Versailles Bowling News

Versailles Boys Bowlers Heading to State

With all of the weather delays, it was a big week of bowling with Sectionals being held on Tuesday the 24th and Districts to follow on Thursday the 26th. The Tigers had no issues getting out of Sectionals by finishing in 5th place. 10 teams qualified for Districts out of 28 teams. They rolled a 900, 849 and 949 in the regular games. In the Baker Games, they rolled 158, 185, 180, 214, 147, 211. “I told the boys after we qualified for Districts, that we had one day to get back to the basics. Our basic fundamentals were awful today and we left a lot of pins on the lanes today. So, Wednesday will consist of a lot of drills and a lot of practice shooting spares,” Said Coach Davidson. The Tigers were led by Kenny Nagel with a 597, Zach Marshal 568 and Dustin Ruhe 565. “Michael Hemmelgarn came in the 3rd game to replace one of our starting players that was struggling. Michael has been working hard and sure helped save the last regular game by shooting a 180,” said Davidson.

This year’s District Championships were held at the 68 lane Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek, Ohio on Thursday, February 26th, 2015. The format was 3 regular games and 6 baker games. Total pinfall would determine the State Qualifiers. “After the “fun day” of drills the day before, I could see in warm ups that it paid off. All of them looked so much better in their approach.” said Coach Davidson.

The Tigers started the 1st 2 games with a 928 and a 904. Things got very interesting the 3rd game as they only rolled an 882. “I was pretty sure we dropped out of the cut line with that last game, but I knew we would still be within striking distance for the Baker Games,” said Davidson. The Tigers found them out of the cut by 48 pins with 6 Baker Games to go.

The Tigers got off to a slow start by rolling a 168 the 1st game. However, they caught fire the next 2 games with a 226 and a 242. The next two games they gave some back with a 150 and a 174. The Tiger Bowlers were not to be denied their 2nd straight OHSAA State Competition in a row as they rolled a fine 213 the last game to finish in 3rd place. “It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I finally witnessed these guys believing in themselves, even when it looked like our season was going to end. They just need to continue with confidence as they are all a lot better than they sometimes think they are,” said Coach Davidson. The Tigers were led by Sophomores Kyle Cotner 607 and Alex Groff 597.

The OHSAA Division II State Tournament will be held Saturday, March 7th at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. The format will be 3 regular games and 6 baker games. The field of 16 teams will then be cut to the top 8 based on total pinfall. The tournament will then proceed onto Bracket style match play (1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc) using the Baker style format in a best 3 out of 5 game match until the 2014 State Champion is crowned. All bowlers that qualified as a team and 16 bowlers that qualified as an individual will also be competing for the individual State Championship by using their 3 game score.

Lady Tiger Bowlers Compete at District Tournament

The Tigers bowled at Beaver-vu Lanes in Beavercreek, OH on Thursday, Feb 26th in District Tournament.  The lanes proved to be a little of a challenge for the girls to get started for the day.  The first game total for the Tigers was 650, well below their normal average.  This created a 200 pin deficit from 4th place.  The girls knew they needed to get up to at least 4th to advance to State. In game two they improved with a score of 800, moving them to 10th place overall.  After their 3rd game with a score of 814 the girls remained in 10th place.  Leading the way with individual scores were Megan Ward (143, 212, 200= 555 series), Hannah Niekamp (144, 150, 144= 438 series), Makenzie Berning (168, 152), and Olivia Bruening (153, 166).  “Heading into the baker games we knew we needed to come out strong to have a chance to advance to the State tournament as a team,” said Coach Phlipot.  Unfortunately, with a total score of 3180 the Lady Tigers ended up in 9th place overall and missed the cut to advance.  “This was a disappointing end to a great season.  I was able to watch the girls improve and their hard work pay off week to week,” said Coach Phlipot.

Megan Ward qualifies for State

Although the Lady Tigers team did not advance, Megan Ward’s hard work paid off and she finished in the top 4 overall and advanced to the State bowling tournament as an individual.  “I told the girls that we were driving to Columbus next week whether with the team or individual bowlers,” said Coach Phlipot.  Megan Ward took that to heart and fought hard utilizing her good spare shooting to achieve her goal.  “Megan has worked hard over the last four years to be a team leader and improve her game.  I congratulate her on her efforts and am happy that her season has not ended yet.”  She will be competing at Wayne Webb Lanes in Columbus, OH on Friday, March 6th 10:00 a.m.  She will bowl 3 individual games and her total score will be compared with all of the bowlers at the bowling center.  To view Megan’s results go to www.OHSAA.com.