Versailles Bowlers Place 3rd at State

This is the first year that the Versailles High School Boys Bowling Team made it to the State competition as a team. The OHSAA State Bowling Tournament took place at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl on Friday, February 28th. 16 Teams were competing for the State Title from all over the State.

The format was 3 Regular Games and 3 Baker Games. Scores would be tallied and the top 8 teams would then advance to the Bracket Style Match Play Finals. “During my first pre match talk with the guys way back in November, I said the road to the State Tournament starts today. It is going to take a lot of commitment, determination and hard work. You guys have the potential to make it as a team. It is all up to you. Well, these guys did it for the first time in school history!” said Coach Davidson.

Versailles started off strong with a 987 game on the challenging lane condition. The second game was a little tougher as they rolled a 908. “I felt we were still in a good position after two games. The oil pattern everyone was bowling on is much more difficult than most of the patterns we competed on all year, so these were not bad scores at all,” stated Davidson. The 3rd game looked as if it could be much better as the pair of lanes the Tigers moved to just had a couple of good scores rolled the game before. However, they just could not put strings together and limped in with an 881.

It was now time for the Baker Games. “With moving to our 4th pair and getting right into the Baker Games, it was critical for us to get lined up fast and get the right 5 guys in there. The lanes were really starting to get flaky, so just filling frames was the key,” said Davidson. The boys found themselves in 7th postion going into the Baker games with Urbana about 80 pins behind them and about 3 other teams within striking distance (no pun intended) of the coveted 8th position. The 5 guys that start the Baker games remained in for all three games as they all had a good look on the lanes. They rolled a 192, 201 and 181. It looked as if Versailles was going to hang on to the 7th position. However, the top 8 teams were not going be announced until after the break and the individual awards.

After the break, the Individual Champion as well as the All-Ohio Teams were announced. “We knew Michael did not quite have enough to defend his State Championship from last year, however, there was still hope to make 1st team All-Ohio for the 2nd straight season. That 2nd game was the killer. We just did not make the correct adjustments/ball changes to get a good reaction. Sometimes that happens,” said Coach Davidson. 678 ended up being the top score out of the 96 bowlers. Michael came in at 638 and was good enough for 2nd Team All-Ohio missing 1st team by a mere 9 pins.

The top 8 teams were then announced and Versailles moved up to 5th place after qualifying. They were to face the tough Jonathan Alder team out of Plain City. The boys came out firing and pretty much controlled this best 3 out of 5 match with scores of 194-146, 213-167, 192-200 and 247-210. About 4 pairs down, Coldwater also had made it to the Semi-Finals. If both teams win their match, the State Finals was going to be a WOHSBC showdown. Versailles kept on fire winning 216-181. The 2nd game was rough and they were now tied as they lost that game 135-202. The next two games was 237-215 and 175-213. If Versailles wins, they move onto the Finals. They came up a bit short and lost an absolute heartbreaker 167-173. As this match ended, Coldwater’s match ended within seconds and they were also defeated so the WOHSBC showdown was not meant to be this year.

“I cannot say enough about how proud I am of this team. We surprised a lot of teams in our conference and throughout the state this season. These guys accomplished in one year what a lot of programs may never accomplish in several years. Pioneer Classic Champions, WOHSBC Champions, District Champions and a tie for 3rd place at the OHSAA State Finals. It just goes to show you what a lot of commitment, determination and hard work can do,” said Davidson.