Nordonia Boys Bowling team makes state tournament, girls team adds individual qualifier

by Martin McConnell

This season, the Nordonia High School Boys Bowling team advanced to the Ohio state tournament for the third straight year. The girls team qualified for the district tournament and also placed one individual qualifier at the state level with sophomore Kolbey Lewin.

Senior Kyle Drazil led the boys team in scoring with a 214 average, earning him second place among boys in the Suburban League. Lewin’s 197 average took first place among Suburban League girls and also netted her the league’s annual “Bowler of the Year” award.

“Between the boys and the girls, it’s a really great unit,” said Ty Lachowski, Nordonia boys bowling coach. “These kids worked hard and it was a total team effort.”

Lachowski developed his interest in bowling at a young age by watching his father, Edward. As a coach, he hopes to imprint a love of the game onto his kids, and stresses setting individual and team goals as a large part of his coaching strategy.

“I’m looking for somebody who wants to learn the game, has interest in the game, and has some determination,” Lachowski said. “What I preach all the time is hard work and determination. If you’re willing to put in the hard work, you’ve got the determination.”

Lachowski noted that these teams are his pride and joy. He explained that rather than one or two bowlers willing the team to victories, it took a full team effort to advance in each tournament.

“I’ve got some amazing kids,” Lachowski said. “We actually won our sectional this year, they only take the top three out of our sectional. And then districts, they only take the top six, and we won the district tournament too. … It was a total team effort.”

In addition to coaching the boys team, Lachowski has also taken over coaching the girls team for Larry Strimple, who is recovering from surgery. Lachowski created a strong bond with both teams, even having just taken over as the girls’ coach at the end of 2021.

“I loved learning so much about these people on the team,” sophomore bowler Abigail Toronski said. “It was such a team atmosphere. We all helped each other and encouraged everyone.”

The boys team has improved every year over their last three, finishing eleventh, eighth, and then third in the state tournament. Looking forward to next season, Lachowski stressed that setting goals will once again be a full team effort.

“You always want to get to states and win a state championship,” Lachowski said. “But in order to do that, you have to set yourself some goals. … One step at a time.” ∞