MORGANTOWN — Five students at University High School recently tried to stay completely out of the gutter.
The five UHS attendees helped the Hawks’ boys’ club bowling team win the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference bowling tournament on Jan. 25 at Russell Family/Ten Pin Lane Bowling Alley in Woodfield, Ohio.
It was University’s first-ever appearance at the event and the Hawks won with a commanding 108-pin advantage.
The team of Trey Varner, Gavin DeMoss, Dylan LoPinto-Ludas, Josh Kisner and Connor Vira was put together this year by UHS physical education and health teacher Donnie Gilbert.
“This was special to watch,” Gilbert said. “This was a great group of kids that came together. There’s not another sport like this one where you can have multiple students who vary in athletic ability and then come together as a team. It really is unbelievable – there’s really no sport you can compare it to.”
Gilbert, who was a state champion bowler at one time, said Trey’s father, David Varner, came to him and wanted to start a club bowling team. The result was 24 boys and six girls that participated in the club sport. UHS is recognizing it as a varsity sport at the school level with members eligible to receive their varsity letter.
The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission does not recognize bowling as a sport yet, but David Varner, Gilbert, and several other schools from the state are looking to petition the organization.
“David had these kids in youth leagues for a long time,” Gilbert said. “There was definitely some talent, especially with the top four bowlers all year long. We changed that fifth bowler several times before settling on Connor for the OVAC.”
Vira, the lone senior, proved to be pivotal as he bowled a 148, 179, 125 and then helped the Hawks tally 173, 202, 155, 171 in the four Baker-format games. The Baker format consists of five bowlers each bowling two frames for a team score.
DeMoss led UHS in the individual games with a total of 624 pins, Trey Varner finished with 551, LoPinto-Ludas added 550 and Kisner had 538.
Despite being new to the OVAC tournament, the Hawks were confident thanks to a regular season that saw them knock off Morgantown along with traditional power Parkersburg South and a narrow loss to Wheeling Park.
“I had a feeling we would win,” Trey Varner said. “We had some of the highest averages and I knew we could get top three. By the time we got to the Baker game I heard the other team talking about who was going to win second or third because we had such a big lead.”
Trey Varner said it was nice to compete for his school after he tried other sports when he was younger.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to get that opportunity to compete for UHS,” Trey Varner said. “It was so great to win because we are beating teams that have been doing this for a while.”
Gilbert said that Wheeling Park and Parkersburg South have both been bowling in the OVAC tournament for five or more years.
“I really enjoyed this,” Gilbert said. “Hopefully it becomes an established sport at UHS and with the WVSSAC.”
— Story by Eric Herter
