Bowling: 41st Annual Hoosier Classic   printer  

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (2/20-2/21) - The Martin Methodist bowling program made the trip to Indianapolis, Indiana. They bowled in the 41st annual Hoosier Classic at Western Bowl Lanes. The tournament format was nine individual team games, on two different sport oil patterns. The top eight in both girls and guys advanced to match play on Sunday. The guys were ranked 41st out of 153 and the girls were ranked 39th out of 93 teams in the nation, going into this tournament. So with high hopes to finish the regular season what were the teams able to accomplish?
On Saturday, the guys were 21st thru four games of six in qualifying. They jumped to ninth after the highest team game of the year. Michael Poirier, Jonathan Rodriguez, Ben Biddy, Garrett Flatt, and Tyrel York combined for a score of 1192 that game which was a 238.4 average for each bowler! This put the guys up to ninth. Even though the guys had a solid 6th game, they fell to 10th. Saturday, the men showed the potential that they have been trying to bring to the table all year.
 As did the guys, the girls needed to come in and bowl well this weekend to secure a spot in sectionals. Saturday, the girls definitely showed that they were going to be contending for a spot in the top 8. They had a 969 individual team game to finish the day and put themselves in a similar position to the guys, as both teams were sitting in 10th after day one.
The guys came into Sunday 19 pins out of 8th, and 69 out of 6th. They gave it everything they had, but in the end it just wasn’t enough. The guys finished 14th out of 69 teams. The guys were led by Ben Biddy and Tyrel York. Ben Biddy averaged 207. 2 finishing 29th, and Tyrel York averaged 204.7 and finished 37th out of approximately 400 bowlers. 
Sunday was frustrating at times for the girls, but it was exciting to see them pull out a needed 15th place finish out of 41 teams. It was the first time since October that both teams finished in the top 15 in the same weekend! The girls were led by Emily Bowers who averaged 185, Cindy Buckner who averaged 182, and LeAudra Byrd who averaged 181.
The teams went in to the past weekend knowing that it was the last tournament of the year before sectionals. It was a tournament that decided whether they would be in or out of sectionals and they wanted to not only finish well, but  be able to use this tournament as a confidence booster. A confidence booster it was, as both teams bowled really good. Now the focus turns to the next three weeks of preparation. For Seniors, sectionals will be the last tournament of their collegiate career, and for underclassmen it will be a chance to show what they have to offer to next years’ team. So either way, the next three weeks of preparation is key to the team’s success at sectionals!

Story By: Ben Biddy