From The Tribune staff reports
PELHAM – Sparkman High School’s boys became the fifth school to capture the AHSAA State Bowling championship with a hard-fought 29-pin victory over Hoover in the 2021 Class 6A/7A state finals Friday.
Coach Lisa Ivey’s Senators won the championship match with a 1,607 total. Hoover, coached by Dustin Edgar, finished strong with a 1,578 final tally. Sparkman won the traditional round 1,021 to 971 and the first Baker game 233-171. The Bucs roared back in the second Baker game 231 to 158 and won the final Baker game 205-195. It wasn’t enough to overcome the 112-pin deficit after heading into the final two games.
Sparkman joined an elite group in the winner’s circle that included only one repeater since bowling as a team sport was introduced by the AHSAA for its member schools in 2016. Spain Park won the first two boys titles (2016 and 2017), followed by Buckhorn (2018), Vestavia Hills (2019) and Thompson (2020).
The Senators’ win was especially gratifying for the Sparkman faithful since the Lady Senators won the Class 6A/7A state crown earlier in the day Friday and the boys completed the sweep. Ivey coached both teams.
The Senators held a 50-pin lead after the traditional round of the finals thanks to a 1,021 total sparked by Joseph Collier, who rolled a 253, Cole Arsenault, 221, and Alfonso Carrington III, 201. The Bucs had a strong finish in the traditional round with Matt Lawley posting a 257 with six strikes in a row. Collier finished with a three-traditional game series 629 and Arsenault closed with a 627.
Arsenault had the top boys’ series in 2019 and 2020 with three-game totals of 710 and 711, respectively. Dalton Tolgo, who opened with a 242, closed with a 616 series.
Sparkman posted a 236-pin win over Auburn in the first round and beat Hewitt-Trussville by a 115-pin margin in the semifinals.
Hoover opened with a 113-pin victory over Huntsville, then took on a red-hot Vestavia team in the semifinals and posted a 166-pin win over the Rebels thanks in part to Max Spiller’s 257 and Alex Lee’s 244 traditional rounds. Lee also had a 248 versus Auburn to finish with the top three-game series, 690, of the tourney, and Spiller had a 632 total for the second best traditional three-game series and his 257 was the second best single game.
Vestavia bowlers Smithson Yeilding and Walter Reed rolled games of 277 and 256 in a 1,608 to 1,332 quarterfinal win over Mary Montgomery. Yeilding’s 277 was the top traditional game of the series.
Hewitt-Trussville and defending state champion Thompson locked up in the highest scoring match of the day in the quarterfinals with the Huskies rolling a 247 in the final Baker game to beat the Warriors by 12 pins, 1,672 to 1,660. Sparkman used a big final Baker game (207) and a strong traditional round with four players rolling over 200 to beat the Huskies in the semis.
