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Pendleton Wildcat Bowling Team
By: Rhonda Hutchison
On June 17-19, seven members of the Pendleton Wildcat Bowling Team traveled to Beavercreek, Ohio to compete in the US High School Bowling National Championship.
The Wildcats earned the right to compete at the Nationals due to their top eight finish at the Kentucky State Tournament earlier this year. Those attending the competition were: Coach Ronnie Hutchison, Braden Brann, Bradley Brann, Karson Enzweiler, Leroy Bryant, Bradford Peoples, Kyan Brewer, Koby Brewer and a very large cheering section.
The first day of the event was the team portion of the tournament. Every team had five team members bowl three regulation games each. Then every team bowled three baker games. The total of all games were added together with the top twenty four scoring teams advancing to the next round. There were 54 teams from 20 states competing the year. The Wildcats total pin count after all games was 3217. They missed the cut for the next round by 191 pins placing the team 40th overall.
On day two, the individual qualifying took place. In this part of the competition each individual bowler rolled four games with the total pin fall deciding their placement. There were 376 bowlers competing as individuals trying to make the top 140 cut into the qualifying round. At the end of the qualifying round Wildcat positions were as follows: Bradley Brann 610 total pins placed 342, Leroy Bryant 640 total pins placed 324, Bradford Peoples 654 total pins placed 315, Braden Brann 670 total pins placed 300, Kyan Brewer 762 total pins placed 169 missing the cut by 20 pins, Karson Enzweiler 780 total pins placed 145 missing the cut by 2 pins, Koby Brewer 829 total pins placing 59 and advancing to Survivor Round 1.
The final day had the qualifying 140 bowlers returning to the alley to bowl two additional games which would be added to their previous day scores. After the scores were tallied, the field would be cut to the top 60. Koby Brewer, the only Wildcat still standing, was determined not to go out without a fight. Koby bowled a 223 and a 202 in Survivor Round 1 giving him a total pin count of 1254. This score kept Koby in 59th place and advanced him to Survivor Round 2. In this round, Koby had to bowl one game to be added to his previous score. At the end of this round, only the top 24 would advance.
Despite Brewer's best effort, his total pin count was 1416, keeping him in 59th place and putting him out of the competition. However, he did beat his placement of 110th overall in last year's competition. When ask how he felt about his teams performance Coach Hutchison stated "I am extremely proud of each of my bowlers. They might not have won, but the experience they gained and the memories they made will last a lifetime."