Varsity Girls Bowling makes final 4 in Columbus tournament

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VERSAILLES — The Versailles Varsity Girls Bowling team traveled to The Columbus Square Bowling Palace on December 3 to compete in the 13th Annual Ohio High School “Kick-Off” Invitational. The bowling format was three regular games and two baker games, with each game bowled on a different pair of lanes.

The lane conditions were very tough making the Tigers work as a team to progress in the tournament. Scores were low across the board. Makenzie Berning brought much needed consistency with a score of 509 (174, 176, 159). Also working hard for the Tigers were Brigette Holsapple (128, 192, 149=469), Jamee Brown (146, 172), Morgan Barlage (148, 158), Morgan Heitkamp (162), and Maggie Hedrick (141). Fortunately, the Tigers rolled well in Baker games with scores of 180 and 175 keeping the girls alive and making the cut to the top 16.

After the lunch break the teams came back out for match play. As the 13th seed the Tigers faced the 4th seed, Columbus Briggs. The Tigers won match 2, 3, and 5 to progress in the bracket. Scores: Game 1 (V- 135, C- 204) Game 2 (V-150, C-124), Game 3 (V-189, C-150), Game 4 (V-134, C-177), and Game 5 (V-180, C-145). “The girls won a battle during this match. Sophomore, Haddi Treon came in and gave us momentum as a team. We picked up spares and that was the key to a victory,” said Coach Phlipot.

The Tigers then bowled against 12th seed Austintown Fitch- Youngstown and beat them in the first 3 games. Game 1: (v-147, A- 127), Game 2: (V- 188, A- 163), and Game 3 (V-169, A- 126). This placed the Tigers in the semi-final bracket where they prepared to face a conference rival Wapakoneta.

Wapakoneta a 8 seed ended up coming out with the win but it was not without a battle. The match went to a full five games and all of the girls battled throughout. Morgan Heitkamp presented a challenge to the Redskins by striking out in the 10th frame of the 4th game making the Redskins’ anchor put up a mark to continue the match to game 5 and she did. Game 1 (V- 171, W- 125), Game 2 (V- 115, W 153), Game 3 (V 154, W- 124), Game 4 (V 154, W 160), Game 5 (V- 141, W 165).

“We finished 4th overall out of 32 of the best teams in Ohio. The majority of the field today was Division 1 schools. This is a great opportunity for the girls to participate in a highly competitive field. It is a challenge both mentally and physically and I was proud of how the girls stuck in and kept fighting,” said Coach Phlipot.

Individual results:

Makenzie Berning- 36th (509) and Brigette Holsapple- 56th (469)

The Tigers will travel to Woodcrest Lanes in Union City, Ohio on Saturday, Dec. 10 to face the Ansonia Tigers at 1 p.m. Please visit wohsbc.com for the schedule and additional conference details.

By Tyler Phlipot

For The Daily Advocate

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