Dallastown's Tempe finishes fourth at state bowling championships
Codie Tempe, a senior at Dallastown High School, finished fourth in the Pennsylvania State High School Bowling Championships, held at Leisure Lanes in Lancaster, on Friday.
"I was happy, but disappointed because I felt I could have gone all the way," said Tempe, who lost to Joseph McNally of Archbishop Ryan, 190-171, in the quarterfinals of the step-ladder championship bracket.
"The ninth frame was key," he said. "I needed to strike to keep the pressure on McNally, but I left a 4-pin (which he converted for a spare). Things just didn't go my way that game."
McNally went on to defeat Gavin Courtney of Garden Spot, 235-226, to capture the state title. Losing to the eventual champ and qualifying for the national high school tournament in June gave Tempe some solace.
Tempe, a two-handed bowler, rallied from last place in the field of 24 bowlers after rolling a 172 in the opening game of qualifying. "I knew I had a lot of work to do after that first game," he said. The senior rebounded with games of 236, 257, 233, 227 and 187 to total 1,312 pins (218.67 average) across the six qualifying contests. He finished 10 pins clear of Bishop Canevin's Jonathan Bernotas for the fifth and final spot in the bracket.
In the opening round of the step-ladder finals, Tempe got back into the zone and downed Matt Coppola of Conwell-Egan, 201-168. His next match against McNally brought his campaign to a close.
Tempe, who rolled the entire season with a brace on his right leg due to a torn ACL suffered during the high school soccer season, admitted his leg started to hurt in games five and six. Although he was able to rest between qualifying and the step-ladder finals, he said his leg still hurt.
"I'm having surgery on Thursday," Tempe said. He is expected to recover in time to compete for the Campbellsville University bowling team in the fall.
"My future college coach, Jamie Anderson, drove 10 hours from Kentucky to watch me compete," Tempe said. "I was fortunate to have a large cheering section, which included Mr. Anderson, my high school coaches, parents and friends."
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Central York's Noah Shultz placed seventh in the boys' competition, two spots out of the championship bracket, with 1,253 pins (208.83 average). Shultz opened with games of 210, 247, 226 and 206 before closing with a 175 and 189.
Ian Smith of Spring Grove finished 23rd in the boys' competition with 1,049 pins (174.83 average). His best score Friday morning was a 203.
In the girls' division, Maila Briggs of Chambersburg defeated Taylor Miller of Warwick, 247-193, to claim the title. Four bowlers from District 3 qualified in the top five to reach bracket play.
York Tech's Aaliyah Hall finished 13th with 1,132 pins (188.67 average), while Kailynn Jones of Red Lion placed 22nd with 1,016 (169.33 average).
Bowlers qualified for the state tournament with top-12 singles finishes at the Eastern PA regional championships on March 1. No York-Adams League teams advanced to states through the regional competition.
For complete results, visit berksbowling.com or the Eastern PA High School Bowling page on Facebook.
