Mike Ransom
2016 BOYS BOWLING COACH OF THE YEAR
Mike Ransom, Columbia
Why chosen: After losing four of his top seven bowlers from a season ago, including two-time defending individual champion Cole Flatt, Ransom led Columbia to a fourth straight Division I team championship. The Lions (22-4), led by freshman Luke Flatt’s state-leading 224 average, lost to Smyrna in the Region 4 championship before bouncing back to beat the Bulldogs 18-9 in the title match.
Quote: “When you take one of the top bowlers in the state off a team, it doesn’t just hurt you from a talent standpoint, it also hurts the confidence level of the rest of the team. One of our biggest jobs was to show them we had confidence in the rest of them, and that even without (Cole Flatt), we were a really good team. Kids that had been on the team but had never really been a big part of our success, now they had to be because we were counting on them.”
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.