Miami Trace High School senior Connor Collins has made known his college choice.
The student-athlete, who excels at bowling, having placed third in the State in 2021, has decided on Muskingum University, where he will continue his education and bowling career.
Collins said he would major in accounting.
Collins was joined for the special event by his parents, his grandmother, ‘Nan’, high school head coach Ron Amore Sr., the head coach and assistant coach from Muskingum, athletic director Aaron Hammond and a group of friends.
“I took a college visit there and they have a beautiful campus,” Collins said. “I talked to Coach (David) Jones and Coach (Doug) Smith and they were really nice. I went to bowl with them a little bit, and, I don’t know the word to describe it, but they were influential in, like, me wanting to progress more.
“They laid it out really nice,” Collins said. “They have a good (bowling) program and they have a good program of academics. Obviously, I’m concerned about academics and going to college to get an education.”
Collins spoke about his years at Miami Trace.
“It’s been good,” Collins said. “I feel like I’ve gotten a quality education here and I’ve made life-long friends.
“Obviously, Ron (Amore) Sr.,” Collins said, in appreciation. “I’ll always take what he says with me, whatever I do, especially bowling and life. He’s taught me a lot of valuable lessons.”
Not unexpectedly, a highlight of Collins’ career came as a junior when he placed third at the State bowling tournament.
As for a favorite subject in school?
“History, social studies, all that department,” Collins said. “My favorite teacher no longer works here. He’s now at Bath High School in Lima. He’s Luke Krohn. He was my sophomore biology teacher.”
Collins said he wanted to thank his parents, Bobbie and J.R. Collins.
To help him take his game to the next level, Collins said he would look to Coach (Doug) Smith and Coach (David) Jones.
“I’ll have some teammates to guide me on the way,” Collins said. “There are some pretty good guys who bowl there.”
“It’s very exciting,” Miami Trace head bowling coach Ron Amore Sr. said. “He’s got a lot to learn. He doesn’t realize what he has to learn yet. He’s learned a lot in the last four years, but, he does have a lot more to learn.
“Everything is going to be new to him, because he’s going to be bowling under different conditions than he’s used to,” Amore said. “A little more like the State tournament he’s bowled in the last two years. He’ll have some even tougher than that.
“It’s going to be a learning process,” Amore said. “But, he’ll do fine. As long as he keeps his mental aspect under control, he’ll be just fine. Sometimes he tries a little too hard and he’ll get upset with himself. He just has to learn to calm that down a little bit and focus on the next shot.
“Connor is a fine young man and I wish him well,” Amore said.
“We travel to a lot of different places,” Muskingum head coach Doug Smith said. “In Ohio we try to host as many high school tournaments as we can. We’ve seen Connor in two or three of our high school tournaments. We’ve been following him for about three years.
“We like what we see,” Smith said. “He can definitely bowl — knock down some pins. And his grade point average is good. We want kids, first of all, who are going to graduate from Muskingum. Graduation is what we want to see. If we win a national championship along the way with him, that’s great. But, I want to see him get that degree.”
