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The Regional Champion Wildcats Bowling Team holds the trophy for their third Region 5 championship. The team is joined by Athletic Director Jon Wirth on the left and Principal Tony Dietrich on their right.
By Rhonda Hutchison
On Monday, January 23, the top eight averaging Pendleton County bowlers (four girls, four boys) competed in the 2023 Region 5 Bowling Singles competition. Representing the Wildcats were: Maddie Crawford, Mary Mounts, Aliyah Webster, Kree Brewer, Bradley Brann, Karson Enzweiler, Kyan Brewer, and Koby Brewer. There were a total of 32 competitors in both divisions of boys and girls. Each bowler had to bowl three games in the seeding round with only the top eight scorers in each division moving on. In the girls’ division, the seeding was as follows: Aliyah Webster 25, Mary Mounts 21, Maddie Crawford 14, and Kree Brewer 7. The boys’ division seeding was Bradley Brann 16, Kyan Brewer 11, Karson Enzweiler 2, and Koby Brewer 1.
In the second round, each top eight bowler had to bowl two additional games with only the top four scorers in each division moving on. Pendleton County started the second round with three athletes still in the competition: Kree Brewer, Karson Enzweiler, and Koby Brewer. At the end of the round, seventh grader Kree Brewer had put up a good fight and moved herself into sixth place just short of the top four cutoff. Koby Brewer and Karson Enzweiler dominated the second round taking the first and second spot, moving them into round three, the stepladder part of the region. In the first game of the stepladder, both Pendleton players had a bye. In the second game, Enzweiler went up against Brissen Merrill from Scott. Enzweiler was on a roll and took the game 215-119 moving him into the finals against teammate Koby Brewer. It was a constant roar from the Pendleton fans as they cheered for both players who were going toe to toe. In the end, Brewer defeated Enzweiler 201-163 winning the Region 5 Singles Competition.
Tuesday, January 24, found the Cats back on the lanes for the Region 5 Team competition. After the one game
seeding round, the Ladycats seeded sixth and the Wildcats seeded first. The Ladycats faced Highlands in round one with the first team winning three games moving on. Pendleton took the first game 184-106 with Highlands coming back to win game two 104-95 and game three 144-123. Game four proved to be a nail biter with the game ending in a tie at 127. The tied game was tossed out and the teams had to bowl a new game to determine the winner The Ladycats fought hard, but Highlands won 130-111 giving them the required three game win to advance to the next round.
The Wildcats stepped on the lanes ready to defend their region champ title. Bishop Brossart was the first team to fall to the Wildcats in three games 157-101, 140-104, and 219-119. The Campbell County Camels were the next to fall prey to the Wildcats. The Wildcats took the first game 173-149 with the Camels rallying back to take the second game 179-159. After a quick moment to reset, the Cats took the next two games 238-197 and 172-125 to take the win and move on to the semi-finals against Dayton. The team could see the championship within their reach. Once the first ball was rolled the Wildcats never looked back, winning the first three games 197-158, 179-152, and 183-138 to become the Region 5 Team Champions three years running.
Coaches Ronnie Hutchison and Amber Brewer were back at the alley on Wednesday January 25 with the Wildcat Unified teams of Bradley Brann/Joseph Messmer and Jordan Ewers/Koby Brewer. After two games for seeding, Pendleton found themselves with the number one and two seeded teams in a field of 23 teams.
Each Wildcat team had a bye the first round. In rounds 2,3, and 4 Pendleton 2 (Messmer/Brann) took down Scott #1, Dayton #4 and Dayton #6 with the following scores: 116-67, 134-122, 128-112 respectably. Pendleton #1 took down Scott #4, Simon Kenton #8 and Dayton #3 with scores as follows: 122-102, 170-112, 173-97 respectably. These wins moved both Pendleton teams into the finals. The only drawback being that they had to face each other. It was a close match however Pendleton #2 ended up winning 159-128 to become the Unified Region 5 Champions and Pendleton #1 became the Unified Region 5 Runner-up.
The KHSAA State Bowling Championship will be held at King Pin Lanes in Louisville KY on February 6-8. The Pendleton Bowling program will be sending several teams/individuals to the competition. Those competing will be as follows:
Region 5 Singles Winner: Koby Brewer
Region 5 Singles Runner-up: Karson Enzweiler
Region 5 Team Winners: Koby Brewer, Kyan Brewer, Bradford Peoples, Leroy Bryant, Bradley Brann, Braden Brann, Adam Straus, Josiah Hurdle, Karson Enzweiler
Region 5 Unified Team Winners: Joseph Messmer and Bradley Brann
Region 5 Unified Team Runner-ups: Jordan Ewers and Koby Brewer