Many veteran bowlers are not all that happy to see young people show up in their leagues. The youngsters bring a new ball and hook the ball into the pocket sending the pins flying. The "seasoned" folks become a bit peeved, feeling the upstarts are showing them up.
Personally I don't feel that way. I love to see young bowlers join the fray. I'm happy when they shoot a good score. Unless, of course, they beat me really bad!
All joking aside, nearly every bowler enjoys seeing someone roll a great game or series. Our tendency is to admire rather than detest the bowler who scores well. Young or old, male or female, if a bowler has a good night on the lanes, they will be congratulated many times over.
If a bowler is not being applauded for a great score, it is probably because of his attitude and demeanor not his prowess at the sport. Let that be a lesson to you young keglers out there. Be humble, be nice and you will reap the rewards from your labors.
Speaking of being rewarded, several high school bowlers earned some notoriety as well as cash for their efforts in a recent bowling tournament. This season several local teams joined the Northern Ohio Bowling Conference. The league held its tournament recently and the local kids did very well indeed.
In the team competition Fostoria's girls, led by Alex Hersch, finished second behind champion Eastwood. With Jessica Wiley leading the way, Columbian scored a fourth place finish. New Riegel placed fifth with Amanda Weinandy's 487 topping the Jacket scoring.
On the boys' side, Columbian was third as Aaron Kidwell rolled a 570 series. Lakota, with Aaron Reasor shooting 521 was ninth and New Riegel lodged in 10th with Dustin Theis shooting 495 to lead the team.
The tournament consisted of three regular team games followed by five games of the thrilling Baker format. If you have not seen high school bowlers roll a Baker game, you should check it out. Each bowler throws two frames as the lead bowler shoots the first and sixth frames, while the anchor gets the fifth and the all-important 10th frame. The game goes quickly and generates a lot of excitement. Each bowler has the added pressure of knowing they must perform, because they only have two chances. It's a great format.
The league chose its all-conference teams based on the three game series scores. Three local girls made the team including the aforementioned Alex Hersch, Jessica Wiley and Amanda Weinandy. The boys all-conference team included Fostoria's Brandon Connin and T.C.'s Aaron Kidwell.
Spectators were charged to view the tournament and the gate receipts of $857 were used to grant scholarship money to the top three bowlers for both boys and girls. Alex Hersch had the high score of 550 and took the top prize of $165. Jessica Wiley will receive $140 for shooting 543, while Eastwood's Jessica Young placed third with 536 for a $123.50 scholarship.
Rossford's Jake Cook (614) took the top prize for the boys, while Kyle Waynick (612) from Eastwood placed second and Fostoria's Brandon Connin (593) finished third.
The money will be placed in the USBC SMART Fund to be used by the bowlers for college education expenses. Davenport University bowling coach George Miller was on hand to present the awards. Congratulations to all the high school bowlers on their efforts.
So beware all you mature, seasoned veteran bowlers out there. The youngsters are coming, though some may have to wait until after college. We will welcome them with open arms.
As for you young pups, you may want to work on your game because some of these wizened veterans can throw the rock, too. Check out these scores. Brian Kidwell leads the way this week as he fired a 726 to top the Sunday Night Rock N Roll League. Tim Sturgill shot 662, Steve Barnes 658, John Funk 627, Tom Tiell 620, Jeff Mostoller 607, Bob Steele Jr. 600 and Rose Steele 504. Robin Dickman paced the Alley Cats League with 589, while Jan Houk shot 536, Virginia Vanover 491 and Carol Fry 487.
In the Rocket League Tyson Shope shot 619, Steve Barnes 597, Dave Hohman 592, Tim Sturgill 592, Dottie Funk 464 and Ellen Ewing 416. Scores from the Imperial-Majorette League included Steve Steinmetz Jr. 642, Scott Kirian 567, Ben Hoyda 559, Deb Nominee 531, Dianne Smith 506 and Rhonda Fitch 501. Greg Tiell shot 655, Chris Johnson 633, Paul Gosche 621, Mike Kisabeth 618, Rich Yates Jr. 594, Rich Yates, Sr. 589, Jim Mason 588 and Kyle Musa 586 in the Sportsman League.
Action at the K of C Lanes found Doug Snyder shooting 622 to lead the Tuesday Night League. Darl Elchert had 597, Bill Lord 564, Steve Steinmetz Jr. 556, Justin Hoepf 552, Kevin Orians 551, Jamie Kuhn 545 and Mark Orians 543. In the Senior League Herb Sendelbach shot 632, Doug Snyder 595, Ken Ritzler 556, Mike Reser 549, Tim Gassner 547 and Bennett Paulus 513. Deb Hoerig shot 441, Marilyn Gangluff 422, Val Krombach 415, Carol Burmeister 413 and Lela Gaietto 407 in the Lady Knights League.
Finally, in the Super Senior League (sometimes referred to as the 55 Plus League, but I just want the young whippersnappers to know that we old folks can still bowl!) Paul Gosche shot 620, Jim Ruess 610, Dan Coppes 570, Bob Reinhart 526, Rick Hanna 521, Bill Mizen 520, Jim Ferstler 516, Dick Gabel 511, Mike Ditslear 499, Bob West 475, John Ferstler 448, Steve Schafer 439, Jim Donaldson 432, Dave Everhart 383 and Paul Fey 343.
Al Stephenson is the A-T Bowling Columnist
Read his blog at:
