Boys Bowling Team improves to 9-0, Sets New School Record

Michael Davidson

After bowling a double shift, with each match consisting of two regular games and two baker games, against the Ansonia Tigers and the Coldwater Cavaliers at Woodcrest Lanes in Union City on Saturday, January 7, the Versailles Boys Varsity Bowling team remains undefeated, bringing their record to 9-0. "With bowling a double shift today and only bowling 2 Baker Games instead of 5, it was extremely important to be ahead going into the Baker games."

Versailles began the day facing the Ansonia Tigers at 10 a.m. and outscored Ansonia in the first two games with scores of 870 to 745 and 1101 to 848. Versailles topped Ansonia in the first baker game 215 to 180, but Ansonia came back to win the second baker 166 to 146. Versailles won the match with a total of 2332 pins to Ansonia’s 1939. Versailles was led in game one by Ben Didier with a 214. "What I love about this team is the depth we have. A few of the boys were struggling a little bit in the first game so some changes were made throughout the 1st game. The 2nd game, I kept everything the same and the boys ended up setting a new school record for High Team Game." They topped the 1080 they rolled against the Marion Local Flyers in this season’s first match on November 19, 2011. The following scores led to the 1101 team score: Michael Davidson-268, Brandon Groff-236, Jordan Groff-226, Ben Didier-214, and Matt Grilliot-157.

After a short break, the Tigers moved on to face the Coldwater Cavaliers at 12:30 p.m. "With Coldwater losing to OG last week, this match is almost a must win for the CAVS. We have to stay focused and come out strong."

The Cavaliers outscored the Tigers in game one by eight pins with a score of 1012 to the Tigers’ 1004. Versailles came out on top in game two with 957 pins to Coldwater’s 932. Versailles was led in game one by Michael Davidson with a 245 and Aaron Niekamp with a 216. In game two Versailles was led by Nathan Peters with a 224 and Ben Didier with a 215.

With the Tigers up by 17 pins going into the final 2 baker games, the match was tight, and the tension was high.

Coldwater started the 1st baker game with the 1st 6 strikes and the Tigers were clean and hitting the pocket, but did not have a double. The Coldwater fans were going crazy as the momentum had shifted to the CAVS. "After the 1st 6 frames I told the boys, it's not how you start the game, it's how you finish. Let's get back into this and keep it close." A ball change and a line change for Aaron Niekamp for his second shot in the Baker game helped start the Tigers comeback. "The ball and line you are playing is not working, it's time to make a change to your Evil Siege." His strike in the 7th frame was followed by a strike by Ben Didier, Nathan Peters and 3 strikes in the tenth by Michael Davidson. The Tigers ended up winning that Baker game 244 to 235. Up by only 26 pins going into the final Baker game, anything could still happen. The Tigers ended up winning another close game 184 to 178, thus winning the match by 32 pins with totals of 2,389 for the Tigers and 2,357 for the Cavaliers. The Tigers will bowl another double shift at Varsity Lanes in St. Marys on Saturday, January 14, facing the St. Henry Redskins at 10 a.m. and the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks at 12:30 p.m. 

Please visit www.wohsbc.com for in depth stats and conference standings.