By Brian Holtzapple
When 36 individual bowlers and eight teams from the Heartland Athletic Conference qualified for the Eastern Pennsylvania Championships this past weekend, there was a better than good shot that a few would survive to bowl another day.
That was a correct assumption, as the PA State Championships will be well represented by the HAC when the tournament is held on the 19th and 20th of this month at North Versailles Bowl in Pittsburgh.
Individually, only Shikellamy sophomore Shelby Derr advanced in the singles competition that will be competed on the 19th.
Then on the 20th, in the team portion of the tournament, boys squads from Milton and Selinsgrove qualified for the finals, as did girls teams from Shikellamy and Midd-West.
Derr was the fourth seed for finals after felling a total of 1,009 pins (209-224-171-194-211) in her qualifying games. After receiving a bye in the first round, Derr lost in the second round to Ephrata's Christine Leid, 225-180, to finish in sixth place.
Only the top 12 qualifiers advance to the state championships, and just missing out on a trip to the finals on the girls side was Midd-West senior Jess Remphrey. She finished 14th in qualifying with a 943 total (174-193-156-224-196).
Two boys also just missed out on a trip to the state championships. Milton senior Alex Milheim finished 13th with a 981 total (188-185-194-191-223), and Mifflinburg senior Wes Doebler was 14th with a 980 (195-214-181-175-215).
However, Remphrey and the rest of her teammates lived to bowl another day when the Mustangs finished as the third-best team from the East. Derr and the Braves finished fourth. Shikellamy and Midd-West finished 1-2 in qualifying, and both teams received byes into the semifinals.
The Braves fell to Schuylkill Valley 913-896 in their match, while the Mustangs, the defending eastern champions, dropped a 978-923 decision to eventual regional champ Neshaminy.
On the boys side, Milton qualified fourth for the finals and Selinsgrove was fifth.
Unfortunately, the two teams met in the opening round and the Seals came away with a 1091-882 victory to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to eventual regional champ Cumberland Valley, 1073-1061. Selinsgrove finished third in the East, while Milton was sixth.
But that wasn't it. Several tournament honors were also handed out.
Selinsgrove junior Jess Eisley had the best game in the team event (279), while Remphrey and junior teammate Danielle Goss were second and third with a 269 and 268, respectively.
All three girls were named regional all-stars from the team event, along with Milton junior Cody Milheim.
WILDCATS ROLL BEHIND LOCALS: Freshman Caitlin Wagner from Northumberland finished second in the Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Association bowling championships held Feb. 21 at Moshannon Valley Superbowl in Philipsburg.
In the week prior, Wagner rolled a 455 to finish second in the women's gold division of the Eastern PA Collegiate Conference championship at Summit Lanes in Pocono Summit.
Also in the EPCC tournament, freshman Ian Hickey of Middleburg and the Wildcats' No. 3 team finished fifth with a 2,069-pin total.
Sophomore Jess Fritz, a graduate of Lewisburg High School, is also a member of Penn College's co-ed team.
BOWLERS TO BE INDUCTED: On Saturday, March 20, the Central Pennsylvania USBC Bowling Association and the Mifflinburg Women's USBC Bowling Association will induct two new members into their respective halls of fame during thire annual banquet at 6 p.m. at the Carriage Corner Restaurant in Mifflinburg.
Beaver Springs' Dennis Camp and Selinsgrove-area's Dianne Mengel are the 2010 inductees.
Until next week, stay out of the gutters.
n Brian Holtzapple is a correspondent who covers bowling for The Daily Item. Email comments, questions and results to keglerskorner@dailyitem.com.
