Pendleton Heights was among four teams to advance out of last week’s bowling regional and earn a trip to Saturday’s semi state in Fort Wayne. Pictured: Front row, from left, Abby Fisher, Austin Hill, Kollin Hitch and Alex Blair. Back row, from left, coach Sue Fisher, Isaiah Fisher, Mark Nielsen, Parker Dean, Troy Thurson, coach Sabrina Dodson and coach Todd Hill.
The Pendleton Heights bowling team celebrates their third-place finish at the Kokomo regional. The team advanced to Saturday’s semi state in Fort Wayne.
Pendleton Heights seniors Parker Dean (left) and Mark Nielsen (right).
By Brady Extin | For The Times-Post
KOKOMO — Led by a late comeback, the Pendleton Heights bowling team was among the top four teams at Saturday’s Kokomo regional tournament.
The third-place finish earned the team a spot in the Saturday, Jan. 28, semistate at Pro Bowl West in Fort Wayne.
Earning a qualifying spot didn’t come easily to the Arabians.
After the first three games of the 12-game Baker format, Pendleton Heights found itself in last place of the 10 competing teams with a team score of 436. Three games later, and halfway through the competition, it sat in eighth place with a score of 899.
But in game seven, the Arabians began their surge back into the top four.
With the highest score of the day for any team — 238 — Pendleton Heights jumped four spots back into a qualifying spot and into fourth place.
“Parker [Dean] and Mark [Nielsen] always make sure the rest of the team never gives up, they keep us fired up, and they’re always positive and show great leadership and sportsmanship,” Pendleton Heights coach Sabrina Dodson said.
From there, the team held steady.
It closed out the day with scores of 143, 169, 196, 153 and 203. The 203 was the highest of any team in the final game and secured the Arabians’ third-place finish.
In the step-ladder finals between the top four teams, the Arabians fell to Wabash 375-292 in Round 1. Wabash then went on to fall to Peru in Round 2, 401-312, before Peru was defeated by Alexandria in the finals.
Those three teams will be joining Pendleton Heights at Saturday’s semistate.
Alexandria led the team scores with 2,039 and were followed by Peru (2,011), Pendleton Heights (2,002), Wabash (1,881), Kokomo (1,853), Yorktown (1,848), Noblesville (1,837), Blackford (1,829), Daleville (1,795) and Mississinewa (1,786).
The Arabians also had three competitors in the individual regional tournament. On the boys side they were represented by Nielsen, a senior, and sophomore Isaiah Fisher, and on the girls side, senior Abby Fisher.
In the boys tournament, Fisher finished the three-game series with scores of 152, 182, and 178.
His score of 512 earned him 15th place, and he was just five pins off of the final qualifying spot earned by Alexandria-
Monroe’s Henry Craig.
On the season, Fisher held the fifth-highest scoring average in the state with a 218. He also held the second-highest average, fourth-highest series, and sixth-highest game in the conference.
Nielsen ended his individual tournament run in 36th place with a 408 series, bowling a 159, 141 and 108.
In the girls tournament, Fisher bowled a 182, 125 and 155 for a 462 series and a 14th-place finish. She was 43 pins off of eighth place and the last qualifying spot.