By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

It’s time for the high school bowling season and athletes take over area lanes in the afternoon following school and at tournaments scheduled on the weekends.

Portage County has a rich history of bowlers advancing far into the postseason and this year will be no different as many teams return athletes who advanced to the state tournament in the 2022-23 season.

With Portage County bowling teams competing in five different conferences, this season will offer solid competition and fun matches to watch.

BOYS BOWLING

CRESTWOOD RED DEVILS

Coach: Adam Horner.

Home Bowling Lanes: Sky Lanes, Garrettsville.

Conference: Chagrin Valley Conference.

Last Season: 5-12 overall.

Returning Letterwinners: Aaron Franek, Jacob Taylor, Carter Desatnik.

Letterwinners Graduated: Bryce Robinson.

Bowlers to Watch: Trey Lamendola, Kaleb Martin and Chase Thompson are newcomers to the team.

Season Outlook: Coach Horner looks for the Red Devils to improve from last season.

11th Frame: Annette Thompson is the assistant coach this season.

FIELD FALCONS

Coach: Scott Bower.

Home Bowling Lanes: Kent Lanes, Kent.

Conference: Metro Athletic Conference.

Last Season: This is the first year for the Field Falcons.

Bowlers to Watch: James Bullard, Ryan Roosa, Peyton Hoover.

Season Outlook: “I am confident Field will exceed expectations,” said Bower. “Our bowlers are self-motivated and driven by personal enthusiasm and a competitive spirit to conquer the alley.”

11th Frame: Bower is in his first year of teaching at Field and will also coach the varsity boys golf team and boys tennis team.

KENT ROOSEVELT ROUGH RIDERS

Coach: Jesse Michel, Howard Fincham.

Home Bowling Lanes: Kent Lanes, Kent.

Conference: Suburban League, American Division.

Last Season: 3-9 Suburban.

Returning Letterwinners: Brayden Darkow, jr.; Aiden Broyles, sr., Nikita Smith, sr., Darkow has earned two letters and Broyles and Smith each have one varsity letter.

Letterwinners Graduated: Parker Balan, Meier Gillespie, Collin Smith, Nicholas Patterson.

Bowlers to Watch: Benny Levandowski, sr., David Hamilton, jr., Braden Latacki, soph., Bernie Rosenberg, soph., Eli Logsdon, fresh., Tommy Richards, fresh.

Season Outlook: “Even though we only have three returning players from last year, I am very excited for this group of young men,” said Michel. “They are eager to learn and work hard on a daily basis. What is also impressive about this group is that they had a combined 3.91 GPA for the first nine weeks of the year.”

11th Frame: “It is going to be hard to replace Hall of Famer and 20-year coach, Terry Adolph, but Howard Fincham and I will try our best to help these student athletes reach their goals for the year.”

RAVENNA RAVENS

Coach: Kelly Champ.

Home Bowling Lanes: Spins Bowl, Kent.

Conference: Metro Athletic Conference.

Last year: 10-2 MAC Champions.

Returning Letterwinners: Jacob Stefansic, jr., Carson Schueller, jr., Jeriah Miller, soph., Mark Jones, jr.

Letterwinners Graduated: Jacob Champ, Parker Addison, Kevin Robbins, Ryan Mizer.

Bowlers to Watch: “Matt Fuller and Alex Tucker are rookies,” said Champ. “The whole team are bowlers to watch. They had an amazing run from last year and they want to do it again. They want to prove they can do it without the seniors we lost.”

Season Outlook: “Our conference is crazy hard,” said Champ. “But I think we will be able to hold our own. Our goal is to do exactly what we did last year but do it better. It’s one step at a time,” concluded the coach.

11th Frame: Ravenna has three former bowlers bowling for Kent State University Trumbull — Grayson Speck, Kevin Robbins and Parker Addison.

ROOTSTOWN ROVERS

Coach: Thomas Butcher.

Home Bowling Lanes: Spins Bowl, Kent.

Conference: Portage Trail Conference.

Returning Letterwinners: Sean Boveington, Justin Miller.

Bowlers to Watch: Caleb Stevens, Anthony Cambareri, Elijah Birch and Ben Kline are all newcomers, moving up to varsity from the JV team.

Season Outlook: “Justin Miler was Bowler of the Year last year and First Team all-region,” said Butcher. “The young player who I believe will come up big for us is junior Nick Morehead. He averaged 188 on JV last year and has improved since.

“We are looking for Miller and Boveington to be our leaders and mentor their teammates,” Butcher added. “We are looking forward to a great season.”

STREETSBORO ROCKETS

Coach: Joe Yonish.

Home Bowling Lanes: Kent Lanes, Kent.

Conference: Metro Athletic Conference.

Last Year: 2-12 MAC.

Returning Letterwinners: Connor Stevens, Brett Epple, Andrew Burton, Preston Lytle, Kendall Clark.

Letterwinners Graduated: Ryan Golubski, Bryson Jacobs.

Bowlers to Watch: Amy Rien

Season Outlook: Joe Yonish, coach of the Rockets, expects the team to finish middle of the pack, with junior Connor Stevens, returning three-year letterman and team MVP, to make districts again and maybe state.

11th Frame: Kendall Clark and Amy Rien are both members of the boys team since the Rockets do not have a girls team this season.