Hoover, Vestavia Hills Boys Advance to State Bowling Tournament
The Hoover boys bowling team defeated defending state champion Thompson last Thursday to win the Class 6A-7A South Regional in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Regional Bowling Championships.
Meanwhile, Vestavia Hills lost to Sparkman in the North Regional finals.
Both Hoover and Vestavia Hills will advance to the State Bowling Championships on Thursday and Friday at Pelham’s Oak Mountain Lanes.
The Bucs captured the South boys’ large-school division title, posting 1,614 pins in the finals at Eastern Shore Bowling Center in Spanish Fort. Thompson, the 2020 boys’ state champs, rolled a 1,466, 148 pins behind.
Connor Davis led Hoover with a 246 traditional game total in the final game. He finished with a 614 series, third best in the South competition. Teammate Mac Spiller had a final match traditional game 223, and Alex Lee closed with a 637 series.
Hoover won its opening match over Daphne, 1,443 to 1,345, and nipped Mary Montgomery in the best match of the 6A/7A South session 1,581 to 1,559.
The Warriors beat Auburn, 1,526 to 1,273 in the semis to advance to the finals. Thompson, Auburn and Mary Montgomery also advance to the state tournament.
Sparkman beat Vestavia Hills by 255 pins with a championship match total of 1,580 pins in the North Regional at Vestavia Bowl. The Rebels had 1,325 pins.
Vestavia Hills beat Hartselle in the quarters and Huntsville in the semis. Sparkman, Huntsville and Hewitt-Trussville also advanced to the state tournament.
Sparkman had a strong finish in the finals with Dalton Tolgo, Cole Arsenault and C.J. Richardson rolling the top three traditional games with scores of 247, 200 and 189, respectively. Tolgo’s 247 was the best traditional game of the North Regional. He also had a 217 total in the first round and finished with the top 3-game traditional series (655) at Vestavia. Arsemault had a 578 series and Walter Reed of Vestavia Hills rolled 537 for third.
The Rebels’ Riley Giardina had a 225 game in the quarters and Josh Matthews had Vestavia Hills’ top traditional game in the semis with a 200.
Indian Springs, Spain Park Girls Earn State Tournament Berths
The Indian Springs girls earned a state tournament berth in the Class 1A-5A field, while the Spain Park girls advanced in Class 6A-7A.
Abby Richie rolled a traditional game 153 as Indian Springs beat Beauregard 973 pins to 934 in the quarterfinals of the South Regional to qualify for the state tournament. But Indian Springs fell to eventual region champion Satsuma 1,118 to 788 in the semifinals.
Spain Park beat Hartselle 1,077-1,047 in the North Regional first round to secure its state tournament berth, but it lost to eventual regional champion Sparkman 1,348-1,232 in the semifinals.
The AHSAA State Bowling Championships are competing in two divisions this season. The schools competed in just one boys’ and one girls’ division from 2016-2020. Southside-Gadsden, the defending girls’ state champion, is competing in the North 6A/7A competition.
Vestavia Hills Falls in Wrestling Duals Final
The Thompson Warriors edged Vestavia Hills 33-25 to claim their third straight AHSAA Class 7A Duals Wrestling Tournament championship last Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex Bill Harris Arena.
Coach Shawn Weltzin’s defending AHSAA 7A state champs and the 2020 runner-up Rebels battled to the end with the Warriors (26-2) winning eight matches, and Vestavia Hills (25-2), coached by Monterrious “Tee” Adams, took six.
Thompson was making its fourth appearance in five years, also winning the title in 2019 and 2020. Vestavia Hills won the first 7A duals crown in 2017 and was making its third appearance in the duals’ five-year history.
The match had only three pins, Thompson winning two and the Rebels one. The Warriors’ Wilson Kennedy won the 138-pound match over Clay Johnston with a pin at 3:51. Thompson’s Will Garrett followed with a pin over Vestavia’s Jack Lamey at 3:12 in the 160-pound march.
The Rebels’ Jack McMurry won the 285-pound match over Thompson’s Gregory Hamilton with a pin at 2:58.
The closest match of the contest came at 132 pounds with Vestavia Hills’ Christopher Hays edging Yanni Vines of Thompson 7-6.
The Rebels’ other winners were Hampton Hollifield at 106 pounds, Zach Flurry at 113, Harris Mitchell at 152 and Bryce Littleton at 220.
The AHSAA State Wrestling Traditional Championships will be conducted over two weekends this season with Class 1A/4A at Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum and Class 7A at Bill Harris Arena on Feb. 12-13. Class 5A/6A will compete at Von Braun Center in Huntsville the next week, Feb. 18-20.
—Rubin E. Grant
