Fond farewell for Butler bowlers
BUTLER TWP — Finishing second at the Pennsylvania high school state championships wasn’t good enough for this group of bowlers.
Butler’s boys wanted more.
“We wanted to take one more shot at it,” Eric DeVore said.
DeVore, Alex Ekas, Zach Kniess, Luke Keene, Joe Panian and Rocco Rice all graduated from Butler this year. The Golden Tornado lost in the finals of the high school state tournament in Erie, the match coming down to the final frame.
“That didn’t sit well with us,” DeVore said. “We didn’t want to go out that way. We didn’t want to be done bowling together, either.”
Any team that qualifies for its respective state tournament is eligible to enter the United States High School Bowling National Championship, an event that’s existed since 2016. This year’s tourney was held recently at Beaver-Vu Bowl in Beavercreek, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton.
“Our boys wanted to go, but I was already committed to a vacation in Colorado,” Butler bowling coach Bob Cupp said. “(Incoming Armstrong High School coach) Josh Sullivan was taking his stepson, Jordan Harmon, to participate in the tournament.
“He knows our Butler boys well and was willing to represent them while they were out there.”
Butler’s boys wound up placing sixth out of 54 teams. The Tornado missed qualifying for the round of final four by 160 pins.
A singles tournament accompanied the team event. There were 376 bowlers in boys singles and DeVore led the field after the first day of qualifying with a 961 four-game series. His games were 265, 183, 235 and 278 that round.
Before heading to Ohio, Butler’s boys did a couple of practice rounds at Belmont Lanes.
“The line they had (at Belmont) was very similar to the line they had at the lanes where we bowled,” DeVore said. “That helped us out. I bowled a 300 during one of our practice rounds at Belmont and felt pretty confident going in.”
DeVore wound up placing 20th in singles competition. Keene was 92nd after the first round with an 806, including games of 221 and 212. Ekas rolled games of 227 and 216, Kniess a 224, Panian had games of 200, 202 and 206, Rice a 203, all during the first qualifying round.
“The boys did a lot of bowling over the two days out there,” Cupp said. “After initial qualifying, everything was done in three-game pods ... They kept whittling down the field.”
The winning boys team was Apopka High School in Florida. There were 18 states represented in the tournament.
“Definitely different from the state tournament,” DeVore said. “Teams came in from Florida, California, Wyoming, all over the place. You never know what you’re up against.
“We bowled well, but we were a little disappointed with our finish. We feel like we should have done better. But that atmosphere was so unique. Fans and parents cheering, chants were going on ... We felt the pressure a little bit.”
Now the Butler bowlers will go their separate ways.
“A lot of us have known each other from youth bowling and have been friends for a long time,” DeVore said. “But when we were on the lanes together in high school — we were family. When someone was down, we picked him up. We cared about each other as a family.
“I honestly believe that’s why we got as far as we did.”
Now Cupp has a lot of holes to fill in Butler’s boys lineup for 2023-24.
“Our team will have a different look to it, that’s for sure,” the coach said.
