22-23 Winter Preview: Wilmington girls bowling

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Wilmington will look to make it three straight SBAAC American Division championships when the girls bowling season gets underway.

And Kylie Fisher hopes to continue her ascension up the ranks as one of the best female bowlers in Ohio.

Led by Fisher, the Hurricane went 10-0 in the American and were the outright champions a season after sharing the title with New Richmond. Fisher was head and shoulders the top bowler in the SBAAC last season, advancing to the Division I girls state tournament where she finished ninth overall and earned All-Ohio honors. Her 598 series at state is the highest ever by a Wilmington bowler, boys or girls, at the state tournament.

Fisher averaged 197 and earned SBAAC girls bowler of the year honors in her first high school season. She won the girls American Division tournament with a 558 series while teammate Lexus Reiley finished fourth with 515.

Joe Gigandet, now in his fourth season as head coach, was the coach of the year in the American. Gigandet will be assisted by Austin Smith, who doubles as the boys head coach.

“We expect to be a strong contender in the league this year,” the Hurricane coach said.”We need to focus on ourselves and encourage our teammates to practice well. Our girls and boys teams have been at or near the top of the league each year I have coached here as either an assistant or head coach. With that being said, it’s just talk until you go out and do it. Other teams in our league aren’t going to just lay down.”

Haylee Wright also earned first team honors in the league but she graduated in the spring as did starter Kala Hatfield.

Wilmington was strong as a team in 2021-22, medaling in the Ironclad baker tournament in Hillsboro and winning both the Muskingum Baker Invitational and the league tournament.

In addition to Fisher and Reiley, Tori Piatt, Reagen Reese, Erin Drake and Emily Gerard return for the Hurricane. A newcomer to note is Lila Carter, who transferred to WHS from Hillsboro where she was a starter on the Indians state-bound team last year.

Kylie Comberger, a freshman at WHS, is another first-year player to keep an eye on. Her sister, Ariel Comberger, was a star bowler for WHS in recent years, Gigandet said.

”We have a lot more bowling experience on this year’s girls team than I’ve coached in the past,” Gigandet said. “We have the talent this year to win a lot of matches this season and I think the girls are all competitive and self driven in their own way. Each player needs to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their game and specifically work on those skills.”

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