HOWARD — East Knox High School bowled Highland on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at Colonial Lanes.
The varsity boys won 2184 to 1517, and were led by senior Will Jensen with games of 258 and 248 and for a 506 series, the second 500 series of his career.
Supporting Will was freshmen with twin games of 190. On the girls side, the Bulldogs were led by senior Olivia Nastasi with games of 189 and 193, for a 1702-1446 victory. Junior Chloe Stevens bowled a solid 169-152.
On Friday, Dec. 1, the Bulldogs opened the KMAC season against Fredericktown. The varsity boys won 2418 to 1846. Jensen again led the Dogs with a 437 series, supported by Calhoon’s 410 and Jordan Hull’s 374.
The girls lost a heartbreaker 1796-1803, with Olivia Nastasi’s 469 series (244 and 225), and Chloe Stevens’ 334 (155, 179).
On Saturday, Dec. 2 the teams traveled to HP Lanes in Columbus to take part in the 2023-24 State Division II Kickoff Tournament, with the top 24 teams in the state invited to compete.
This is the first year the girls have been invited, the boys finished 7th last year in a very competitive field.
While the girls bowled well against a tough-oil pattern the missed the cut for the finals by 21 pins. They were led by Olivia Nastasi, Chloe Stevens and Miale Harlow.
The boys finished 7th after the qualifying rounds with games of 850, 866 and 931 with 328 in the Bakers.
In the single-elimination championship rounds, they defeated 10th seed Northwestern 508-483, and faced the 2nd seed Kenton Ridge out of Springfield.
The Bulldogs pulled the upset 651-599 to advance to the Final Four where they defeated Fort Loramie 517-470.
In the finals the Bulldogs faced the defending State Champions Coldwater who earlier in the day threw a perfect 300 Baker game. The Dogs pulled a solid 540 series but were defeated by the Cavaliers 628, a difference of only 89 pins.
The teams travel to Cardington on Tuesday and River View on Friday.