Thursday, April 25, 2024
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Eberhart fourth, Leid 10th at States


A pair of Ephrata bowlers capped outstanding high school seasons this past weekend at the State High School Bowling Championships held at ABC North Lanes in Harrisburg.

Junior Justin Eberhart, who was LL League runner-up and the fourth-place finisher at Districts, closed out the season with a solid fourth-place finish at States. Leid, a sophomore, went on to place 10th in the girls competition.

For Eberhart, he couldn't have been happier with the outcome of the weekend.

"I was very happy about it," he said. "I didn't start the day out too well but I was happy with my finish. It was a pretty satisfying way to end the season."

Eberhart opened by qualifying eighth in the opening round with a six-game total of 1151. He advanced to face Matt Kuehn  of Gateway in a preliminary elimination Round match. Eberhart came out strong and posted a 206-180 victory to advance to the Quarterfinals.

In the Quarterfinal Round, Eberhart rolled his second best game of the tournament in upending top-seeded Collin Adam of Exeter, 226-193.

With that victory, he advanced to face eventual runner-up Bryan Reinsel of Hamburg. Reinsel, the fourth seed out of preliminaries, outlasted Eberhart, 215-198, to win the finals bid.

Incidentally, Reinsel would finish second to Antonio Palangio of Woodland Hills, who would win his second-straight PA championship with a 225-223 victory over Reinsel.

"I was pretty nervous because there were some real good bowlers up there," Eberhart said. "But I was happy with my finish. Placing fourth in the State isn't too bad."

On the girls' side, Leid qualified for the Singles Bracket Finals after finishing 10th in  the opening round with a six-game total of 1082.

Unfortunately, in the Elimination round, she was defeated by Maria Coyle of East Allegheny, 205-177.