Plum’s Small comes up big at WPIBL championships

By: Tribune-Review
Thursday, February 20, 2020 | 7:35 PM

All season long, it looked like Plum senior Shannon Small was the best girls bowler in the WPIBL. She had the top average in the league at 223.23 and rolled the highest game with a 299.

On Thursday at Wildlife Lanes in Lower Burrell, Small left no doubt.

Storming through the single-elimination step-ladder finals with relative ease, Small came up large in the championship match, topping Hopewell’s Taylor Gozur, 224-129.

Small also turned in convincing victories in the quarterfinals, beating Penn Hills’ Taylor Parco, 208-166, and in the semifinals, defeating defending WPIBL champion Mattie Mae White of Greensburg Salem, 247-163.

It is the first WPIBL singles title for Small, the defending Western Regional champion. She advanced to the finals as a freshman, losing to teammate Meghan Christman by 10 pins. She lost in the quarterfinals as a sophomore and finished 14th in qualifying as a junior.

Burrell’s Lydia Flanagan was the top bowler in Thursday’s qualifying round with a 617 series, including a 232 game. She was followed by White, Small, Greensburg Salem’s Giavonna Salvio, Gozur and Parco.

Seventy-four WPIBL bowlers earned trips to regionals — the top 40 finishers in Thursday’s qualifying, five others who finished with top-two averages in their section in the regular season, and 28 more who had qualifying season-long averages.

The Western Regional is set for March 6-7 at North Versailles Bowl.

Tags: Plum