SYRACUSE – Over 200 boys and girls took to the newly designed lanes at the Syracuse Oncenter convention Center on Saturday for the New York State Bowling Championships. Nine of those bowlers were from Chenango County vying for a title to bring home to their schools with seven making up the Norwich Boys Bowling team who competed in nine games in the earlier part of the day.
Brandyn Scott of Greene and Ed Fuller of Bainbridge-Guilford were two of the seven members that comprised the Section IV boys team that competed in the composite division during the evening session.
Kicking off the day at 8 a.m. were Nick Deady, Scott Manwarren, Cameron Birtch, AJ Little and Dylan Gladstone for the Purple Tornado.
As this was the first time any Norwich bowling team had reached this part of the season, the five boys displayed their jitters, taking some time to settle down and find their groove. By the third game, the Purple bowled an 826, finishing their morning pin total at 2304.
Norwich’s score after the three games seeded them seventh for their second session of three games.
Game four was again trying to find adjustments as they began to settle in. In the game, Manwarren bowled his highest pin total, a 201, to lead the Purple to a 777.
By game five, the Tornado team that had bowled to their way to states arrived. Norwich scored a 921 in the game, the second highest of all teams in game five. Gladstone rolled a 207 in game five, his highest of the day at that point.
“I think the boys are settling in,” said Norwich head coach Art Rigas. “They are relaxed and they are bowling the way they are capable of bowling. They are picking up their spares, following their lines and they just seem like they are having more fun.
Also bowling their highest game in the same game were Deady with a 179 and Birtch, who tallied a 195.
The Purple Tornado’s best game of the afternoon pushed them from the seventh spot up to fourth with one game to bowl.
Using their momentum from game five, Norwich continued to climb. Gladstone bettered his 206 to post a 211 in the final game, the overall sixth highest single game score throughout the 50 bowlers in the Division 2 boys group.
Little also bowled his highest game in the last game of the day with a 179 as the team finished the game with an 827. Their score was their third best game bowled in game six.
The group of five Norwich bowlers preformed 221 pins better than their morning session, landing the team with a third place overall finish.
“These kids are teenagers and were bowling in the state championships. Nerves played a big part in the morning session,” said Rigas.
The Purple also had Griffin Clipston and Kai Sheer practicing throughout both session, just in case head coach Art Rigas was to call on one of them to shake up the lineup.
With their series scores, the five Norwich bowlers finished in the Top 30 out of the 50 total bowlers in the division. Gladstone finished in the eighth spot with a series score of 1030 while Manwarren tallied a 980 to finish 18th.
Deady ended his championship day with 970, coming in a 16th. Little bowled a series score of 945 that was good enough for 22nd and Birtch rounded out the Norwich Bowlers with a 904 and a 29th place finish.
At 5 p.m. on Saturday, it was Fuller and Scott’s turn.
Fuller’s best game came in game four of the evening as he bowled a 195. In his first three games, his 182 was his highest.
With an average of 175.17 and a series score of 1051, Fuller finished at the New York State Championship as the 30th best bowler of the composite division.
Scott ended his season at the 39th best bowler in the state in the same division after his series score of 999. Scott rolled his highest game of the evening in the final game of the night with a 206.
In game four, Scott bowled a 182, helping pull his average up for the night to a 166.50.
The Section IV Composite team finished in sixth place of the division with a final pin total of 5394.