Looking at the numbers, Worthington Kilbourne’s boys’ bowling team seems to be the model of consistency with four athletes averaging over 160 pins per game.
But it’s still a work in progress for coach Susan Bond and the Wolves, who ramped up their winning streak to six by beating Dublin Scioto 1.705-1.607 on January 10 and Mifflin 1.955-1.763 on January 12.
For Bond, it comes down to spare parts.
“(It’s) the same thing we work on every year,” she said. “We need a certain consistency for that. (Against Groveport on January 6), we shot 974 in the first game and 836 in the second game and that’s because two or three of the guys fell off with their spare shot. It makes a huge difference.”
Led by Samuel Knuth (176.0 average in 19 games), Dominic Tavella (168.2 in 12 games), Camden Hinkle (166.4 in 11 games) and Liam Meisel (164.2 in 15 games), Kilbourne was 6-1 before going up against Hilliard Darby on January 14.
“Coach Bond always preaches that every pin matters,” Knuth said. “It doesn’t matter if you lose with 10 or win with 200, every pin matters. If you just make your spares, that’s the first step to becoming one of those big programs.”
Knuth had his best game of the year throwing a 255 in a 2,168-1,807 win over Groveport on Jan. 6.
“It’s kind of like when you walk into a bowling alley because you don’t know what the oil will look like that day,” he said. “You don’t know how your hand is going to feel that day. Against Groveport, I just felt it.
“I didn’t really think about it until the fifth frame. I just kept going and I was having a good time and I looked at Liam Meisel, who I was bowling with and he said, ‘Dude, you bowled four (strikes) in a row.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, man. I’ve bowled four times in a row.’ It just kept going. Liam and I, from the fourth frame all the way to the ninth frame, we just went back and forth, back and forth. It was certainly fun to watch.”
Even in that game, Bond noticed the difference maker of a missed reserve.
“(Knuth) shot his personal best of a 255, which was a great race for him,” she said. “It naturally led the team to victory. For him, it’s all about spare parts. He can throw the strikes when he needs to throw the strikes, but it’s something he really needs to get better at.
“Had he not thrown a gutter ball into the middle of the strike string, he would have had a 270 game (against Groveport). But in doing so, he gave away 15 pins.”
Meisel threw a 211 game and a 406 series, while Knuth finished with a 437 series against the Cruisers.
Hinkle had a 321 series and Knuth a 309 series to lead the Wolves over Scioto, and Knuth had games of 196 and 214 for a 410 series against Mifflin.
Knuth, Hinkle, Zach Beck (148.6 in 14 games) and Miles Roberts (138.9 in 13 games) were the top bowlers on last year’s squad, who finished 12-5 and 20th in sectional.
“We came in with four guys coming back and then we had three guys coming out with not a whole lot of varsity experience,” Knuth said. “We are definitely performing better than some people thought we would.”
Tavella, Meisel and Levi Knuth (153.7 in 15 games) are newcomers who contributed to the early success of the Wolves.
“Both (Tavella and Meisel) are ambidextrous players and they are doing really well this year,” said Bond.
Samuel Knuth was a freshman when his sister, Casey, was a standout on the girls’ team. Now he gets the chance to compete with his brother, Levi.
“It’s really cool,” said Samuel. “In my first year I saw my sister bowling and I loved her. So, coming into my senior year and doing this with my brother is really fun. Watching him grow and see him become a better bowler – just having fun in the end.”
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