4-29-2023 7:27pm

Local youth bowlers competed at state tournament

Illinois Elementary School Association Bowling State Tournament at Town and Country Lanes in Joliet, llinois

Last weekend, Apr. 21-22, 2023, elementary and middle school students from all over Illinois competed in the tenth annual Illinois Elementary School Association Bowling State Tournament at Town and Country Lanes in Joliet, Illinois. Over 350 students (boys and girls) competed in the event.

Roscoe Middle School and Stephen Mack Middle School were well represented.

Roscoe Middle School was represented on the boys side by Dutton Moore. The Stephen Mack Middle School boys team had Jacob Dirkx, Ethan Palm, Ian Scharre, and Tyson Williams. The Stephen Mack Middle School girls team had Riley Flaningam finish 5th individually and throw a high game of 222. She was joined on the team by 19th place finisher Samantha Kallstrom 22nd place, who had a high game of 182. Abigail Lawson threw two high games of 170 while placing 22nd. Alyssa Martin and Allison Martin rounded out the team which placed 7th out of 24 teams.

Dutton Moore, an 8th grader at Roscoe Middle School, took home 10th place in the individual division. He threw a four-game series total of 781 on Saturday, with a high of 227 in his second game. Communicating with Dutton’s mother Stacy Parris Moore, she said “I’m super proud of how far he made it.”

Jacob Dirkx, Ethan Palm, Ian Scharre, and Tyson Williams finished 5th overall in the team division, rolling a four-game total series of 2,139. Jacob Dirkx had a game-high 167, Palm had a high game of 184, Scharre had a high game of 180 and Williams had a high game of 234.

The state tournament consists of a boys and a girl’s division. All bowlers competed in the preliminary round on Friday and each bowler bowls four games. The qualifying field for each division for the Saturday finals were comprised of the top 10 teams and the top 32 individual bowlers not associated with one of the top 10 teams. The finals consisted of six games (two rounds of three games each) and the awards were given out based on the 10-game combined total.

All schools that qualified as a team were eligible for team awards, with the top three teams receiving trophies. All bowlers were eligible for individual awards. The top 15 individual bowlers receive medals. The total cumulative pinfall throughout the entire tournament will be used to determine the team and individual champions.

Thank you to Stacy Parris Moore for the images used in the story and the Illinois Elementary School Association for the information regarding students and placement in the story.