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Last season, the Knights qualified for the state meet’s championship round, but fell to eventual state champion St. Mary’s Memorial in the semifinals. In three Baker format games, the Knights failed to break 160 — a performance that fueled the squad to improve throughout the offseason.
“The focus all year has sort of been a redemption thing, to get there and prove we’re a lot better team we were this year than last year,” said Knights coach Josh Gossett.
Greenon won the D-II district tournament with 4,124 pins, beating second-place Urbana by 312 pins. Mechanicsburg placed third with 3,741 pins.
“Going into this tournament season, we knew we had a really good shot,” Gossett said. “My focus for the girls was to make sure we didn’t overlook sectionals and districts. You still have to qualify to make it. They did what they needed to do. We’re riding a pretty high wave going into state and hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”
The Knights finished the season 17-2, losing only to Versailles and Fairborn. They won two regular season tournaments — the Viking Classic in Dayton and the D-II Preview Tournament in Columbus. They also won the Ohio Heritage Conference championship for the second straight season.
The Knights placed four bowlers on the all-conference first team — OHC Bowler of the Year Mikayla Blair (189.3 average), Makenzie Gossett (187.6), Taylor Blanton (175.3) and Mackenzie Blair (174.8). Three other bowlers finished the season in the top-12 in the OHC in average, including Kay Devore (162.7), Jada Jones (157.6) and Mikaili Truman (157.0).
“What’s crazy is that I can’t say there’s a time where one bowler is always my best bowler,” Josh Gossett said. “It’s a good problem to have. … I’m really happy with the way each girl has improved this season.”
No girls team from Clark County has won a state bowling championship. The Kenton Ridge boys team is the county’s lone state bowling champion, claiming the 2007 championship.
Since prep bowling split into two divisions in 2014, the Northwestern, Greenon and Kenton Ridge girls programs have finished in the top eight but none have been able to bring home a state championship.
The Knights have no seniors and expects to return their entire team next winter.
“Our goal is to get better than fourth and hopefully win state,” Josh Gossett said. “We’ve got two years to do it. We just want to accomplish it at least once.”
This year, they’re looking for redemption in their return trip to Columbus.
“If we can get our head wrapped around being able to compete against these teams when we get to the bracket, I think we should be able to take it,” Josh Gossett said. “They have to realize in the moment that they have to put up the scores.”
Division II boys: The Greenon boys team is headed to state for the first time in school history. The Knights finished fourth at the D-II districts, beating Reading for the final spot by two pins.
Mechanicsburg won the D-II district meet with 4,352 pins, beating second-place Urbana.
Division I girls: The Springfield girls bowling team advanced to the state meet for the first time in school history, finishing second at the D-I district tournament on Wednesday at Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek. The D-I state meet will be held at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl on March 6 and 7. The boys meet will be held at 10 a.m. on March 6, followed by the girls meet at 10 a.m. on March 7.
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