Norwin’s bowling teams are ‘striking’ down their competitors on the lanes. After the incredible 2023-2024 season for the girls’ and boys’ bowling teams, they knew that they had big shoes to fill in terms of success in the season. The Girls’ Team finished 10th in the state last year and the Boys had two individual qualifiers for regionals as well.

Norwin Girls Bowlers:

The Girls Bowling team kept the ball rolling from where it stopped last year. Norwin’s Girls Bowling team had an amazing run to states last year as a team. While none of the singles got to go to the state championship last year and compete on their own this year that could be up for change.

On Dec. 4, the Lady Knights had their first match of the year against Thomas Jefferson. Despite having to face a strong TJ team, the Lady Knights took care of business. Nearly all of the girls had notable performances. The leader of this match for the Knights was Gabby Anders who came out with a 226-high game and a 621 series which was a career-high for her. Some of the other great performances came from Kari and Kali Siegel who both bowled games above 200.

“The team this year has a lot of great bowlers and some new people who are doing exceptional,” senior Gabby Anders said. “Our depth on this roster is our biggest strength, no doubt.”

Most recently the girls had another 7-point shutout performance against Yough. On Dec 6 the girls came ready to bowl once more and did just that. The Siegel sisters lead the way in this match with Kali having a 641 series, and Kari having a 581 series. Along with them filling out this well-rounded roster came Raeana Bruce who also bowled a very impressive game.

“The key to doing well at this level is consistency and lots of practice,” Anders said. “All of our girls practice a lot, and as a team, we have the capacity to make a deep playoff run.”

The girls on December 18th bowled their 4th game of the year against Connellsville. The girls dominated the other team taking all seven points for the match. They were led by Kari Siegel with a strong series of 670.

The Lady Knights on January 4th competed at the Saint Vincent College’s 2025 Bearcat Challenge at Hillview Lanes. Despite facing some difficulty the girls bowled excellently. The team faced some great competition like Plum, and Mifflinburg as well as some others. In the end, the girls came up just short against Plum but still earned themselves second place.

Against Belle Vernon, the girls got back to their regular flow with a dominant 7-0 win. All of the girls bowled exceedingly well, but Kari Siegel and Gabby Anders both bowled incredibly well with series of 640 and 581.

Next up on the chopping block for the girls was Thomas Jefferson again. While not always bowling their best games the girls still outperformed their opponents. None of the girls bowled their best game, but all together the girls bowled the highest single game in 4 years bowling 988 in game three.

The Lady Knights would remain undefeated against Yough. The girls had another dominant game, winning 7-0. Again the girls were led Kali Siegel who bowled a 576 series. This win keeps the girls in their first-place seating for the Section.

On January 22nd the girls had an unopposed match. Despite having no competition the girls bowled strongly against themselves. Kali Siegel bowled a new career high of 739. Not just Kali, but Raeana Bruce bowled a 230 game and 608 series, both of which are career highs. This unopposed game was the sight of a new Norwin Girls Bowling record of 1007 and team high season 2851.

The Lady Knight’s got announced as the fourth consecutive section championship team of the Southeast section and they look to roll their way to the state championship again on Feb. 13 for WPIBL Championship.

Norwin Boys Bowlers:

During the 2023-2024 season, many strong individuals qualified for WPIAL and PIAA. This season the Norwin Boys Bowling team tried to start the season with a win against a very strong Thomas Jefferson team but sadly came up short. Despite the loss, many of the strong individual performances inspired hope for the rest of the season. In the TJ match, Hunter Cook led the boys with a 235 high score and a 608 score for the series. The JV boys team also showed some strong skills for the future led by junior Gavin Balcom, who was able to hit a score of 205 for the first time finally joining the 200 club.

“As a team, we really just need to get our scores up a little,” senior bowler Hunter Cook said. “Consistency is key for this sport and as a team, I believe that we could work on that.”

The boys didn’t lose their footing against Yough and got their game together to win all 7 matches. Again with another great performance, Hunter Cook led the boys with a 241-game high and a 607 series.

“As a team, we practice really hard and try to perfect the little things,” Hunter Cook said. “That’s probably our biggest strength for the team.”

The team’s next game on December 18th was against Connellsville. Sadly they boys struggled to get on the board against the tough opponent. The boys didn’t get any points, but were close due to game leader Hunter Cook. The boys struggles continued on Jan 8th in their match against Belle Vernon, where the boys suffered another tough loss.

Jan 10th the boys had their second match against Thomas Jefferson in which they got off to a slow start. The boys sadly were not able to pick up the pace and fell short again against a very strong TJ team.

On January 15th the boys had their 7th match against Yough and were able to turn the tides on their season. The boys held control throughout the entire match. Hunter Cook and Jonah Stashko led the way for the boys on their way to a 7-0 victory. With the win against Yough, the boys are moved to 3-4 on the season and are sitting at 4th in the section.

For the boys’ 8th match they bowled unopposed for the win to move their record to 4-4. In the match Senior bowler Jake Sincak led the boys with a 265 game and 697 series, both of which were career highs.

The Boys hope to make a playoff run on February 12 at the WPIBL Championship next week.