Eighty-six Midstate individual bowlers along with 15 area high school teams will be vying for championship hardware at this week’s Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association state bowling tournament.
TSSAA state bowling tournament
There will be one notable absence, though.
Reigning two-time Tennessean Midstate Boys Bowler of the Year Cole Flatt, who was declared ineligible to participate this season after transferring from Culleoka Unit School to nearby Columbia Central over the summer, has already lost out on his bid for a third straight Division I individual championship. And while his absence from the three-day tournament at Smyrna Bowling Center puts the Lions’ quest for a four-peat in jeopardy, they’re not ready to concede title No. 4 just yet.
“If (Flatt) was in the singles individual tournament again, I’d think he’d be the favorite again,” Columbia Central coach Mike Ransom said. “We’re still pretty strong. Of course usually you’ve got a kid who averages about 180 filling in for Cole, who averages about 220. You’re giving up about 120 pins per match by not having him in there.”
Columbia Central bowler denied three-peat opportunity
In addition to the Region 4 runner-up Lions, Region 1 champion Dobyns-Bennett, Region 1 runner-up Cherokee, Region 4 champion Smyrna, Region 6 runner-up Hendersonville, Region 6 champion Lebanon, Region 7 champion Hardin County and Region 8 champion Bartlett will also be among the eight-team tournament field.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who are good bowlers, and they’ve stepped up and done a lot better this year,” said Columbia assistant coach Gary Flatt, who is Cole’s father. “We’re in pretty good shape and we’re going to make a hard run at it.”
Individual qualifiers in boys Division I include Columbia Central’s Luke Flatt (224.00), who is Cole’s brother and Gary’s son, Smryna’s Josh Meeke (217.23), Smryna’s Brandon Campbell (217.03), Lebanon’s Peyton Bell (214.72), Columbia Central’s Jon Colbaugh (213.00), Tullahoma’s Kyle Dotson (211.65), Siegel’s Hunter Whitaker (210.62), White House’s Jonah Anderson (210.00), Tullahoma’s David Farmer (209.70), Hendersonville’s Storm Sparks (208.26) and Wyatt Patterson (207.16), McGavock’s Kaike Martin (206.90), Lebanon’s Jarred Bradshaw (204.93), Lebanon’s Tyler Moore (203.62), Smyrna’s Lane Dawson (203.13), Mt. Juliet’s Ben Giacobbi (202.89), Creek Wood’s Logan Peeler (202.00), Stewarts Creek’s Aaron Hall (200.95), Upperman’s Ryan Ransom (200.71), Lipscomb Academy’s Chase Ford (199.00), Stewarts Creek’s Braydon Paul (198.08), Beech’s Michael LaRue (196.67), McGavock’s Andrew Maki (195.90), White House-Heritage’s Kody Fry (195.00), Ravenwood’s Clayton Mayfield (194.48), McGavock’s Kynaston Matheney (194.00), White House’s Nick Meecha (192.00), Brentwood’s Patrick Wolff (183.48), Cane Ridge’s Julian Page (180.00), Summit’s Alex Parker (179.00), Brentwood’s Nathan Benbow (177.79), Overton’s Baytley Cardwell (175.00), East Nashville’s Jordan Powell (174.80) and Overton’s Jacob Blackwell (171.00).
Region 4 champion Siegel, Region 5 champion Franklin and Region 6 champion White House will be representing the Midstate in Division I girls action, joining Region 1 champion Dobyns-Bennett, Region 2 champion Hardin Valley, Region 3 champion Rhea County, Region 7 champion Hardin County and Region 9 champion Dyer County.
Individual qualifiers in girls Division I include Blackman’s Sarah Sanes (198.82), Siegel’s Danielle Jedlicki (197.74), Lebanon’s Lindsay Manning (196.97), Mt. Juliet’s Jessica Giacobbi (195.14), Siegel’s Sydney Jahns (193.41), Brentwood’s Camy Barber (193.25), White House’s Hannah Dowell (189.00), White House’s Madison Beckner (188.00), McGavock’s Shamika White (186.90), Beech’s Shea McPherson (185.02), Franklin’s Maddy Sherwood (183.46), Stewarts Creek’s Ashlynn Barkdull (183.20), White House’s Madeline Cain (183.00), Blackman’s Kayla Berry (182.66), Columbia Central’s Ashlynn Moyer (181.60), Siegel’s Madeline Woods (181.26), White House’s Madison O’Connor (181.00), White House’s Anna O’Connor (180.00), White House’s Abby Smith (179.00), Siegel’s Emily Whitaker (178.33), Blackman’s Erika Sisk (178.07), Wilson Central’s Rickie Denson (177.37), Franklin’s Jennifer Guenst (177.31), Station Camp’s Katelyn Gallagher (177.08), Columbia Central’s Chelsea Hinton (176.30), Beech’s Jessica Ezell (170.56), Portland’s Kaleigh Verran (170.15), Tullahoma’s Taylor Noyce (163.30), Franklin’s Alli Koehler (157.10), Columbia Central’s Alexis Lovett (155.10), McGavock’s Kelsie Holland (139.90), Antioch’s Jessica Vetter (132.00), Cane Ridge’s Nhadia Stuart (127.00), Hillsboro’s Angela Teague (126.00) and Antioch’s Angkear Khorn (121.00).
On the Division II boys side, two-time defending champion Friendship Christian will be joined by McCallie, Father Ryan, Donelson Christian, Montgomery Bell Academy, St. Benedict, Christian Brothers and Memphis University School.
Individual qualifiers in boys Division II include Friendship’s Donny Turner (212.00) and Nick Norton (204.00), DCA’s Ross Dewey (200.00), Ensworth’s Sam Alcott (186.10), MBA’s Jackson Wooten (183.90), Father Ryan’s John Dirugeris (182.20), DCA’s Bryce McDonald (180.00) and David Miley (179.00), MBA’s Ben Coulthard (177.50) and Friendship’s Luke Shoulders (177.00).
Harpeth Hall, Friendship Christian, Father Ryan and Pope John Paul II each advanced to the girls Division II tournament, while Father Ryan’s Jennifer Holt (165.30), Pope John Paul’s Carlee Campbell (150.40), DCA’s Kaelyn Thomas (150.00), Friendship’s Holly Abrams (147.00), DCA’s Lexie Nickens (146.00), Friendship’s Brice Dabbs (130.00), Father Ryan’s Alexis Flores (125.10) and Pope John Paul ‘s Sarah Gould (121.85) will be among those vying for a DII girls individual title.
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports. Reach Sam Brown at 615-259-8232 and on Twitter @SamBrownTN.