Panther Bowlers Secure Wasaren League Tournament Win
Text and photo provided by James Lynch
Tuesday, January 28. Saratoga Strike Zone. The Hoosick Falls Bowling Team began its postseason on Tuesday with The Wasaren League Tournament. Featuring all 7 teams in the Wasaren Bowling League (Berlin, Hoosick Falls, Hoosic Valley, Mechanicville, Saratoga Catholic, Stillwater, and Waterford), the tournament is a fun league-wide event to end the season, and is a good chance for teams to gain some more tournament experience before February’s Section 2 Tournament.
Led by senior Colin Cipperly 265-693, the Panthers battled tough lane conditions in the morning session. After the 3-game morning block, the Panthers sat in 4th place, 113 pins behind 1st place Mechanicville, 26 pins behind 2nd place Stillwater, and 3 pins behind 3rd place Saratoga Catholic.
Other Hoosick Falls scores from the morning included Evan Webster 203-598, Brody Mullen 204-591, Colin King 203-576, Ziena Hurlburt 224-570, Erin McCart 197-557, Payton Merrills 208, Owynn Arnold 187.
Led by senior captain Evan Webster 299-726, Hoosick Falls opened the afternoon block with their biggest game of the day, moving from 4th all the way up to 1st. From that point on they didn’t look back, finishing the tournament 56 pins ahead of 2nd place Mechanicville. Other Hoosick Falls scores from the afternoon included Colin Cipperly 234-678, Colin King 227-652, Brody Mullen 229-623, Ziena Hurlburt 244-614, Erin McCart 205-600, Owynn Arnold 242, Payton Merrills 172.
Following the tournament, the league handed out individual awards in addition to the team awards. Stillwater’s Connor Julian was the highest bowler for the entire day with a total of 1382 pins across his 6 games. Panther Colin Cipperly placed 2nd with a total of 1371. Saratoga Catholic’s Micaela Barbolt 735 and LJ LaFiura 687 placed 1st and 2nd for their 3 game series totals. Panther Evan Webster and Mechanicville’s Jacob LaFountain tied for high game with near perfect 299s while Saratoga Catholic’s Hayden Day finished second with 259.
The Panthers next outing will be the Wasaren League Championship Match on Monday Feb. 3 at the Barbecue Recreation in Hoosick Falls (4 pm start). Three Panthers (Payton Merrills, Riley Hayes, and Kendra Marshall) will compete individually during the Girls’ Section 2 Tournament on Thursday February 6.
The team will compete on Monday February 11 in the Boys’ Class C/D Section 2 Tournament. Both tournaments will take place during the day at Boulevard Bowl in Schenectady.