Merrimack junior Church wins state bowling title
Feb. 25—MANCHESTER — Ryan Church admitted he had some nerves going into the NHIAA individual bowling championship final.
They did not stick around long.
The Merrimack High School junior opened the match with three straight spares to build a lead he never let go of in his 169-166 triumph over Bishop Guertin senior Derek Griebel at Yankee Lanes on Saturday.
Church, the top seed out of the four remaining championship flight bowlers going into the ladder format, finished the match with four spares and three strikes. His third strike came on the 10th frame and matched Griebel's 10th-frame spare.
"I just got out to an early lead — that really helped and so I didn't have too many nerves going on," Church said. "I was able to just keep ahead and then I just kept sparing and the strike in that 10th frame, that was huge."
Church is the second Merrimack bowler to ever win the individual title and it came one week after helping the Tomahawks win the team championship. Second-seeded Merrimack, which posted a state-record Baker's 268 score in the tournament, defeated seventh-seeded Winnacunnet in the quarterfinals, third-seeded Raymond in the semifinals and fifth-seeded Stevens in the final.
Church led, 62-41, midway through the match. Griebel pulled close toward the end with consecutive strikes in the eighth and ninth frames before his 10th-frame spare.
Merrimack coach Joshua R. Pelton said Church's spares to open the final proved key.
"In my experience in the kids winning, it's not getting strikes," Pelton said. "It's (that) open frames cost too much. If you can have a clean game with all spares, even if you don't get that many strikes, that's what wins championships in (the) high school league."
Griebel entered the ladder format as the fourth seed, needing to run the gauntlet to finish as champion. Griebel defeated Church's Merrimack teammate, third-seeded Tyler Barnard, 151-105, and advanced to the final with a 170-144 triumph over Stevens's Devyn Corliss.
Griebel, who went into his final high school tournament just looking for a top-16 finish, said fatigue caught up to him in the final.
"That's what happened towards the end is I just burnt everything and so I was just holding on for dear life and I held on long enough," Griebel said.
Church said winning the individual title was all he ever wanted.
"Now I'm just thinking about next year and coming back and winning it again," he said.
