“We’re one of the toughest leagues out there,” Wayne coach Mike White said. “Cincinnati says its kind of unfair, but bowl in the same tournaments we do. We go all over and bowl as much as we can. We’ll go to Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati. You can’t leave your kids in one area and expect them to get better.”
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Beavercreek, Centerville, Troy and Wayne compete in Friday’s girls D-I state tournament. Butler, Beavercreek, Fairmont and Troy qualified for the boys tournament on Saturday. Among individual qualifiers, Xenia sends one on Friday and Springfield has one on Saturday.
The GWOC has sent no less than three boys teams to state since 2011, including a league-best five teams in both 2017 and 2016. The girls have qualified three or more teams every year since 2013, including a league-best six in 2015. Five teams went in both 2018 and 2017.
“Competition amongst the teams continues to push all the teams to be the best they can be,” Butler coach Steve Sacks said. “The Cincinnati teams have been closing the gap the past couple seasons and that also helps to push the GWOC teams as well. In my opinion, the GWOC has to be the deepest in the state of Ohio, if not in the country. … I don’t think you’ll ever see a conference this strong again (after the conference split).”
Cincinnati Elder won the boys district title, but the GWOC claimed the next four spots. Butler senior Drew Sacks – the defending state champion – led the GWOC with his three-game series 768 for second place.
Centerville won the girls district title last week. Wayne freshman Ericka Reed won the individual title with 682 and senior teammate Audrie Goffinet was second with 648.
Eleven different boys and eleven different girls GWOC teams have qualified for the state tournament. Fairmont’s boys lead with eight state appearances since the OHSAA took over the state tournament in 2007. Beavercreek has seven appearances and Centerville six. For the girls, Beavercreek and Centerville are tied with 11 state appearances and Troy has 10.
The league has qualified for state every year since 2007. Only twice — in 2007 and 2010 — did the GWOC not send multiple teams, both times on the boys side.
So what makes the GWOC the conference to beat?
“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things,” Troy coach Rob Dever said. “There are good coaches all across the conference; the proprietors and parents support their teams. But perhaps the main driving factor is that coaches and bowlers know that to be successful in this conference you have to be ready to compete at a high level every year. There is a lot of bowling passion for whatever reason in the Dayton area. … We compete hard inside the conference, but when we compete with teams outside the conference there tends to be a shared pride in coming from the GWOC. We tend to pull for each other until we go head-to-head with another GWOC team.”
The GWOC has won three D-I boys state titles (the last in 2016 by Wayne) and finished second four more. They’ve won four individual titles counting Tippecanoe’s D-II title in 2015. The girls have won four state titles (the last in 2016 by Troy) and finished runner-up six times. The girls have claimed four individual titles.
They could add to that haul this weekend.
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