Versailles Boys Bowlers win Pioneer Classic

The Varsity Boys Bowling Team traveled to Westgate Lanes in Lima on Monday, January 20th to compete in the Pioneer Classic hosted by Lima Temple Christian. There were 21 Boys teams entered into the tournament. Teams from all over Ohio competed in this event. The format was 3 regular games and 5 Baker games. The field was then cut to the top 8 in each division based on total pinfall. The teams would then face off head to head in a bracket style format with the winner moving on to the next round in the best 3 out of 5 baker games.

After the Qualifying rounds, the Versailles boys qualified in 2nd position with a total pinfall of 3,821. Wauseon was the top qualifier with a 3,841. During the qualifying, the boys set another new school single game record of 1,137. Ben Ahrens 223, Kyle Cotner 222, Dustin Ruhe 211, Alex Groff 264 and Michael Davidson 217. The other two games were 997 and 829. “The last game the lanes were started to get very difficult. It is a good thing we had a 180 pin lead over the field because we gave a bunch back that 3rd game,” said Coach Davidson.

The field was now cut to the top 8 teams for best 3 out of 5 match play Baker Games: 1: Wauseon, 2: Versailles, 3: Ottawa Glandorf, 4: Coldwater, 5: St. Henry, 6: Wapakoneta, 7: Zanesville, 8: Elgin. The Tigers were to face Zanesville in the round of 8. “During practice, I felt we had the better team, however, you never know what can happen during the Baker Games,” said Davidson. Versailles won the first game 170-152. The second and third games went to Zanesville as the Tigers were having issues converting easy spares and filling frames. 169-195 and 181-203. The fourth game went back and forth and the 9th and 10th frame was going to determine the winner. Ben Ahrens through a good shot but left a single pin. He converted the spare. Michael Davidson was up and a strike or a spare would secure the 4th game. “In the 5th frame, Michael left the 3-6-9-10 and converted. We talked about the adjustment he needed to make going into the 10th. When he let go of the ball, I thought it was good, but the ball hooked too much again and the 4-10 split was now standing. I grabbed the back of his shirt and said you have made this many times, today is no different. We need you to make this for the win,” said Coach Davidson. Michael focused in on the spare attempt. And the 4 pin flew over and knocked the 10 pin down for the conversion. The team and the fans went crazy. However, the game was not over. He still needed 8 pins for the win. After composing himself it looked as if another adjustment was being talked about. Davidson rolled the next shot and 10 pins went down for the win, 174-171. The momentum was now all Tigers and they won the 5th game 225-177

The round of 4 the Tigers were up against undefeated conference foe, the Wapakoneta Redskins. The Tigers kept rolling the ball great after the big momentum swing and defeated the Redskins in 3 game, 181-171, 204-160 and 213-193. The Championship match was now set as they were to face yet another conference rival, the St. Henry Redskins. This was due to be another great match as the Redskins knocked off the Tigers a few weeks earlier in conference action. The match ended up being everything we thought it would be. St. Henry won the 1st game 159-183. The Tigers fought back with a 246-166 win. The match then went back in favor of the Redskins with a win of 201-235. It was time for the Tigers to either win or go home. “You guys have fought too hard to not go home with the trophy. We need to win the next two games. Just go out and do it,” said Coach Davidson. The 10th frame came down to the two Seniors, Michael Davidson from Versailles and Garrett Stout from St. Henry. Davidson rolled a strike and a spare in the tenth to seal the 4th game 185-166. The 5th game came down to the 9th and 10th frames again. “I told Ben Ahrens to set Michael up. We need you to throw a strike here as we are down 10 pins. Ben did just that a rolled one of the best balls of the day under the pressure,” said Davidson. The stage was now set. If St. Henry strikes out, they win. Garret rolled the 1st shot and went high leaving the 3-6-10. Davidson was up and needed to roll a strike to double off of Ben’s 9th frame shot. He did just that and rolled a perfect strike. If Stout spares, it forces Davidson to roll one more strike. Garrett chopped the spare and Versailles won the last game and sealed the championship with the win by 7 pins.

“We can roster 8 guys during matches and tournaments. I can honestly say this was a 100% team effort today. When any of these guys that were not bowling needed to come in and save the frame or the game, it happened. These kids showed me a lot of heart and determination today,” said Davidson.

The team was led by Michael Davidson 646, Alex Groff 638 and Ben Ahrens 598. A big congratulations goes out to Ben Ahrens as he rolled his 1st 300 game Tuesday, January 21st during practice at McBo’s Lanes. To follow more action, go to www.facebook.com/vhsbowling.