Lizzi hopes to finish strong in 3rd trip to state bowling

SANDUSKY — Olivia Lizzi says she'll be relaxed when she competes at the Division II state bowling tournament Saturday in Columbus. She'll be making her third appearance at the state tournament, and the pressure is off. "My goal was to just make it to state because last year I didn't bowl that well at districts," Lizzi said Monday. "I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it (this year). The day before I was like, 'You know what, I just gotta put it all out there.' I bowled well. The last frame I knew that score was going to make it and I was sort of crying." Lizzi, a senior at Perkins, rolled a 660 series at the district tournament last week in Rossford. She placed third out of more than 100 bowlers to grab one of three individual state berths reserved for bowlers not on advancing teams. After opening with a 198 game, she responded with a 238 and 225 to easily qualify for state. She'll be in familiar surroundings this weekend at HP Lanes. Lizzi has had success at that house. Last December, she rolled a 640 series to win the Kickoff Classic. As a freshman, she helped Perkins win the Kickoff Classic and finish second as a team at the state tournament. As a sophomore, she rolled a 529 series to finish 30th overall. Lizzi, who has accepted a scholarship to bowl collegiately for Wichita State's powerful program, feels right at home in just about any bowling center. Her parents, Jeff and Cathy, own Star Lanes and were professional bowlers who met at a tournament on Long Island, N.Y., in 1992. Jeff is from Sandusky, Cathy (Dorin) is from New Jersey. Both won tour events. Olivia grew up at Star Lanes, calling it her "home away from home." "I'd bring the playpen and dolls," Cathy said. "She would run around and bug all the bowlers. She would play with car keys and when people would go outside their car would be running. We had 100 babysitters; we were very lucky." Olivia remembers tagging along when her mom took over the Saturday morning junior league at Star. "When my mom took it over from my aunt, I would kinda follow her down there," Olivia said. "I would crawl under the tables and play with my toys. When I finally started bowling I loved it. I remember taking all the accessories, like the wrist bands and everything, from my dad's pro shop and using it all even though I knew absolutely nothing about what they did. "I just loved to tell people what to do when I was younger, even though I didn't know how to bowl. I would follow people around even if they didn't want me to follow them around." And about the car keys? "I do remember once I took someone's keys and probably turned on their car," she said. "I just wanted to press all the buttons." Olivia, who is a member of the National Honor Society at Perkins, now works three or four days per week at Star and is able to handle about any job. "I work in the kitchen most of the time," she said. "Our pizzas are very good; we roll the dough our ourselves. I like our quesadillas, too. They're good because I make them." Lizzi also puts in plenty of work on the lanes. "She fell in love with it when she started, but she had to work at it," said Cathy, who is Perkins' coach. "She knew a lot of work and discipline was required." Lizzi's best game is a 288 last year during a Heartland tournament at Cedar Lanes. "We won as a team and I won as an individual," she said. "I had the front 10 and left a 3-10 and made that for a 288. My legs were shaking." Her best series is a 729 last July at the Youth Open Championships in Green Bay, Wis. Scores like those will get the attention of college coaches. She visited Wichita State at the end of her junior year and ended up choosing WSU over Vanderbilt University. "I loved it. They made me feel so welcome there," Lizzi said. "I already know some of the girls that are there and the freshmen that will be with me. It'll be very nice knowing people." Lizzi has a last name that carries a lot of weight in the bowling community, but she earned her scholarship. "They reached out to me. I feel like that that's a big accomplishment," she said. "My bowling put me out there. I was very proud of that. "I feel like for sports you have to be a good person. You can't make it anywhere if you just think you're gonna get everything handed to you on a silver platter. People probably think that about me, but I have to work for a lot of the things that I have. I rarely ask my parents for anything. Bowling help, yes. Other than that I feel that I'm very independent." Her mother is very proud of Olivia. "They didn't reach out to her because of what we accomplished," she said. "We did not have to make one phone call. They reached out because of her. She's just a very hard worker in everything she does and she's such a good person." Lizzi wants to get into the health field or work in television or radio. She's shadowing a radiation therapist at Cleveland Clinic and also has shadowed Perkins graduate Jay Crawford, who is an anchor for the NBC affiliate in Cleveland. Lizzi also has branched out as an athlete. She's earned two letters in tennis at Perkins and played basketball in junior high. "I love Perkins. I feel like they do a great job with getting students involved," she said. Lizzi hopes to finish strong at state despite being slowed recently by a pulled muscle in her right leg. She said she sustained the injury three or four weeks ago. "It's my trail leg," she said. "I slide with my left leg and my right leg goes behind me. I think I was trailing a little too much and pulled it really bad, to the point where after I would bowl a certain amount of games I couldn't even walk. I've been icing a lot." If she gets hot at state, Lizzi might be able to duplicate the feeling she had as a freshman when the Pirates finished second as a team. "A lot of people consider bowling a weird sport, like, 'Oh, it's just bowling,' " she said. "When we were at state everybody was there cheering for us. It was a big thing." She's making the trip to state with Edison senior Hayden Lewis and Margaretta sophomore Phinneus Headley — friends she grew up with in the youth leagues at Star. "I feel that I can relax now going into state; that was my goal," Lizzi said. "I'm just happy that I made it along with some of my friends so we're just gonna have a great time."