VESTAVIA HILLS- The Sparkman High bowling team is on a roll. Both the boys and girls squads advanced to the AHSAA State Tournament with convincing victories at the 2021 North Regional Bowling Championships.

“I’m very happy with the performance of all of our bowlers and we’re looking forward to the State Tournament,” said Lisa Ivey, head coach of Sparkman. “Our kids are really excited about going to the State Tournament, especially the girls, since they defeated Southside for the first time in the finals 1,379-1,250.”

Between the two squads in 2021, the Senators suffered one loss as they head into the State Tournament. The boys lost to Grissom earlier in the season while the girls posted an unblemished mark led by two seniors on the team roster.

Daylin Tolgo (Sr.), Ashley Ketchner (Sr.), Emily Lindsey (Jr.) and Andrea Webber (So.) turned in balanced performances for the Lady Senators, who beat Paul Bryant of Tuscaloosa 1,321 to 830 in the quarterfinals and Spain Park 1,348-1,222 in the semifinals to set up the highly anticipated match against Southside in the finals. Against Southside, both Tolgo and Ketchner rolled games of 193 and Webber added a 184 to propel the Harvest based school to the 129-pin victory over the team they most wanted to defeat.

“Daylin and Ashley really came on strong as our seniors carried our team and showed great leadership as one of their goals was to beat Southside,” said Ivey.

Sparkman placed two among the top three series as Tolgo was tops with a 564 series and Ketchner third at 546.

The boys were dominate in the blast through the North Regional as the Senators defeated their three opponents by an average of 226 pins. In the quarterfinals of the Class 6A/7A they beat Northridge 1,462-1,095, in the semi-finals, they edged Hewitt-Trussville 1,473-1,399 while in the finals crushed Vestavia Hills 1,580-1,325. The top three individual scorers in the finals belonged to Sparkman with Dalton Tolgo (So.) rolling a 247, Cole Arsenault (Sr.) 200 and C.J. Richardson (Sr.) 189.

Among the top series performances among the boys, Sparkman’s Tolgo posted the top score at 655, while Arsenault was second at 578.

“There were really no surprises among the boy’s competition as the entire team rolled some great games,” said Ivey. “It was hard to believe to see how big our scores were.”

Arsenault is the two-time defending state champion on the individual competition and looks primed to defend his title at the State Tournament as he and the rest of the Sparkman bowling program are on a roll.

The State Tournament will be held Jan. 29 in Pelham.