COLUMBUS — Her eyes were red but she had a brilliant smile on her face.
Kylie Fisher was torn following her performance Saturday in the OHSAA Division I Girls State Bowling Championship at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
“It was a good day,” said Fisher, a freshman at Wilmington High School.
She was disappointed, though. After games of 219 and 211, the brilliant right-hander finished with a 168. Her 598 series was good, in fact the best ever by a WHS bowler in the state tournament. Hunter Gallion had the previous best, bowled on Friday in the state the tournament.
In addition, she finished ninth overall in the tournament, earning second-team All-Ohio.
“I wanted it (championship) so badly,” she said. “I put too much pressure on myself after two decent games. I knew I could be up close.”
The 168 game, however, was not the way to finish. She started with opens in three of the first four frames. After a spare in the fifth and strike in the sixth, Fisher buried a ball in the pocket in the seventh. She left the 8-10 split.
“Just a bad break right there,” she said.
Her eighth frame ball found the pocket as well, but left a single pin. She followed that with three strikes. Ultimately, had things gone her way, she could have had six in a row and finished with a 213.
“She was in position (to have a high finish),” WHS coach Joe Gigandet said. “She wasn’t at the top but if she went big that third game, who knows what would have happened.”
Fisher’s days consisted of 17 strikes but only five spares. She had eight open frames.
As it was, Gigandet was pleased.
“Solid performance at state,” he said. “She’s an experienced bowler. It wasn’t too big for her.”
Fisher said she was more anxious last week during district competition at Beaver-Vu Lanes.
“So much more nervous at districts,” said Fisher, who appreciated her friends and family cheering her on at the state. “At district, I knew I had to bowl so much better or I wouldn’t even get here. This was like any other tournament.”
But it’s a tournament she most certainly wants to get back to, with the thought of finishing better than today’s 598.
“I missed a couple easy spares,” she said. “I know what I need to work on. I’ll put the work in during the summer. I know one thing, I will be back.”
