Staff report
After the disappointment of Wednesday when the Sidney High boys came up short of qualifying for the State Bowling Tournament, Heather Gold of the girls team picked everybody up a day later in earning her first trip to the big show next week.
Gold competed in the Division 1 District Bowling Tournament Thursday at Beaver-Vu Lanes in Beavercreek, and turned in an outstanding performance in making the all-tournament team as well as punching her ticket to the state tournament, which takes place March 10 and 11 in Columbus.
Gold bowled a 586 series to finish sixth overall in the tournament.
“She had a good day,” said her coach, Trent Knoop. “I think the key was she went in with the attitude of not thinking about making it to state. She just wanted to make quality shots. She was throwing the ball well and definitely performed.”
Gold will be the first girl from Sidney to bowl at state since the 2013 team qualified.
Knoop was hoping both of his district qualifiers would make it out and get to Columbus, and it looked like that would be the case, with Jenna Beatty also bowling well. But she ran into trouble in her third game, and her score of 144 left her just 10 pins shy of qualifying for the state tournament.
Boys
The Sidney High boys have had a spectacular season, and were hoping to top it off with a trip to the state tournament.
But in action at Beaver-Vu on Wednesday, the Jackets finished in 10th place, and only the top five teams qualified for next week’s tournament in Columbus.
The Jackets finished with a 3500 score, 172 pins behind the fifth-place finisher.
“We had a lot of high hopes of making it to state,” said Knoop of the boys team. “But we still had a great year.”
A year that included winning the Greater Western Ohio Conference overall championship for the first time in school history.
On Wednesday, the Jackets were led by Josh Abbott, who had a 579 to finish in a tie for 14th place overall. He rolled games of 164, 191 and 224.
Austin Simon finished with a 482 on games of 165, 142 and 175.
Damion Phillis had a 192 in his only game, and freshman Harrison Fischer had a 178 and a 150 for a 328. Sean Martin added a 165 in his only game and Matt Elliott a 173 in his only game.
The top five teams were Cincinnati Oak Hills with 4025, Centerville with 3912, Miamisburg with 3836, Vandalia with 3812 and Wayne with 3672.
Division 2
The D-2 state tournament will be held this weekend, and Versailles will compete. The Tigers are scheduled to bowl Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
The Tiger bowlers will be seniors Kyle Cotner, Alex Groff, Brody Hyre, Aydan Moran and Jacob Wenig, juniors Luke Shellhaas and Brandon Bradley, and sophomore Quayd Pearson.
For the seniors, it’s the fourth year in a row to bowl at state.
“Experience is going to play a big factor,” Coach Tyler Phlipot said. “They’ve been there. They know what to expect. They know the atmosphere. They’re familiar with the bowling center. So I think the experience of being there is going to be a good plus for us.”
