West Clermont Wolves Thrive in the Snow, Claim Tournament Win in Collegiate Challenge
On Saturday, December 13th, the West Clermont Wolves traveled up to Poelking Woodman Lanes in Kettering, OH to compete in the Wright State Raider Collegiate High School Challenge. Even with the impending snowstorm, 19 Boys teams competed, mostly from the Dayton area. Cincinnati was represented by only two teams: West Clermont and Little Miami. On a tough sport pattern, the Wolves led after the first game and never looked back. After an altered tournament schedule of 2 Team Games and 8 Bakers, the Boys came out on top with a total score of 3232, beating teams such as Kenton Ridge, Lima Senior, and Kettering Fairmont.
The Wolves began competition with a 939 in Game 1, being the only Boys team to shoot over a 900 from the get-go. The boys followed this up with a 881 in Game 2. Stringing strikes was very difficult to come by, as the focus of the day was spare shooting. The Wolves grinded out close shots to leave makeables, and made them at a higher rate than the field. Going into Bakers, the Wolves were up 112 pins on Kenton Ridge, a 5th place D1 State finisher just one year ago. The boys lead only grew, as through 8 Bakers, the Wolves led all teams with a 1412 Baker Total. This resulted in the Boys winning the tournament by 164 pins in a very tough field and oil conditions.
Not only did the Wolves win the tournament, but they also claimed the top All Tournament spot, as Junior Ashton Lack led all bowlers with a total score of 464. Only six bowlers (three Boys and three Girls) shot over a 400 on the day, which speaks to how difficult the pattern was. However, Ashton stepped up to lead the pack, averaging 232 and beating 2nd place by 22 pins. The long drive home was well worth it, as this was the 1st tournament win under current coach Brady Dunigan (excluding conference tournaments).
