Steve Bly enters his seventh season at the helm of Windsor High’s bowling with the kind of depth and returning experience required to win state titles. Grayson Frazer and Rayce Gilbert are both back after impressive 2017-18 campaigns, juniors Brayton Bailey and Jared Storms join the veteran fray and freshmen Patrick Kelley and Jacob Burklund finally get their shot at varsity. The Yellowjackets ran into top-seeded South Burlington, the eventual VPA Division I state champ, in the team tournament. A fresh start might signal the beginning of something special for Bly’s squad.
Hartford presses the restart button with Vermont individual state champ Dylan Crowley now graduated and a new head coach, Cean Lieberman, holding the reigns. Stevens, the Upper Valley’s long New Hampshire program, remains a formidable squad with four seniors, including Ian Fitzpatrick, and sophomore Clayton Wadsworth returning. White River Valley will begin its first season in new Wildcat colors led by experienced senior Gabe Howe in his final season at varsity.
Oxbow will not field a team this season due to low participation numbers, and will try to replenish its numbers for next year.
HARTFORD
Coach: Cean Lieberman (1).
League: VPA Division I.
Last Year: Entered the team state tournament as the No. 5 seed, falling in a lengthy quarterfinal match to No. 4 Springfield. Third-seeded Dylan Crowley won the Vermont individual bowling championship.
Returnees: Seniors — Alexis Johnston, Cole Gardner-Brisson, Camden LeBrun. Juniors — Peyton Wardwell. Sophomores — Grace Belmont.
Newcomers: Seniors — Dalton Lemay. Freshmen — Cean Lieberman Jr.
Analysis: Dylan Crowley, last year’s Vermont individual state champion, has since graduated, but first year head coach Cean Lieberman is bringing back an experienced group that includes three returning seniors — Alexis Johnston, Cole Gardner-Brisson and Camden LeBrun.
“I am very excited to be the Hartford bowling coach,” Lieberman said. “I believe that they’re going to do very well this year. We lost a lot of players from last year and a couple that moved. Thought most of the team are returning players, I feel very confident that we will d just fine this year.”
STEVENS
Coach: Shawn Wadsworth (8).
League: NHIAA Division I.
Last Year: Clayton Wadsworth finished second at the NHIAA individual state tournament, falling to Spaulding’s Xavier Bamford in the final. Stevens finished fourth overall in the team tournament.
Returnees: Seniors — Riley Dickinson, Ethan Simino, Brandon Perry, Ian Fitzpatrick. Sophomores — Clayton Wadsworth.
Newcomers: Senior — Matt Szelangowski. Sophomore — Bryce Weymouth. Freshman — Alexys Corliss.
Analysis: The Cardinals an experienced group that includes formidable bowlers Ian Fitzpatrick and Clayton Wadsowrth, both of whom veteran head coach Shawn Wadsworth expect to have stellar seasons. Senior Matt Szelangowski, sophomore Bryce Weymouth and freshman Alexys Corliss join the varsity squad to help replace the since-graduated duo of James Mason and Spencer Chase, who represented New Hampshire in last year’s Twin State Bowling Classic.
WHITE RIVER VALLEY
Coach: Shannon Palone (7).
League: VPA Division I.
Last Year: First year. No. 11 seeded South Royalton fell to No. 6 Fair Haven in the first round of last year’s state tournament.
Returnees: Seniors — Gabe Howe. Juniors — Alexis Taylor-Young. Sophomores — Logan Burbank, Alex Madden.
Newcomers: Freshmen — Hannah Bryan, Gretchen Eddy, Braden Martin, Kaleb Thornton, Nicholas Ramos.
Analysis: White River Valley senior Gabe Howe has been bowling with the former South Royalton School program since middle school, and will lead a young group one year after falling in the opening round of the team tournament.
“We have a small team but we are looking to a great season,” Palone said. “(Howe) has proven to be a great team leader and I am looking forward to watching him and the others this year.”
WINDSOR
Coach: Steve Bly (7).
League: VPA Division I.
Last Year: Defeated No. 9 Oxbow in the open round of the team championship before falling to No. 1 seed South Burlington in the quarterfinals.
Returnees: Seniors — Grace Gonthier. Juniors — Rayce Gilbert, Grayson Frazer, Brayton Bailey, Wyatt Bean, Sam Erskine. Sophomores — Jared Storms, Joshua Dusharme, Jacob Underhill.
Newcomers: Sophomores — Jasmine Martens, Serene Martens. Freshmen — Patrick Kelley, Jacob Burklund.
Analysis: Veteran head coach Steve Bly anticipates strong seasons from two experienced returnees — juniors Rayce Gilbert and Grayson Frazer — who had strong seasons last winter. Juniors Brayton Bailey and Jared Storms have impressed out of the gate.
“We’re in a good position this year where I have four or five extra bowlers that I’ll be able to utilize as subs to help convert spares in our Baker’s matches,” Bly said. “We finished (as the) No. 8 seed last year and were knocked out by eventual state champ South Burlington, but we felt if we were on the other side of the bracket, we could have been the team playing them in the finals. The kids are hungry and eager to show that they have.”