Cove’s Stutz tied for top seed at State Tournament
Fri, 2016-04-01 05:00
News Staff
BY TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Copperas Cove’s Dakota Stutz leads 11 bowlers averaging over 200 to compete at the 2016 Texas High School Bowling Club State Tournament April 2-3 in San Antonio.
Stutz is tied with Angelica Anthony of Randolph, who both averaged 226 in district play. Other top 10 seeds were defending singles champion Megan Eaglehouse of Cibolo Steele – 3rd, Killeen’s Amanda Morgan – 4th, Asia Wren of Stony Point – 5th, San Antonio Taft’s Samantha Jewell – 6th, Amarillo Palo Duro’s Elexis Sledge – 7th, Harker Heights’ Sierra Ciesiolka – 8th, Sarah Young of Birdville – 9th, and Jessica Kaiser of New Braunfels – 10th. Mackenzie Everett of Harker Heights is seeded 24th.
The senior Stutz had the advantage heading into regional action but a 222 average at the regional tournament dropped her average to 226 while the sophomore Anthony raised her average to 226 with a 238 average at regional.
She struggled early but then poured it on late to finish as runner up to Killeen’s Amanda Morgan.
“I just have to remember not to press when I’m at state,” Stutz said after her runner up finish at Regionals. “It’s a bigger stage. I don’t just have my district or region to worry about, I have everybody in the state to worry about so I just have to shake off regionals. I did my best and I got second for the second year in a row.”
On the boys’ side Cibolo’s Jordan Dawkins averaged 230 in district play to earn the top seed in the boys division of the State Singles Tournament. A total of 36 of the 65 boys competing in this year’s tournament averaged over 200 in their district competition – with all the top 5 averaging over 215.
New Braunfels Memorial’s Julio Rodriguez comes in at 218, Georgetown’s Cody Stephens is at 217 while Dakota Dudley of Cy Woods is at 216 and Stephen Lassig of New Braunfels averaged 215. Harker Heights’ Mark Styles averaged 213 and is the #9 seed while James Schirripa of Ellison (210) is the #16 seed.
The Harker Heights and Ellison boys and girls teams all qualified for the tournament as well.
The Knights, district champions who finished 3rd in the Region V tournament, are the #7 seed entering the state tournament while the Eagles, who won the Region V tournament, are seeded 13th of 36 teams compete at state. San Antonio O’Connor is the top seed, followed by New Braunfels Canyon, Georgetown, Pasadena Dobie and 3-time and defending champion Allen. Other past champions in the boys division are Plano East, San Antonio Warren, and Richland.
The Lady Knights, district and regional champion, are seeded 2nd behind Cibolo Steele among the 36 girls teams while Ellison is seeded 4th. The 3rd seed is Texas City while 3-time champion Allen came in at #5 and Katy Morton Ranch is 6th. Harker Heights is a 2-time state champion, winning the title in 2002 and 2014 while the Lady Eagles won the title in 2010. Other past champions in the girls division are San Antonio Madison, New Braunfels, and Stony Point.
36 boys and 36 girls teams will compete for the team title while 65 boys and 65 girls will vie for the singles title this weekend at Bandera Bowling Center in San Antonio.
This is the 15th year the Texas High School Bowling Club (THSBC) has conducted a state team tournament and 13th year for a state singles tournament. The THSBC is administered by the Texas Bowling Centers Association, the state bowling proprietors organization.
Team competition starts at 8:30 a.m. with the girls bowling Saturday and the boys on Sunday. All teams, consisting of 5 bowlers, will bowl 3 games. Based on total pinfall, the top 16 teams advance to the match play round starting at 1:30 p.m. Teams will be seeded 1-16 and will be placed in a standard match play bracket with the #1 seed bowling #16, #2 vs. 15, etc. in Baker Format team games. Each match will consist of a best 2-of-3 game series. Winners advance until a state champion is crowned. Baker format is where the leadoff bowler bowls the 1st and 6th frames, the #2 bowler bowls the 2nd & 7th frames, etc.
Singles competition features the top 65 bowlers from the 28 districts across the state who qualified through 10 regional tournaments. The boys will start on Saturday at Noon and the girls start at noon on Sunday. All bowlers bowl three qualifying games. Based on total pinfall, the top 16 will advance to the match play round following immediately after the qualifying. Bowlers will be seeded in the same manner as the team event. The round of 16 and quarterfinals will be a best 2-of-3 game format. Semifinals and finals will be a single game match.
175 schools competed in the Texas High School Bowling Club this season.
Admission fee for adults is $5.00 and $2.00 for students.
Dick Atkinson of Hallmark Lanes contributed to this story. For any additional information, please contact Dick Atkinson at (254) 690-4949 or via e-mail at bowling@hallmarklanes.com.