BUCYRUS — Tyson McDaniel is a senior at Bucyrus High School.
On Wednesday, he confirmed that he will continue the sport that is his first love — bowling — after his high school days are concluded.
McDaniel signed his letter of intent to bowl for Tiffin University next fall. The Dragons compete in the 22-team Ohio Bowling Conference, with five meets per year, all in Columbus.
“I toured (the Tiffin campus) and honestly, it’s just perfect for me,” McDaniel said. “It’s not too far from home, but it’s just far enough.”
First year head coach Randy Butler is very happy to have McDaniel heading to Seneca County next year. Butler is the beneficiary of his predecessor’s recruiting.
“He was already being recruited by the university and we’re excited to have him join the team,” Butler said. “We’re still building this program up. It’s still very young. This is only the fifth year it’s been going on. We’re looking for guys like him to come in and take us into the future.”
According to his high school coach, Diane Kaple, McDaniel has been a key to the success of the Bucyrus program.
“The program has really grown and it’s great to see one of our Bucyrus players bowl at the college level,” Kaple said. “Tyson has really evolved in the past couple years. I’m looking forward to seeing him bowl at the next level.”
While McDaniel has played other sports, bowling has captured his heart and soul.
“I used to play baseball, but now I’m on the track team,” McDaniel said. “Right now, all I wanted to focus on was to do a sport in college. After I did bowling my sophomore year, I thought, ‘This is going to be the sport for me.’”
McDaniel will have to learn to manage college studies in conjunction with his bowling schedule.
“He is the first of his family to compete at the college level,” Kaple said. “So, he’s going to have a balancing act of academics as well as their schedule with bowling.”
McDaniel plans to major in sports management and eventually become an athletic director, he hopes at the local level.
“Being on the bowling team, we’re required to do study table for a semester,” McDaniel said. “If your grades are good, you don’t have to do it for the other semester. But I’ll probably do it just to be safe, keep the grades good.”
Kaple thinks McDaniel can take on the additional responsibility.
“Tyson is our team captain for the boys team.” Kaple said. “He has taken on that role and done just an amazing job.”