The early pattern this season for the Saint Ignatius varsity bowling squad has proven to be win one, lose one.
It held true on Saturday, as the Wildcats fell to Olmsted Falls.
On Sunday, the Wildcats looked to rebound, but ran into tough competition at the Nordonia Tournament.
The Wildcats were behind the 8-ball entering the weekend. Two juniors – Alex Madeja and Noah Virant – had to miss Saturday's action to ACT testing. As a result, Head Coach Jim Viets could not sub bowlers in and out.
Even still, the Wildcats worked hard and battled valiantly from start to finish.
The Wildcats started with a solid game of 763. Vinny Doran led the way with a 170, with several others trailing. Dylan Huss threw a 143 and Ryan Wallenhorst notched a 134, while Alex Gehrlein and Ben Gehrlein tossed a 107 and 99, respectively. Olmsted Falls combined for 864 to capture the first game.
In game two, the Alley Cats stepped up their game. Three of the team's keglers improved on their scores. Alex and Ben Gehrlein threw games of 119 and 136, and Huss tallied a 170. Doran added a 160 and Wallenhorst penned a 119, but the Bulldogs held an answer. Olmsted Falls also improved their scores, winning the second contest, 907-863.
The shorthanded factor seeped in for the third game, as the Wildcats' score decreased to 663. Doran led the pack with a 165 to finish with a 495 series and Wallenhorst tabbed a 151 to record a 404 series. Huss also knocked down a 118 for a 431 series, but the efforts were not enough, as Olmsted Falls felled 870 pins to take the game and the series, 2,641-2,319.
The Wildcats looked close to stealing one in the first baker. But in the end, the Bulldogs eked out a 157-140 victory over the Wildcats. The rock kept rolling downhill in the second baker, as Olmsted Falls walked away with a 194-156 win to complete the sweep.
On Sunday, the Wildcats hit the alley again, looking to rebound. The team took part in the Nordonia Knights Classic at the North Woods Lanes Bowling Center in Macedonia.
The Alley Cats battled hard while navigating new lanes most of the team had not bowled on before. The result was a ninth-place finish out of 14 teams. The Wildcats felled 3,199 pins, which was not enough to qualify for match play.
In match play, Nordonia defeated Kent Roosevelt to claim the championship.
Following a busy weekend, the Wildcats will start to prepare for next weekend. The men of Ohio City will face Garfield Heights on Saturday at Spins Bowl in Independence before taking part in the Padua Tournament on Sunday at Yorktown Lanes.