Pleasant boys title headlines strong area finish at state bowling tourney
Saturday, March 2, 2024
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
The Marion Pleasant boys bowling team captured the Division II state tournament title at HP Lanes in Columbus Mar. 1. Photo: Jarrod Ulrey
A hot start and an even hotter finish lifted the Marion Pleasant boys bowling team to new heights at the Division II state tournament Friday at HP Lanes.
The Spartans were making their fourth state appearance, but this year marked the first time they reached the championship round.
Entering the finals as the No. 3 seed after an opening game of 1,070 helped it total a 3,533 during the qualifying round, Pleasant defeated fifth-seeded Akron Coventry 3-0 to capture its first championship.
It was an almost polar opposite of how the Spartans finished a year ago when they wound up 15th after placing ninth in 2008 and ninth in 2022 during their only other state appearances.
“(It means) a lot because the past two years we almost placed last,” Tucker Ludwig said. “It’s states, but we knew we could beat any team. We wanted to win, and we showed it.”
The addition of Ludwig, a freshman who is the brother of junior Nolan Ludwig and the son of coach Bill Ludwig, was a big reason for the stronger finish.
Tucker Ludwig rolled games of 257, 200 and 179 for a 636 that gave him a ninth-place overall finish during the qualifying round, earning him second-team all-state honors.
The Spartans opened the championship round by beating sixth-seeded Hanoverton United 3-0 and then defeated seventh-seeded Warren Champion 3-1 to set up the final against Coventry, where they won the first game 193-190, the second game 267-184, and the third game 242-194.
Marion Pleasant’s Nolan Ludwig competes for the Spartans during their state championship effort Mar. 1 at HP Lanes. Photo: Jarrod Ulrey
“This is huge,” coach Ludwig said. “This is the first state title for Pleasant itself since 2008, and this is our first one in bowling so it’s the best bowling team we’ve ever had and the program has been going for 12 to 14 years. We’d been going in the right direction the last three years, and hats off to our bowling center, and our junior program is phenomenal.
“We didn’t focus on anybody else and we didn’t beat ourselves. As a team, we’ve averaged 200 all year long. Three of our kids raised their averages from last year and we’ve got no seniors, so we’re all coming back.”
A pair of big celebrations involving Central District programs also took place during the state girls tournament Saturday, with Mechanicsburg finishing runner-up in the team competition and River Valley senior Alex Manning shooting 662 to earn an individual runner-up finish behind Carrollton’s Kaylee Russell (665).
During the boys tournament for Mechanicsburg, junior Chris Ritchie finished eighth (661) and senior Aaron Adams was 75th (508).
Then during the girls event, leading the Indians were seniors Faith Ford (17th, 552) and Gwen Westfall (18th, 547).
After entering the championship round as the No. 4 seed, Mechanicsburg beat fifth-seeded Versailles 3-2 and eighth-seeded Rootstown 3-2 before losing to second-seeded Springfield Kenton Ridge 3-0 in the championship match.
East Knox’s Olivia Nastasi warms up prior to the OHSAA Division II state championship at HP Lanes Mar. 2. Photo: Kevin Rouch
“We did great and had a great season,” Indians coach David Bush said. “We ended up improving from last season when we also made the final four, so I’m proud of them.”
Manning was a three-time state competitor who was 15th as a freshman individual and also competed at state a season ago when the Vikings qualified as a team.
The state tournament was held at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl each of the past 13 seasons.
“It’s my senior year so that’s it, there’s nothing more, and it means so much,” Manning said. “It definitely helped a lot that I didn’t have to change from being here (at sectional and district) to go to Wayne Webb’s because I don’t bowl Wayne Webb’s unless it’s at state. It’s awesome getting to bowl with different people and getting to know people. It’s been amazing.”
East Knox was represented at state by its boys team, which finished 12th (3,224) on Friday, and by senior Olivia Nastasi, who tied for 27th (534) on Saturday.
“Four years ago, there were two kids on the team and we’d never won a KMAC match,” coach Chip Pozderac said. “I have six seniors and one freshman, and we’ve got a group of other freshmen who are on par with these guys. I have an individual here with the girls, which is the first time we’ve done that. We didn’t win a league match until three years ago.”
Senior Will Jensen led the Bulldogs at the boys tournament by placing 28th (590), with senior Jordan Hull tying for 49th (557).
“I always wanted to go to state, and we finally did it,” Jensen said.
Nastasi bowled games of 206, 167 and 161.
“(Being at state) was my goal,” Nastasi said. “I only started bowling three years ago, so to be at state, it was really fun. I enjoyed this a lot.”
The pins are set lane-by-lane prior to the start of the OHSAA DII girls state championship at HP Lanes in Columbus Mar. 2. Video: Kevin Rouch