The Versailles boys and girls bowling teams qualified for the state tournament this weekend after each one placed third as a team at their respective district tournaments last week.
The boys headed to Beaver-Vu Lanes on Thursday, Feb. 14 for the Division II district tournament where they totaled 3,958 pins to place third overall.
The first game consisted of Justin Heitkamp, Matthew Francis, Tyler Gehret, Landon Henry and Jay Mumaw. Gehret led the Tigers with a 233 starting the game off with a five bagger and finishing strong with a turkey. Mumaw rolled a 223 with two sets of turkeys. Francis rolled a 201 with a double and no open frames. The Tigers were able to roll a 1011.
The second game consisted Heitkamp, Francis, Gehret, Henry and Mumaw. Heitkamp led the Tigers by putting together a couple of doubles to roll a 216. The Tigers were able to roll a 965.
The third game consisted of Heitkamp, Francis, Gehret, Henry and Mumaw. Heitkamp led the Tigers with a 259 by rolling two sets of five baggers. The Tigers were able to roll a 983. This put the Tigers in second position with a 2959 going into the bakers. Kenton Ridge was ahead of them with 3059 and Mechanicsburg was close behind with a 2939.
The first baker game was comprised of Gehret, Derek Morris, Henry, Heitkamp and Mumaw. Versailles was able to string together a double to roll a 166.
The second baker game was made up of Gehret, Francis, Heitkamp, Henry and Mumaw. After opening in two frames, the Tigers marked the rest of the way out to roll a 170.
The third baker game saw Gehret, Francis, Heitkamp, Henry and Mumaw. By stringing together a turkey, the Tigers were able to roll a 195.
The fourth baker game consisted of Gehret, Francis, Heitkamp, Henry and Mumaw. With a few opens, the Tigers put together a 148.
The fifth baker game was comprised of Henry, Gehret, Quayd Pearson, Heitkamp and Mumaw. The Tigers were able to roll a 160.
The sixth baker game was made up of Henry, Gehret, Pearson, Heitkamp and Mumaw. Once again, the Tigers were able to roll a 160.
Some notable individual scores went to Heitkamp for rolling a 194, 216 and 257 for a total of 667 which placed him in second place as an individual. Gehret was able to finish 14th as an individual by rolling a 233, 195 and 184 for a total of 612. “I am proud of this young team,” Coach Tyler Phlipot said. “Week in and week out someone steps up. Today it was Justin Heitkamp and Tyler Gehret in the general games and Quayd Pearson in bakers. The rest of the team just feed off that. The boys never gave up and fought for every pin. Coach Mumaw and Coach Ward did a great job keeping the boys mentally in it all day.
“We will have to keep doing what we have been doing – stay mentally focused, believe in yourself, teammates and not get distracted with the atmosphere,” he continued referring to the state meet. “They take the top eight teams out of 16 to the best of five match play to determine the champion. There is no doubt these boys will give it there all.”
The boys will compete in the state tournament beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 2 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.
The Versailles girls also earned a third-place finish with a pin total of 3,592 in the Division II district tournament they traveled to on Feb. xx at Beaver-Vu Lanes in Beavercreek. There were 16 teams competing for the top four spots to advance to the state tournament.
The first game consisted of Haddi Treon 148, Lindsay Cheadle/Jena Mangen 141, Kalysta Thobe 160, Morgan Barlage 185 and Morgan Heitkamp 182. The Tigers got off to a slow start rolling 816 for the first game putting them in 6th place.
The second game the Tigers moved to a different pair of lanes and they came out on fire. Treon 184, Mangen/Natalie York 138, Thobe 166, Barlage 181 and Heitkamp 228. The Tigers rolled an 894 pushing them up two spots to 4th position.
The third game the Tigers kept on rolling behind Treon 198, York 178, Thobe 167, Barlage 159 and Heitkamp 183. Versailles was able to roll an 885 to jump them up to the 3rd spot. Coach Phlipot stated, “Natalie York stepped up big rolling a 178 game for us. Going into the bakers we were only 125 pins from first place, and we knew we were in striking distance.”
As No. 3 seed the Tigers bowled with No. 4 seed Cincinnati Christian for all six bakers. The Tiger line up for game one was Cheadle, York, Treon, Barlage and Heitkamp. The Tigers struggled to pick up spares rolling 140 to Cincinnati Christian’s 190 dropping to the 4th spot.
The second baker game consisted of Cheadle, Thobe, Barlage, Treon and Heitkamp. The Tigers could not buy a strike but picked up spares for a score of 167 to Cincinnati Christian 157 jumping back into 3rd place.
The third baker game was made up of Cheadle, Thobe, Barlage, Heitkamp and Treon. The girls came out on fire rolling 213 to Cincinnati Christian’s 166. After the three baker games the Tigers still held on to third place.
The fourth baker game saw Cheadle, Thobe, Barlage, Heitkamp and Treon. The Tigers struggled a bit to pick up spares rolling 161 to Cincinnati Christian 163 still hanging onto 3rd place.
The fifth baker game consisted of Cheadle, Thobe, Barlage, Heitkamp and Treon. With a good strong finish, the Tigers rolled a 157 to Cincinnati Christian 167 to stay in 3rd place. “It was getting exciting and nerve wracking at the same time Cincinnati Christian was cutting into our lead and Greenon who was in 5th place was making a strong push for the 4th spot,” said Coach Phlipot.
The sixth and final baker game was going to determine who the last two teams that would get in, Graham and Northwestern locked up the top two spots. This baker comprised of Lindsay Cheadle, Kalysta Thobe, Morgan Barlage, Morgan Heitkamp and Haddi Treon. The Tigers would have to roll 140 to lock up a spot. The Tigers finished the last baker game with a 157 to Cincinnati Christian 151. Cheadle picked up a key split in the 6th frame to finish with a total of 3592 an earn an advancement to the state tournament in 3rd place at the district.
Coach Phlipot commented, “I am proud of this team and how they handled the pressure all day, it was not easy being an up and down day. It was a day when strikes were hard to come by for us. We had 131 single spare attempts and picked up 95 of them. Our spare shooting was the key for the day. Today the whole team was mentally focused, and they kept each other up as a team.”
Individual scores: Morgan Heitkamp (182-225-183 — 590 6th place overall), Haddi Treon (148-184-198 — 530 16th place overall), Morgan Barlage (184-181-159 — 525 18th overall), Kalysta Tobe (160-166-167 — 493 33rd overall.
Team Standing: 1st Graham 3809, 2nd Northwestern 3760, Versailles 3rd 3592 and 4th Greenon 3574.
The girls will compete in the state tournament beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 1 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. The top 8 teams advance to the best out of 5 match play to determine the state champion. Come out and support all Tiger bowlers while the Versailles Boys will also be competing at the same bowling alley on March 2nd at 10:00 am.
