Freeport bowler wins regional title with 299 game

By: Jonathan Bombulie
Friday, March 5, 2021 | 7:47 PM

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Freeport’s Mark Livingston turned in a tremendous performance Friday at the North Versailles Bowling Center.

One stubborn 10 pin stopped it from being a perfect performance.

Livingston defeated North Allegheny’s Dylan Scheidler 299-193 in the finals of the Western Regional Boys Singles Bowling Championships.

After 11 consecutive strikes, Livingston left the 10 pin on his final ball.

“Last ball I thought was pretty good, but it wasn’t good enough,” said Livingston, who has thrown four 300 games, including one in travel league competition.

Putting aside the disappointment of being one pin from perfection, it was a memorable achievement for Livingston, who finished second at the WPIBL championships last month and fell in the regional semifinals last year.

He saved his best game for the most pressure-packed moment of the tournament.

“There’s definitely some pressure there, but you have to ignore it and get as comfortable as possible,” he said. “Bowling is definitely a mental sport, that’s for sure.”

Livingston finished sixth in the five-game qualifying series. He advanced to the finals by beating Greensburg Salem’s Luke Shevchik, 246-212, Hempfield’s Dominick Vallano, 237-216, and Latrobe’s James Gatto, 268-183.

Scheidler reached the finals by defeating Serra Catholic’s Cam Munsie, 211-177, East Allegheny’s Ian Baker, 258-225, and Cranberry’s Jordan Huffman, 247-211.

Huffman was the top qualifier with a 1,146 series and 276 high game. Shevchik had the high game in qualifying with a 278.

The top eight finishers advance to the state championships. Regional competition continues with the boys team event Saturday.

Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.