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Experienced Bulldogs seek berth at state

The Lakeview boys bowling team is one of four area teams competing today in the Division II district tournament at Canton’s Hall of Fame Lanes (noon start). The Bulldogs won the Trumbull/Lake counties sectional on Feb. 10 at Freeway Lanes in Warren.

The other three teams — Girard, Liberty, Hubbard — qualified through the Trumbull/Mahoning counties sectional, also held Feb. 10 at Freeway.

Lakeview, which won a share of the All-American Conference White Tier title with Struthers, finished the regular season at 10-3. The secret to the team’s success, according to coach Jason Smith, is not about any particular statistic or physical ability, but rather, an emotion.

“Biggest thing I try to teach these kids is just to have fun,” Smith said. “And, along the way, win some bowling matches and we’ve done that. It’s the practices and the determination of the boys that makes them so successful.”

Lakeview accumulated 3,527 total pins in the sectional, beating out Fairport Harbor (3,472) and Brooklyn (3,433), both of whom also are playing in the district today.

The Bulldogs return five seniors, including Josh Miller, Trevor Rohrabaugh and Jake Streets. Streets placed in eighth among individual bowlers at the sectional (537 series), while Rohrabaugh placed 20th (499).

Miller, meanwhile, was 18th with a 504 series and is considered the leader of the team.

“He’s a standout, he’s been with me for four years,” Smith said of Miller. “A four-year letterwinner is kind of rare here. He’s averaging 240 for the season.”

Not far behind him with a 228 average for the year is a sophomore, Seth Dunn. Dunn was the highest finisher amongst Bulldog bowlers at the sectional, as he finished fifth with a 551 series, which included a high game of 242.

According to Miller, Dunn comes from a well-known bowling family in the Mahoning Valley, as most of his family members have been bowling for years. Dunn, like Miller, started as a freshman.

Not surprisingly, with a team loaded full of seniors and experienced bowlers, Smith says that all of his bowlers tend to surprise him when he least expects it. Lakeview will need a few more surprises in today’s tourmament if it wants to advance to state, which Smith said has been the team’s goal all year.

“We’re going to Hall of Fame Lanes, which is new to us. That will be a challenge to us, because we’re walking into a new house like that, and the oil and lane conditions are different,” Smith said. “The oil pattern of the lanes may be too challenging for these kids, so we have to manage to adjust to that. But, we’re gonna gonna go in and have fun and figure it out.”

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