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Indiana’s Top High School Bowlers Compete in State Finals Anderson, Indiana –The Indiana High School Bowling Program State Finals were held Saturday at Cooper’s Sport Bowl in Anderson. The state finalists were determined by competition at the 2 Semi-State competitions in Indianapolis and South Bend last Saturday, February 14. Each location sent their top 4 boys’ and girls’ teams plus the top 9 individual boys and girls to the finals. The eight teams (boys & girls) bowled two regular games, followed by five Baker games in the qualifying round. The 18 individuals (boys & girls) bowled three regular games in their qualifying round. The top 4 teams and individuals then advanced to stepladder to determine the state champions. The Lake Central girls’ team won their 3rd championship. They were previous winners in 2003 & 2007. Brownsburg boys won their first state title. This was their 3rd trip to the finals. The individual champions were EJ Tackett from Huntington North and Kendra Stakelbeck from Noblesville. Both winners are just sophomores. Tackett was in the finals for the second time and it was the first trip for Stakelbeck. There were several exciting events during the team qualifying rounds. Michael Bilyeu, Anderson Highland, recorded the days’ first big score as he rolled a 300 in his second game. He had earlier received an award for a 298 rolled during conference play. It didn’t take long before another; even more impressive score was recorded. The Lake Central girls’ team rolled an incredible 1292 their second game. The game tied the all-time 5th highest women’s team game in the country and it is the highest women’s team game on record in the state of Indiana. The record score included our second 300 of the day by Alyssa Fortner. Other team members and scores were: Leanne Witulski 192, Kelli Marx 243, Katie Sexton 289 and Kaity Galka 268. After the qualifying rounds the top 4 teams moved into the stepladder finals. In the girls’ competition, the #4 seed, Anderson, rolled 2 baker games against the #3 seeded Huntington North. Huntington won the 2 game match by a single pin, (160+212) 372 to (173+198) 371. They moved on to meet and defeat #2 Fort Wayne Snider, (210+253) 463 to (190+211) 401. That set up the final match against #1 Lake Central. The match was close throughout, but the final score of (196+182) 378 to (179+158) 337 gave Lake Central their 3rd championship. In the boys’ division #3 South Bend Clay defeated #4 Bishop Dwenger, (153+242) 395 – (155+165) 320. They moved on to play the #2 seed FW Snider. Snider won the match (217+258) 475 to (168+180) 348. That set up the final of #1 Brownsburg against #2 Snider. Snider won the first game 206-200, but Brownsburg rallied to win the second game 211-190 and gave them the 411-396 win and the state title. The singles competition was just as competitive. The top 4 seeds weren’t decided until the final game. In the boys’ competition EJ Tackett, Huntington North, took the lead with a 245 first game, led the whole day and finished #1 seed with 693. Ryan McCoy, Griffith, rolled a 266 final game to earn the #2 seed with 690. Michael Bidwell, Delta, rebounded from an opening 160 with 266 and 244 for a 670 total and 3rd place. Matt Johns, Avon, earned the 4th spot with 658. In the stepladder Johns defeated Bidwell 244-227 and McCoy 236-200. That set up the final match. Tackett was looking to achieve something no one had done yet in our 10-year history. He had already won sectional, regional and semi-state titles. He wanted to be the first to win all 4 levels of competition. He opened the game with a spare and then rolled eleven straight strikes to earn the state title with a 290-181 victory. The 290 wasn’t his high game of the tournament. He rolled a 300 his first game last week in his run to the semi-state crown. On the girls side, Chelsea LeMond (Northeast Dubois) took the lead the first game with a 248 and added to that lead with a 274 second game. She slipped the 3rd game but still led qualifying with a 695 total. Kendra Stakelbeck, Noblesville, rolled a 258 last game to earn the #2 spot with 680. Last week’s South Bend semi-state champion, Alexandra Kimm (SB Adams) earned the #3 spot with 667 and Mallorie Penix, Muncie Southside, was 4th with 659. In the first playoff match Penix defeated Kimm, 195-170. In the semi final match, Stakelbeck topped Penix 204-183. That set up the final match between #1 LeMond and #2 Stakelbeck. LeMond suffered a couple early splits and Stakelbeck won the title with a 225–179 victory. Competing teams and their qualifying scores for Saturday are as follows:
Sectional Champs* Regional Champs** Semi-State Champs*** Competing individuals and their respective scores are as follows:
Sectional Champs* Regional Champs** Semi-State Champs*** The Indiana High School Bowling program is sponsored by the Indiana Bowling Centers Association, Inc. and bowling centers throughout Indiana. During the 2008-2009 season, 106 bowling centers throughout 24 conferences sponsored 193 schools for a total of 349 boys and girls teams. Steve Kunkel The Best Things in Life Aren’t Things. |
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