It has been another successful season for the East Knox bowling teams, as the boys’ team finished 19-0 in the regular season and undefeated in league play to take the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference (KMAC) title. The girls’ team took second in the KMAC this season, as well.
In the one-day KMAC tournament, the girls’ team walked away with a victory while the boys’ team took second place to Cardington-Lincoln.
Next up for East Knox is the Sectional Tournament on Feb. 16 and 17, where they hope to qualify for Districts and eventually the State Tournament.
“That has been a goal since day one, and they are really focused on it,” said Coach Chip Pozderac.
Boys’ team:
The Bulldogs won the KMAC title for the second straight year, and Pozderac said the team has worked hard to achieve their goals. She said that Will Jensen, Lane Lashley and Jordan Hull have been on top of things, practicing just about every day.
“They have put so much effort into their game, and working with the younger bowlers, developing them,” Pozderac said.
The top Bulldog bowler this year has been Will Jensen, who has led the team all four years he has been in high school. Jensen has won KMAC Bowler of the Year three of his four years in high school.
“Jensen’s high two-game series of 489 tops the KMAC for the second straight season,” Pozderac said. “His best game is 265, just one pin off the conference record. He averaged 210.81 in the KMAC this season, giving him the top honor yet again. He was also named a member of the KMAC All-Tournament Team.”
Lane Lashley has been bowling since he was a sophomore when Pozderac took over the program, and has worked to polish his game and average 203.84 on the season. He had a high of 278 where he bowled nine straight strikes before leaving the 10th pin on his 10th try. He and Will both work at Colonial Lanes and bowl often. Next year he will be bowling for the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers.
Senior Dylan Reed has averaged 200.81 and his high was 224. He and Jensen are both four year letter winners.
Senior Jordan Hull has averaged 198.12 and had a high of 235. Pozderac said he has been the team’s “spare guy” all season.” Hull was named to the All-Tournament team and was one pin away from being on top. He has earned All-Ohio Academic honors and All-KMAC Scholar Athlete, and is looking into bowling for Ohio Northern or Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
“He has the highest average of closed frames for the team, and is a technician on his form,” Pozderac said.
Freshman Blake Calhoon is the team’s only underclassman, and he had a solid year averaging 202.33 and bowling a high of 244.
“Blake is another one of those kids who has grown up in the lanes and will be our leader next year,” Pozderac said.
Pozderac felt that the team’s best game was a match against Heath where they set a school record in points with a 2565-2065 win. Heath beat them last year in the Districts and eliminated them from the state tournament by 40 pins, so beating them by 500 pins was a huge confidence boost.
In the KMAC one-day tournament, Cardington-Lincoln took a close victory with 3513, as East Knox was 13 pins away at 3500.
Hull was the second ranked bowler with scores of 149, 243 and 197. Jensen was fourth with games of 150, 217 and 214.
Girls' team:
East Knox took first place in the KMAC tournament with a score of 3035, edging out Fredericktown’s 2952 and Northmor’s 2932. Olivia Nastasi had games of 164, 170 and 200 as the number one bowler.
The Lady Bulldogs lost two close games to Fredericktown this season, with one by eight pins and another by 11 pins. Pozderac knew they had a shot beating them in the KMAC tournament. While the team lost two of their varsity bowlers, they pushed on to get the win.
“The girls made the adjustments and supported their teammates,” Pozderac said. “One young lady, Beth Aeppli, actually left the lanes and ended up in the hospital after our victory, but she was there for her team. The tournament was amazing, it was back-and-forth throughout the match, and it was so exciting to win it in the Bakers. The team really pulled together, and Olivia Nastasi ending with three strikes was incredible. Olivia, Miale Hurlow and McKayla Blakely earned all tournament team honors, with Olivia taking top honors.”
Nastasi is the team’s top bowler and led the KMAC with an average of 193.25. This was 30 pins over the second place bowler. Pozderac said that Nastasi has played basketball for her, but made the change to bowling when she moved on to coach the team.
“She immediately picked it up, her timing was amazing and she spent hours in the lanes working on her game,” Pozderac said. “She bowled in every league she could and hired a private coach. She is the anchor of the team and has held the girls together through all of the adversity. She has committed to bowling for Ohio Northern, and will be a great asset to their team.”
Hurlow and Blakely are a couple of solid bowlers who improved this year. Pozderac said there were a couple matches the Bulldogs won because they bowled high above their averages.
A pleasant surprise was Aeppli, who Pozderac said made the most growth. While she was on the team last season, she struggled at times with her ball. Every year Pozderac and her husband buy a ball for a team member, and this year it was Aeppli. The change seemed to help her excel.
“Her averaged jumped 20 pins with the new ball,” Pozderac said. “Every game she got better and really made a huge impact on the success of the team.”
Pozderac’s outlook on the season
Pozderac explained that when she left coaching basketball to lead the bowling team, there were three boys and no girls returning. In her first year there were 36 bowlers on the team, and the boys finished second in the league while also winning the KMAC tournament. The next year the girls’ team started to find their stride and the rest is history.
“Neither team had won a KMAC match before that first year, and now they are at the top,” Pozderac said. “It feels great for these kids, they have put so much work into this success. I am most happy for Will Jensen and Dylan Reed - two of the original bowlers when I took the team. They were the reason I took the chance coaching them and I am even more grateful they took a chance on me.”
