WCHS Bowling Teams

The Wildcats took one more step toward defending their State Championship, as they easily defeated the Indians from Dobyns-Bennett 20.5-6.5!  This was a total team effort thru just one bowler - Eric Lane - who dominated on the modified house-shot lane conditions using John Petty's bowling ball and Chris Branner's button!  Eric shot an awesome 717 series on games of 223, 246, & 248 to lead our 'Cats to victory...great bowling, Eric! 

Eric had been struggling some in this post-season...his ball seemed to stop hooking, and he lost his "top button" off his bowling shirt!  After informing his teammates about how important that button was, Chris Branner showed how great of a leader he is - he tore off his own top button and gave it to Eric!!  <<>>   Also, several of the guys let Eric try some different balls to help him out, and he settled on John's ball.  Now THIS is TEAMWORK!!  <<>>   

The guys had very little resistance from our first-round opponent, as they won game one 1193-1008, and game two 1110-1010, while taking 12 of 16 points.  Their 1171 in game 3 sealed the win, and now we are just two wins away from another title.  The four teams remaining are definitely four of the best teams in the state - WCHS, Soddy-Daisy (Chattanooga), Hardin County, & Smyrna.  Tomorrow should be one of the best final four's our HS tournament has ever seen.  Our semi-final match is vs. Soddy-Daisy - a rematch of last year's championship match.  ONE BALL AT A TIME, GUYS...LET'S DO THIS!!

The past two seasons have been fantastic for the entire Wilson Central bowling program.  Both the boys & girls teams advanced to the TSSAA State Tournament together, making it so much fun for all.  And, with both teams winning the Runner-Up trophy in 2009, then winning it all last year - it has truly been a "special" run.  Unfortunately, that "dual" run came to an end today as the LadyCats lost their sectional to Hendersonville 15-12.  The Wildcats did, however, keep the dream alive for the boys as they defeated Upperman 16.5-10.5 to advance to their third-straight State Tournament!

The boys were not spectacular, but consistent in games 1 & 2 as they built a 12.5-3.5 lead on games of 1162 & 1177.  Coach started his focus on the girls' match in game 3 as did our boys, and they let a pretty good team almost come back on them!  Upperman shot 1254 in game 3 to our 1054 as we only won 1 point with Shane Cavanaugh's 211 game.  Luckily, we had a 277 pin lead heading into the final game that sealed our win!  Chris Branner added a 238, Eric Lane a 225, Kyle Hubbuch a 211, & Spencer Harp a 209 to help us to the win.  Way to get it done, Wildcats!

The LadyCats four year run of State Tourney appearances came to an end today with the loss to our rival Hendersonville girls.  Neither team bowled their best today, but our ladies were a little too off to get a win.  Game 1 was a good start - we win 6-2 and are up on pins by 44.  Game 2 was the "downer" as we only won 1 point and lost the game by 103 pins, only rolling a 1017.  Coach Mark tried to once again totally mix up the lineups and shake things up.  It worked - almost!  The LadyCats won 4 of the 6 individual points and took the team game 1050-1033.  But total pins did us in, as we lost the series 3176-3134.  Congrats to the Lady Commandoes on their win.  Brittany Sisco tried to do her part today with a very nice 594 series (199-204-191), and Katy Page had two nice games - 193 & 208.  All in all, a bad time to have a bad day of bowling! 

It really hurts as we knew we had the "team to beat" this year...only a handful of girls teams around the state were anywhere near as strong as this squad.  And the disappointment/disbelief on the faces of our LadyCats said it all...this one will be felt for awhile!  HOLD YOUR HEADS HIGH, LADIES...these past four years was a run to be envied by just about any team out there!  You all worked hard and had GREAT SUCCESS...be PROUD of yourselves and your accomplishments!  And enjoy your RINGS for years to come - you are all CHAMPIONS!!

Congratulations to the Wilson Central Lady Wildcats, who earned their 6th consecutive Region 5 Championship with their easy 24-3 win over Lebanon HS!  With nearly every player getting in, the ladies finished with a 3080 series to take their 4th match over Lebanon this season.  Sr. Kirstin Page showed how ready she is for State with her 637 series, which included her high game of the year - a 255!  Great bowling, Kirstin!  Other good scores:  Brittany Sisco had a 214, Dani Chaffin a 212, and Kirstin also added a 211 game. 

The LadyCats advance to another sectional showdown with Hendersonville HS tomorrow.  ONE MORE STEP and we are back at STATE for another run...LET'S GO, LADYCATS!!

How do you lose and still win?  If you were at Hermitage Lanes on Sunday, then you saw how!  In another wild and thrilling match, the WC boys lost total pins to Lebanon 3817-3838, but won the match 14-13!  In the fourth matchup between these two teams this year, the Lebanon boys finally showed how good they really are!  Their first two matches of this year's Regional saw their boys score very well compared to most of the regular season.  Coach Mark knew it would be a battle, and neither team disappointed! 

Game 1 started pretty even, but by the 6th frame Lebanon was getting hot and starting to pull away.  A rough finish for us led to us only scoring 1214 to their 1276 first game.  But we did win 3 of the 6 individual points, led by Seth Carey's great 255 game.  Game 2 we had the turnaround we were looking for, with Seth leading the way again with 256, and Spencer Harp (237) & Kyle Hubbuch (231) rebounding from their "off" game 1 to help us win 5 of 6 pts and hit 1319 to their 1235.  So, after two games we're up 10-6 in points and up by 22 pins in total.  Just like the match with Maplewood, just win the team game in game 3 and we're good.  But again, easier said than done.  Lebanon has struggled to maintain any momentum against us in our 3 previous matches.  Not a problem today, as game 3 saw Cale Trisdale soar to a 280, and Keith Harp a 279 for the Blue Devils, helping their team to a 1327 score.  But fate again was on our side, as those two big scores would be the only individual points we would lose!  With Chris B rolling a nice 266, we finished with a balanced 1284 and won the 4 pts we needed to take the match and the title!  WOW...we escape with a win, while avoiding a trip to York Institute for the sectional!  Congrats & Thanks to our SENIORS for their great bowling today - Seth Carey finished with his highest series ever - 727, and Chris Branner ended with a 689, and an enormous 240.7 average for the tournament!

Congratulations to Cale T of Lebanon for his awesome 793 series today - great effort there!  And we wish Lebanon GOOD LUCK as they try to earn their first trip to State tomorrow!! 

HUGE WIN, Wildcats...way to do what you've always done - win as a TEAM!  ONE MORE STEP TO GO and we are back at STATE!!

Both teams advanced to the Region 5 finals, but did it in dramatically different ways.  The LadyCats moved on easily over Hume-Fogg HS, with every girl getting play time in their 27-0 victory!  With coach resting a couple of starters for the finals match, So. Dani Peplinski & Fr. Nicole Bailey both got to start the match!  And Miss Bailey took full advantage of her time, as she led our girls team with her very first 600 series, a 618!  Awesome bowling, Nicole!  She was very consistent too, with games of 205, 202, & 211.  High game for the girls was 221 by Kirstin Page.  We also had several good games:  Elizabeth Callas with a 215; Kerstyn Stansberry a 210; Brittany Sisco 203; and Laurel Everett a 202.  Total pins finished at 3125 - 2000.  Great win, LadyCats!

The best match this year, possibly EVER, for the Wildcat Boys team - was this thriller with the not-so-underdog Maplewood boys team!  Coach warned our guys that the MHS boys really wanted to bowl us and win, especially after we knocked them out last year in regions.  And their team gave us everything they had, and then some!  Game 1 saw both teams start strong, but our guys pulled away a little at the end, finishing with a 1305-1236 win.  Chris Branner had the first 8 strikes on his way to a great 277 game, but LOST his point to MHS' Trevor Owen, who rolled a great 279!  Points are 6-2 after one.  Game 2, MHS turned the heat up, with Jesse Gutierrez rolling a 278 and Justin Fear a 255 to lead them to a 1297-1255 win over us.  Seth Carey shot a 244 and John Petty a 223 to keep us up in total pins, and after two we were still up 9-7 and by 27 pins.  So, just win game 3 and we advance.  Not so easy though, as MHS came out firing and after 3 frames we were already down by almost 80 pins and losing 4 of the 6 individual matches!!  Our girls came down from their match and got the crowd cheering for us, and here came the strikes!  Five of our six guys throw three in-a-row, and by the eighth frame we were starting to take control.  MHS finished strong but we held on for 3.5 individual points, and took the game 1252-1225.  Final score not as close as the match was - 3812-3758 and 17.5-9.5 in points.  Chris again led our boys with another 700 series, a 714!  John Petty was huge in game 3 with a nice 237 game and 662 series.  Seth Carey had a 641, and Kyle Hubbuch a 635 series.  Outstanding win in a pressure-packed situation.  WAY TO GO Wildcats!!