Pleasant bowlers welcome change in venue for Division II state tournament

COLUMBUS — Since the OHSAA started high school bowling in 2007, Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl has been home for the annual state tournaments.

This year it moves to HP Lanes, also in Columbus, and no one is more excited by the switch than the Pleasant boys team.

"For me, it’s the pin carry here. For us two-handers, it’s crazy the amount of messengers we’re sending," Pleasant junior Dawson Hall said of HP Lanes. "It’s a great environment here. Since we have such great experience here for sectionals and districts, I think we’ll be pretty good going into state."

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With the exception of East Knox and a couple of individual bowlers, no one knows HP Lanes better than the Spartans. HP is home for the Central District's sectional and district tourneys annually.

"You have to be pretty accurate for that place (at Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl), and here there’s a lot of hook on the right side and that makes everything easier," Pleasant junior Nolan Ludwig said while comparing the two venues. "I think we have a chance to place in the top three if we're not winning state."

Spartans optimistic for a reason

There's a reason for that kind of confidence.

The boys have won three straight district crowns at HP Lanes, and this year's run was their best ever.

Pleasant fired a 4,224 to beat East Knox's 4,011 with third place at 3,660 during the Division II sectional tournament at HP. Ludwig shot a 277-245-239 761 series to win the individual title.

A few days later at the district tournament, the Spartans were even better in rolling a 4,469 as all five in the lineup finished at 600 or higher and in the top 11 in the field. They won by more than 400 pins and posted the highest district score in the entire state for D-II.

"Some people had a little bit of nerves, but I didn’t have as many (at the district tournament) because I’ve bowled here a lot and I feel comfortable here with all my teammates," Ludwig said.

That comfort showed. He was a district runner-up with a 707 series for the second year in a row, only beaten by freshman brother Tucker Ludwig, who posted a 712.

"Since it’s here, I’m expecting it to not be as hard as at Wayne Webb’s," Tucker Ludwig said. "It’s good. I shot 300 here at the PBA Juniors (over the summer). It shouldn’t be too hard."

Pleasant understands HP's quirks

Unlike 14 of the 16 teams in the field, Pleasant knows the lanes well, including their coach Bill Ludwig, who is the general manager of Cooper's Bowl in Marion and a high-level bowler, too.

"I’ve won multiple tournaments in here myself, and I think that helps because as we transition from lower end to upper end or wherever we’re at, I’ve got a good book as far as what’s going on in this place," Bill Ludwig said. "I talked to some good bowlers that have practiced in here, and they’ve given me great insight into how each one plays."

The OHSAA reveals its state tournament lane oil patterns to coaches, so Pleasant has been practicing on that setup this week to get ready for the event. But there's also a lot of nuance as patterns are not identical from lane to lane, let alone bowling center to bowling center.

"I’ve bowled a lot of tournaments here, so with lane characteristics there are certain pairs that play a major role," Bill Ludwig said. "I don’t care how good you are, but if you get on a certain pair, it’s going to be tough to score. They’ve got two lane machines in here, and they put the pattern down differently. It depends on that. Even though they are supposed to do the same, there are subtle differences on how the machine does it."

The Spartans are students of the game, so they understand the adjustments that need to me made throughout the day, and coach Ludwig will be there with his observations.

"I’m watching lane play, how it’s coming off their hand, what the transition is. We’re trying to stay two and three moves ahead. So far this season, we’ve been able to do that," he said.

When the state tournament starts at 10:45 a.m. Friday, Pleasant will compete near the middle of the bowling center on lanes 15 through 22 the three regulation games and three Baker games in trying to qualify for the eight-team bracketed Baker finals.

"I just want to make it to match play," Tucker Ludwig said. "I know the past few years we haven’t made it to match play, so that’s all I really want to do. If we make it to match play, I want to try to win it. That’s our goal."

His brother agreed.

"After winning the MOAC tournament and going undefeated, I feel like we’re good," Nolan Ludwig said. "We’ve competed in a lot of D-I tournaments, and it’s boosted our confidence for state a lot. Now our goal is to make top eight and go from there."

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Home sweet home: Spartans happy with switch to HP Lanes for state