SBC youth bowlers Keysha Martin (Lavergne HS) & former SBC bowler Wes Conatser (Upperman HS) took the Individual Titles last week in the TSSAA State High School Tournament, held here at Smyrna Bowling Center.
Conatser led wire-to-wire through the 14-game, two-day event and set the record for total pinfall in the Boys Division I competition. Wes averaged 216 for the eight qualifying games to reach the match-play finals, then went 5-1 in the head-to-head competition to finish in first place, 136 pins ahead of Hardin County’s Chase Smith.
Miss Martin was her usual cool self on the outside, but was admittedly “nervous” on the inside while bowling her match-play round. She averaged 196.87 for her 8 games of qualifying, then went 3-2 in her first five games of the finals. Going into the final match, Keysha was in 2nd place, 29 pins behind Collierville’s Emily Nykiel. With 30 bonus pins for a win in the match play, whoever wins the last game would be the champion. Martin finished first with a 190 game, which left Nykiel a chance to win with 2 strikes & a 9 count. Emily struck on the first ball in the final frame, but left a solid 10-pin on the next shot to give the title to Martin.
Several other SBC youth finished in the top 24 this year: Laurel Everett (Wilson Central – 4th), Kara Ford (Smyrna – 10th), Samantha Gomes (Central Magnet – 20th), Brittany Sisco (Wilson Central – 21st), & Kylah Martin (Lavergne – 24th) finished high for the girls; For the boys, it was: John Petty (Wilson Central – 7th), Kyle Hubbuch (Wilson Central – 10th), Ronnie Claridy (Smyrna – 13th), Timothy Lewis (Smyrna – 17th), & Eric Lane (Wilson Central – 23rd). Congratulations to all of the GREAT youth bowlers for outstanding performances in the State Tournament!
