This time I’m going to extoll the virtues of our youth bowlers (I’m gonna brag on ’em!).

As most of you know, we always participate in the youth state tournament, and usually do well for our size city.

Well Michael Isler, one of our coaches and president of the Youth USBC, said that if any of our bowlers placed in the top five in the state, he would shave his legs. Of course, not to be outdone, I piped up and said I would dye my beard blue if we had at least one team in the top five.

This year we took 21 of our bowlers to participate, and here are the official final results.

The scores

I’ll start with the Handicapped Divisions.

Team Event 497 to 596 average: “Chuck Norris” (Michael Evans, Niklas Isler, Nathan Brinson, Bradley Higley) ended up in 45th place.

Team Event 401 to 496 average: “Anonymous” (James Watts, Heather Watts, Wayne Hall, Jonathan Hall) ended in fifth place, “Me and the Guys” (Amanda Rykard, David Bentz, Bradley Allen, Spencer Shreves) took 16th and “Y-Cats” (Amanda Rykard, Bradley Higley, Alex Higley, Conor Mathis) placed 32nd.

Team 400 and under: “Little Rascles” (Alex Brinson, Savannah Hall, Connor Mathis, Hannah Klock) ended up in ninth place.

We took five teams, and all five placed in the top 50 in the state! That’s against Atlanta, Rome, Augusta, Columbus, all those powerhouses.

Doubles, 249 to 298 average: Michael Evans and Niklas Isler took 36th, Heather Watts and Wayne Hall took 59th, Connor Mathis and Alex Brinson came in 72nd, Spencer Shreves and David Bentz placed 121st.

Doubles, 201 to 248 average: Amanda Rykard and Bradley Allen placed 11th, Nathan Brinson and Bradley Higley took the 40th spot, while Alex Higley and Karen Jacques ended up 51st.

Doubles, 200 and under: Hannah Klock and Savannah Hall took 10th place and James Watts and Jonathan Hall placed 56th.

Singles 124 to 149 Female: Amanda Rykard came in 30th. Singles 101 to 124 average, Female: Heather Watts took 19th. Singles, 100 and under, Female: Savannah Hall placed fourth, and Hannah Klock took seventh.

Singles, 150 to 174, Male: Alex Brinson placed 117th. Singles, 125 to 149, Male: Wayne Hall placed 25th, Michael Evans placed 75th and Nathan Brinson took 88th. Singles, 101 to 124, Male: Niklas Isler placed 89th, and Bradley Higley ended in 104th. Singles, 100 and Under, Male: Bradley Allen is in ninth, Connor Mathis placed 31st, James Watts took 33rd, Jonathan Hall placed 49th, Spencer Shreves placed 63rd and Alex Higley placed 77th.

All-Events (nine game total), 125 to 149, Female: Amanda Rykard placed 19th. All-Events, 101 to 124, Female: Heather Watts ended in 50th. All-Events, 100 and Under, Female: Hannah Klock placed fifth and Savannah Hall placed ninth.

All-Events, 150 to 174, Male: Alex Brinson placed 128th. All-Events, 125 to 149, Male: Wayne Hall took 22nd place, Michael Evans took 62nd, and Nathan Brinson placed 90th. All-Events, 101 to 124, Male: Bradley Higley landed the 61st spot, and Niklas Isler took 90th. All-Events, 100 and Under, Male: Bradley Allen finished in eighth place, James Watts took 15th. Jonathan Hall placed 21st, Connor Mathis has the 31st spot, Spencer Shreves took 89th and Alex Higley placed 93rd.

In the All-Events, Scratch Division, Female; Amanda Rykard placed 25th, Heather placed 43rd, Hannah Klock placed 49 and Savannah Hall placed 71st.

All-Events, Scratch, Male: Bradley Allen placed ninth, James Watts took 16th, Jonathan Hall placed 17th, Connor Mathis took 21st, Michael Evans placed 26th, Wayne Hall has 36th place, Spencer Shreves took 51st, Niklas Isler placed 69th, Alex Higley placed 77th, Nathan Brinson took 89th and Nathan Brinson 110th.

The bottom line is this, if you come to the center and you see Coach “Papa Smurf” and Coach “Hairless Michael” walking around, it’s all the kids’ fault!

Don’t forget about Weird Wednesdays ($1.25 bowling and trivia), Family discount days (Tuesdays and Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Bowlopolis themed birthday parties are on-going!

Next time, I’ll tell you about the wild finish of the Wednesday SuperMixed, as well as current scores

Until, next time, Keep On Bowling!