Versailles Varsity Bowling
Versailles Varsity Girls Bowling win the WOHSBC 

As the weeks passed during the season, the excitement continued to build for the match of the season, Versailles vs. last year’s State Champion and the last 4 years Conference Champions Coldwater Cavaliers. Both teams records were unblemished at 12-0. They were to face off at 1pm at 20th Century Lanes in Lima. The match was originally to be bowled more toward the middle of the bowling center, but both coaches decided to move the match to lanes 21-22 as there would be a lot more room for the bowlers, coaches and fans. People were lined up from lanes 17-24 to watch what ended up being perhaps the best match in girls conference history. 

“Tyler and I had a good meeting on Tuesday before practice with the girls and talked a lot about believing in themselves and their games.  We will be practicing on tougher, drier lanes all week to get you ready. As everyone could see, on paper, Coldwater was the favorite for the match. With the match being the second shift after the Wapak and OG boys, the lanes were going to be much drier and the team that could adjust to the lanes the best would have the advantage, “said Coach Doug Davidson. 

The first game started out a real thriller and you could see both teams had prepared very well for the match. Although the Lady Tigers started out on fire, the Lady Cavaliers did as well. Versailles rolled a 1,042 to Coldwater’s 1,067. Megan Monnin led the way with a 245. “You girls bowled great the first game and are only down 25 pins. Stay focused, have fun and keep the pressure on them,” said Coach Phlipot. The second game, the lanes were starting to change and you could see the adjustments both teams were making to continue to hit the pocket. Versailles made a few better adjustments than the Cavaliers and was able to take the lead going into the Baker games. The score was Versailles 993 to Coldwater 919. This gave the Tigers a 48 pin lead. Tori Minnich sled the Tigers this game and rolled the best gamer of the season for the Tigers with a 267. 

“Tyler and I put our strategy together for the Baker Games. We both agreed that we had to go with the hot hand for the very important anchor position. Most of the season, it was either Megan or Brooke. Although both Megan and Brooke were bowling great, we decided to put Tori in the anchor spot. Since the anchor bowls the 5th and 10th frames, you want the bowler that is lined up and throwing the ball the best,” said Coach Davidson.  The buzz in the crowd and the amount of people watching this match was almost like a state finals match. The first game went to Versailles 193-193 putting the up by 51 pins. The second game went to the Cavs with a 189-182 win to close the gap to 44 pins. The 3rd game started out in favor of the Cavs but the Lady Tigers showed how much they wanted to win this match and the conference fighting back the end of the game to win 217-193. Versailles was now up 68 pins with 2 Baker Games to go. 

“You girls are doing everything you can and you just need to keep doing what you have been doing all day. Try to keep loose and just keeping making great shots. You cannot Coldwater out yet” said Coach Phlipot. Well, here is why Coldwater has multiple State Championships and Conferences titles. They started with a couple spares and then the flood gates opened. They proceeded to roll 8 strikes in a row to finish the 4th game with a 257 to Versailles 192. This closed the gap to just 3 pins. The Coldwater players, coaches and fans were going crazy and it was now down to one last game. 

“This was the most intense match I have ever helped coach and really do not remember what I said before the last game as it was extremely loud in there. I just remember pointing at the girls, yelling (in a good way) and telling them to go out and finish this thing and win it, said Coach Davidson. One switch was made moving Brooke Wehrkamp to leadoff from the 3rd position to the 1st position. As she does so well, she rolled a perfect strike and she did her patented vertical jump and turn to help fire the Tiger girls up. The second frame both Versailles and Coldwater rolled big splits. However, the Coldwater girl converted her big 3-7 split and the momentum shifted back to them. The Cavs were up most of the game until Versailles came back rolling a couple of strikes. It was now down to the 10th frame. If Erika Hartings for Coldwater and Tori Minnich for Versailles both roll 3 strikes, the Tigers would end up winning the match by 1 pin. Tori was up first and hammered her 1st strike. Erika was up next and left one pin. So, if Tori strikes, the Tiger win. Her next shot went a little high and she left the 6-10 spare. If Tori misses her spare and Erika strikes, the Cavs win by 1. Tori did what she did all day and converted her spare to seal the deal for the Tigers to remain undefeated and win the WOHSBC for the first time ever! The final score was Versailles 2,993 to Coldwater 2,988. 

There were also two school records broken. The team beat last year’s school record of 2,970 by rolling a 2,993. Tori Minnich also beat the record she set last year by 2 pin rolling a 458 for two games. 

“I cannot say enough about how these girls bowled today. They never gave up and continued to make great shots under the pressure when they needed to. They have worked hard all season long and deserve this championship,” said Coach Phlipot. 

The team travels to Marian Lanes on Wednesday to compete the the Sectionals tournament. In depth stats and details can be viewed at www.wohsbc.com.