Tioga County Sports ReportWAVERLY — Owego bowlers Connor Kotski and Evan O’Hara have punched their tickets to the state championships following top-three showings at the Section IV State Qualifier held at Valley Bowling Center here Friday.
Kotski paced the River Hawks with a nine-game total of 2138 and O’Hara contributed a 1964 in Division 2 action, good for second and fourth place, respectively.
At sectionals, Kotski rolled a 676 series, but came on strong at the qualifier, starting the day with a 748. He followed that up with a 714, giving him the 2138 which trailed only Chenango Forks’ Landon Butenko, who led the way with a 2186.
Kotski’s 748 included games of 258, 276 and 214, and his afternoon series included a 269.
O’Hara, who posted a 709 series at sectionals, recorded a 247-630 and a 269-616 at the qualifier.
Also competing for Owego were Grayson Quick, who shot 1542, Scott Reigle with a 1534 and Ari Lemmon with a 1518.
Quick had a 168-469 in the morning and a 207 and 224 en route to a 557 in the afternoon. Reigle registered a 183-523 in the morning and 189-537 in the afternoon. Lemmon started the day with a 230-581 and added a 217-497 in the afternoon.
The qualifier factors in two series, along with last week’s sectional scores, to determine which team will represent Section IV at the state championships in both boys and girls Division 1 and Division 2. Composite boys and girls teams in each division are also selected from the top bowlers who are not on the winning teams.
Other notable scores were Waverly’s Derek Johnson, who was third with a 1988 total, and Colten Santalucia, 10th with a 1798; Newark Valley’s Devon Green, 13th at 1752; Candor’s Malcolm Jackson, 15th at 1744; and Tioga’s Nick Slater, 20th with a 1517.
Sidney/Unatego unseated two-time defending champion Waverly with an 8836 to the Wolverines’ 8741. The River Hawks took third with an 8696.
The state championships will be held March 13 at AMF Syracuse Lanes.
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IN PHOTO: Connor Kotski.
