Versailles Girls Finish 3rd at Pioneer Classic

The Varsity Girls 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 15 Girls 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 girls qualified in 2nd position with a total pinfall of 3,524. Zanesville was the top qualifier with a 3,596. The girls started off a bit slow trying to figure out the lane conditions. However, as the day went they just kept climbing in the standings. They rolled 796, 880 and 915 in the 3 games of qualifying. There total score for the 5 Baker games were 951.

The field was now cut to the top 8 teams for best 3 out of 5 match play Baker Games: 1: Zanesville, 2: Versailles, 3: St. Marys, 4: Coldwater, 5: Bellefontaine, 6: Wapakoneta, 7: Defiance, 8: Maysville. The Tigers were to face Defiance in the round of 8. “These girls really came on strong as the qualifying progressed, especially in the 5 Baker Games” said Coach Phlipot. Versailles ran the table in the 1st match by winning 158-147, 203-144 and 247-166.

The second match was not going to be easy as the Lady Tigers were set to face up against the quickly improving St. Marys Roughriders. The Lady Tigers kept rolling and fired a 234-193 the 1st game. The 2nd game was a different story and they struggled to a 125-146 loss. The third game went to St. Marys 160-189. The 4th game was a close one throughout the entire game. Unfortunately, the 10th frame did not work out too well for the Tigers and they lost 192-194. “These girls bowled great all day long and there is no reason for them to hang their heads with a 3rd place finish. We bowl these tournaments to help get us ready mentally and physically for the tough conference matches and the post season,” said Coach Phlipot. “The top three teams in the tournament for the girls were Coldwater, St. Marys and then Versailles for the girls. The top three teams in the tournament for the boys were Versailles, St. Henry and Wapakoneta for the boys. This goes to show you how tough the WOHSBC really is,” said Davidson.

A big congratulations goes out to Sophomore Hannah Niekamp for rolling a 299 game this past Friday during practice. The last pin standing was a wobbly 5 pin that was falling over until the head pin came off the wall and stopped it from falling. To follow more action, go to www.facebook.com/vhsbowling.