County bowling teams hitting homestretch of their seasons

Kossuth’s bowling dynasty is fresh off another championship on both sides and both teams currently sit undefeated on the season as well.

“Our girls haven’t lost a match since 2018. Both teams are very good, very talented, and it just seems like we replenish that talent every year,” Kossuth bowling coach Michael Lee said. “It’s phenomenal. Every year we have more kids who want to come in and bowl, just good student athletes. The bar gets set high every year, and all want to continue the winning tradition from top to bottom.”

Lee’s two captains, Jake Hinton for the boys, the lone senior on either team, and Sally Kate Gardner for the girls, have been long time members of the team and held those roles for several years.

“They put everybody under their wing and help them out and make it easier,” Lee said. “Jake signed a scholarship with Blue Mountain, and he’s bowling really well this year. Sally Kate started bowling on the team as a seventh grader in varsity.”

Also on the girls’ side is Lynley Woodruff, who placed first on the all state tournament team last season, along with Maddie Mask, Lauren Trantham, Emma Renfro, Emily Mann, Callie Crum and Paden Talley. The girls have five juniors, while the boys’ team is sophomore heavy with nine in that class.

On the boys’ side, Jake’s brother, Eli Hinton, has been just one or two pins apart from his older brother. Also on the boys’ team are Hayden Miles, JT Martin, Corey Hardin, Anderson Spencer, Brady Crabb, Brennan Bullard, Jake Waldrop, Ben Hopper, Ty Stephenson, Eli Nash and Cutler Rickman.

“The last four years with the girls, I just schedule their matches, and they do their own thing and take care of their own issues,” Lee said. “I just sit back and make sure they maintain proper form and have consistency in their approach. The guys have come along way. In two of their games this year, they had the highest six man series ever recorded for Kossuth with a 3409 and a 3380. Our top six are separated by a total of about eight pins, led by Jake at 201. The boys averaging winning by about 800 this year and the girls by 750. The girls have only lost one game in all their matches this year.”

Lee complimented Plaza Lanes owner Shane Carman and his son Alec with growing the bowling tradition in Alcorn County.

“They have invested so much in our sport, and they are always open for all our schools,” Lee said. “They know that the youth is where our sport grows.”

Kossuth finishes out its season with a match against another contender in East Union in Tupelo before the Alcorn County/Tishomingo County tournament on January 18. They have played teams of all classifications this season, including in Madison Central’s Tournament of Champions.

“It’s a best of the best, free for all for all the past state champions,” Lee said. “Our girls won it last year and boys were third, and this year our boys won, and our girls were second, and that’s against some big 6A schools in our state.”

Alcorn Central

Alcorn Central’s teams are coming off of top five finishes on both sides at the state championships, led by a third place finish on the girls’ side and a fourth place one for the boys.

“Both our boys’ and girls’ teams have had pretty successful seasons,” Central bowling coach Jesse Nelson said. “Our boys’ team is a little bit different because half of our starters are also basketball players, so they are more limited in the amount of time they are able to participate. The good thing is we have a fairly large boys’ team, so we can get a lot of kids reps.”

Nelson said both teams have qualified for state every year during his tenure as coach.

“That’s the goal every year to get in there and compete because once you make it in the tournament, who knows what can happen,” he said.

On the boys’ side, Hayden Williams and Andrew Williams have stepped up as their top two bowlers with Chadwick Sanders coming out to bowl for the first time during his senior year.

“Hayden and Andrew have done a great job being our two main guys, and Chadwick has done a good job filling in during his first year,” Nelson said. “From last year, we lost everyone but Andrew, so we really had to reset our whole team.”

Central’s girls’ team has been consistent, returning several longtime bowlers.

“They have been together for a while, and with the girls, you always know what you’re going to get,” Nelson said. “Jules Ingle is a senior, and she’s a great bowler, and we’ve also had Lacey Geer and Kaylee Lawson for a while as well.”

Nelson agreed that having Plaza Lanes as their home bowling alley and having a strong culture of bowling in the county has helped his teams.

“It’s super convenient, and I always tell our kids even if we don’t win as many matches in the regular season, it prepares us for the state tournament,” he said. “The teams and kids we’re going to see down there are a lot of the ones from our area.”

Central has one home match left and an away one at Southaven in addition to the county tournament and regionals.

“It’s just all about preparing for that county tournament and regionals,” Nelson said. “These matches get us ready for that, and we just want to continue to grow and get better.”

Biggersville

Biggersville coach Andy Reeves said both of his teams have improved since last season, which saw their boys’ team make it to state and their girls just narrowly miss out.

“Our girls have had some close matches and won a couple of them, and our guys have greatly improved,” Reeves said. “They have just lost two matches this year to Corinth and Kossuth. I think both of our teams have a shot to make it back to state.”

The boys made it to state as a wild card team, while the girls missed making it by five pins or less. Reeves said the only 1A team that placed ahead of his boys’ team at state was Resurrection Catholic.

Both Biggersville teams have a mix of veterans and first-year bowlers. The girls’ side is led by senior Anna Cait Ozbirn.

“She has bowled for the last three or four years, and we have two juniors in Kaiser Stafford and Tylia Tipler who were also part of the team before I took it over,” Reeves said. “They have all been a consistent part of the team. Our younger girls are first time bowlers, but we have a bright future on the girls’ team.”

On the boys’ side, junior Logan Ellsworth is the top bowler, followed by sophomore Trent Bishop, seniors Hunter Johnson and Brayden Rickman, freshman Garrett Ellsworth and seventh-grader Weston Monroe.

“Logan is a tremendous bowler. He will consistently bowl a 180 or 190, and he has a 600 series. Trent started bowling last year and was the last kid I let on the team,” Reeves said. “He was in the top three last year but is neck and neck with Logan now. Both guys have a shot to get a scholarship. Weston (Monroe) is a seventh-grader who started out averaging around 130 and now he’s averaging a 165 on the year. He’s going to be really tough in years to come.”

Biggersville also has two regular season matches left, a three-way match with Tupelo and East Union and a home match with West Union and Mantachie before the county tournament.

“I tell our teams that this year we have a shot to not just go to state but to compete for the championship, and not just this year, but we can be a winning program for the next few years,” Reeves said. “The other coaches in this county are a tremendous help, and so is Plaza Lanes and their ownership, the way they open their facilities up for us. They offer discounts for our bowlers throughout the week and give pointers and help them, and their league bowlers will give tips as well. We have a great culture for bowling here.”