NAPOLEON: February 7, 2014 – The Wauseon Indians were already sitting in striking range when the NWOAL Championship Tournament took place on February 7…it was Bryan’s championship to lose. It would take a first place finish by either Bryan or a first place finish by the hard-charging Liberty Center PLUS an epic collapse by the Bears and the Tribe for Wauseon to be denied. The Tigers did their part, but the Indians did not comply by wilting under pressure. The epic collapse role was relegated to the Bryan Golden Bears.
As a result, it was Liberty Center winning the event with 3753 pins, but the strong second place by the Tribe ensured them the 2013-14 NWOAL Championship gold. The 3222-pin collapse of the Golden Bears put them fifth in the tourney, knocking them out of first place in the conference, and opening the door for Wauseon.
Behind the high game of 212 from Peyton Shadbolt, the high series of 557 from Noah Stickley, and the all-familiar Baker game power that has been the hallmark of the Wauseon Bowling program all season long, the Tribe finished a strong second in the tournament with 2519 pins.
Regular season wins are worth two points toward the conference crown standings, and a win in the tournament is good for another 14. For each place under first place in the tournament, two points are subtracted. Bryan came into the final with one more regular season win than the Tribe for a 22-20 lead. The 14 points for first place in the tourney went to the Tigers, who finished third in the NWOAL with 26 points. The fifth place finish added just six points to the Bryan total. Wauseon however, leapfrogged the second place Bears with 12 points, giving them 32 conference points and the undisputed NWOAL Championship.
The following individual Wauseon results were posted by game…
Peyten Shadbolt 191 147 212 – 550
Clayton Ricker 144 164 178 – 486
Noah Stickley 177 192 188 – 557
Kevin Moden 140 182 186 – 508
Nic Kearney 191 150 191 – 532
Baker games – 200 / 157 / 151 / 175 / 203 – 886
Regular games – 2633
Total pins – 3519