By HECTOR LONGO

Staff Writer

RAYMOND — At one point in his Final Four ladder match with Goffstown’s Ryan Gentes, Merrimack sophomore Mike Grover started to believe that it could be his day.

The righty, seeded eighth coming into Saturday’s NHIAA Bowling State Championships, had ripped through four straight strikes – none leaving so much as a piece of dead wood on the deck – and had recovered from some eary jitters.

And just like that it was gone. His next shot ripped through the rack, leaving a lone seven-pin, and Gentes capitalized pouring on the heat with a three-strike turkey of his own. In the end, it was a 209-193 loss for Grover, who settled for fourth place overall in the state.

“I know I had a lot of competition out here. It’s tough,” said Grover, who has been bowling ten-pin since he was 4 years old.

“I was hoping to do a little better, but I did my best. I was thinking I had it going but then just a bad break. It happens.”

A field of 32 individuals began the day in the Championship Flight. Grover, who was a top-10 placer a year ago as a freshman, survived the cuts to 16, eight and ultimately four with games of 231, 166, 202, 205 and 235. He now moves on to baseball this spring.