COLLINSVILLE – Civic Memorial didn’t get off to the best of starts in Saturday’s IHSA Collinsville Sectional boys bowling tournament at Collinsville’s Camelot Bowl.
The Eagles fired a team 934 to open the day and found themselves in 12th place of the 16-team field. From there, the Eagles came alive, rolling a 1,005 second game and a 1,088 third game to find themselves in fifth place at the lunch break.
From there, CM kept battling, ending up with an afternoon team series of 3,131 to finish fourth with at 6,158, good enough to qualify for next weekend’s IHSA State Tournament at St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights.
Belleville East won the team title with 6,519 pins, followed by Columbia (6,449), O’Fallon (6,346), CM, Triad (6,150) and Mascoutah (6,145); the top six teams and top seven individuals on non-qualifying teams all advanced to the state tournament.
Roxana’s Christian Bertoletti also reached the state tournament as an individual with a six-game total of 1,353; he was the only area individual to advance.
Highland’s Collin Korte won the individual title with a six-game total of 1,470; other individual qualifiers included Hillsboro’s Ryan Robinson (1,440), Chatham Glenwood’s Connor Jones (1,408), Bertoletti, Collinsville’s Clay Hartman (1,346), Freeburg’s Tyler Hunter (1,344) and Belleville West’s Sam Watson (1,315). Piasa Southwestern’s Connor Schobemd and the Maroons’ Jacob Harris narrowly missed qualifying for state in at-large spots.
The host Kahoks just missed out on the final team qualifying spot by 70 pins, finishing seventh at 6,075; Alton finished 10th with 5,970 and the Piasa Birds were 12th with 5,840.
“It was an awesome day,” said CM coach Trent Morgan. “Our guys competed their rear ends off today; it was awesome. At one point today, I looked up and they were smelling the victory. They smelled blood and went after it.
“They really competed hard today; it was so awesome to see. This is such a competitive tournament, they have so many awesome teams here. For us to be in the mix is a tribute to our players, a tribute to the fans who came out. I’m so happy for these guys.”
Having the state tournament in their backyard is a big thing for CM and the Metro East’s other participants. “We went there (in late December) for the (O’Fallon) Panther Team Challenge and we ended up 12th in that tournament. We were a couple of pins behind the 10th- and 11th-place teams. We went to three tournaments this year and got a fourth at Airport Bowl (in Bethalto), a 12th in the Team Challenge, a second (in the Alton Regional Monday).
“They’re gamers; they came out to play today. We had all five guys going today; it was the right time to do it.”
Morgan praised his seniors for leading the way for his team. “Our seniors were awesome today,” Morgan said. “Devin Davis had a 1,309 series, Gage Jennings bowled a 1,310 series and Zach Hagen had (a 1,259 set), but our seniors stepped up big-time today.” Gordon Madrey had a 1,223 for CM, with Zach Cathorall rolling a two-game total of 904 and Cort Jackson rolling a 153 in his only game of the day.
“They had a tough day today,” said Redbird coach Dave Meyer of his bowlers. “They had a slow start this morning – they came out of the gate with a 932 (followed by a 924 second game and a 999 third game), then finally hit 1,000 (with a Game 4 1,054). It was tough for them today.
“It seemed like some of them were uptight for some reason, but that’s what happens. We only lose two seniors (Tyler Stevenson and Blake Schutte); it’s bad that they didn’t get to go (to state), but we have a good core coming back next year.
“One of our kids, Jared Cochran, just missed making the cut (he led Alton with a 1,301 total on the day). It’s disappointing, but I’m still proud of the boys. They did a great job and surprised me by the way they finished tournaments; it just wasn’t our day.”
“We had a fairly young team, but the chance was there,” said Kahok coach Sean Hay. “We got into a little bit of a hole this morning, and that was our downfall; we were able to climb back into it a little bit (moving into the last team qualifying spot through five games before rolling a team 1,005).
“The kids were busting their butts; anytime you put three sophomores in a lineup, that’s sometimes a little bit hard. We’re looking forward to next year; we’re going to lose Clay Hartman, but we’ve got a good core group with great attitudes. I think they’ll take this experience and get a little bit more hungry.”
Jersey’s Jeff Gump and Jordan Retherford, East Alton-Wood River’s Tyler Hayes, Metro East Lutheran’s Michael Coulson, Granite City’s David Reagan and Edwardsville’s Hunter Noud and Eddie Sims also took part as individuals in Saturday’s tournament.
