucyrus Wynford 517-497 in the first round to advance to the quarterfinals. The Pirates rolled a 161-153-203 Baker Series to edge the Royals behind a big third game, who bowled a consistent 160-168-169 set.

In the quarterfinals, top-seeded Coldwater eliminated Bluffton by a score of 598-513. The Cavaliers rolled a series of 179-209-210 to oust the Pirates, who rolled a 186=173-154 series.

Coventry then upset Coldwater in the semifinals, 624-609.

In the qualifying rounds, Bluffton finished eighth. They bowled 810-838-807=2,455 in the opening series, followed by a two-game Baker set of 229- 180=409 for a total of 2,864.

“In a field of 27 teams, coming out of the qualifying round in eighth was great,” Nye offered. “Going into the head-to-head Baker’s it can always be anyone’s game, and we let a few frames get away in that second round.”

Coldwater finished first in the qualifying stage with 3,269 pins, 316 ahead of L-B in second.

“I would also like to recognize Emmitt Kidd as our top individual bowler with the 30^th highest series of the day out of 179 bowlers,” Nye pointed out.

Kidd bowled a three-game series of 159-166-197=522 in the opening round.

Pirate Coby Dailey tied for 32^nd with a score of 179-166-172=517. Weston Johnstone rolled a two-game set of 203-211=414 to come in 75^th place.

Elijah Nye rolled a 135 score in game two, sandwiched by sub-bowler scores of 121 and 127.

Brody Higginbotham of Bucyrus bowled a 242-199-208=649 series to finish first overall by seven pins, and lead the eight-player all-tournament team.

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