Gateway’s Maciejewski, Wilkerson qualify for regional bowling tournament

By: Michael Love
Saturday, February 23, 2019 | 9:38 AM

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Marissa Maciejewski rolled 30 games for Gateway during the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League regular season.

The senior averaged 156.17 to finish ninth in the East section.

With the opportunity to compete in Thursday’s WPIBL singles tournament at Sims Lanes in Beaver Falls, Maciejewski took her game to the next level.

She finished 21st with a 495 series. She rolled games of 170, 150 and 175 for a 165 average and secured her place in the Western Regional singles tournament March 8 at North Versailles Bowl.

“Marissa had a pretty good day,” Gateway coach Joe Bowman said.

“The scores overall were low compared to averages all season. It was a difficult sport shot. Marissa just made sure she made her marks. We kept stressing to her that she was on her spares. She marked eight out of 10 times each game. She paced herself and kept it in play.”

Maciejewski moved up 35 spots from her 56th-place finish at last year’s WPIBL singles tournament.

The top two finishers from each section in terms of average with at least 21 games bowled during the regular season automatically qualified for regionals.

The remaining qualifiers from the WPIBL were determined through the performances at the WPIBL singles tournament and through regular-season averages.

Veteran bowlers Mattie Mae White, a junior from Greensburg Salem, and Rachel Lundy, a senior from Norwin, finished first and second, respectively.

White posted a 600 series with a 219 high game, and Lundy edged East Allegheny junior Abbie Bostedo by one pin — 582 to 581 — for the runner-up spot.

Tiffani Wilkerson didn’t have her best day at the WPIBL singles tournament, but she was able to qualify for regionals based on her play during the regular season.

She finished with the fifth-best average in the East section at 164.37 through 30 games.

Wilkerson produced her best game (216) and best series (574) of the season in the regular-season finale.

“The shot just didn’t fit Tiffani’s style well,” Bowman said. “The thing about sport shots is that if you make a mistake, it magnifies the mistake. Your margin for error is minimal.”

Bowman said he is happy Wilkerson will get a chance to redeem herself at regionals.

The WPIBL boys singles tournament, originally set for Feb. 20 at Wildlife Lanes in Lower Burrell, was postponed one week because of weather conditions.

The tournament finished past the deadline for this week’s edition. Gateway senior Dominic Rocco made his mark in the regular season and positioned himself for a run in the singles tournament.

Rocco averaged 200.10 for 30 games — third in the East section — with a high game of 254 and a high series of 682. He helped the Gateway boys earn a WPIBL playoff spot with a runner-up finish to undefeated Plum in the section.

The Gators were 16th at the WPIBL team tournament and missed a trip to regionals by one place finish.

“He was disappointed they had to postpone the (singles) tournament. He was ready to go,” Bowman said. “He has been bowling with a lot of confidence. We made some adjustments to his approach at the beginning of the season. We took him from a five-step to a four-step approach. It helped him use his legs to become an even more powerful bowler. He also worked on being consistent with his game overall.”

Tags: Gateway