It was another packed event at Hillview Lanes for the fifth edition of the Westmoreland County Coaches Association bowling championships Saturday in Greensburg. Hundreds of bowlers, parents, family and friends jammed into the facility to crown the best of the best in the eastern suburbs.
In no surprise, the Hempfield girls took down the team title, posting a combined 2,564 pins to secure another victory in the event.
Latrobe finished second with a combined 1,987 pins while Franklin Regional placed third with a total of 1,931.
For the second straight year, Spartan senior Ashley Bensur stood at the top of the girls’ hill as the top bowler. Her 612 series gave her back-to-back first-place finishes in this event, and to top things off, was the only girls bowler to crack the 600 barrier Saturday.
“The girls have rolled very well this season,” said Chris Bensur, an assistant coach for the Spartans and the father of Ashley. “She won last year and has finished off the event today very well. They are getting better as they prepare for the WPIBL finals.”
Hempfield’s girls completed a team sweep of the top three spots, as senior and defending WPIBL and state champion Amelia Droste finished second, posting the high game of 237, while teammate Clara Carmichael finished third, registering a 589 series.
Jim Dumas, who sits on the board of control for the WCCA, an avid bowling enthusiast for over 60 years, is proud of the growth he’s seen in the event.
“A few years ago, I started asking around to local coaches to see if they wanted to be involved in a bowling tournament,” he said. ‘The first year we had eight teams and about 40 kids. Today, over 20 teams and over 140 bowlers are here. The kids love it and we love it.”
Community and a sense of giving back seems to be the motto of the WCCA, a fully volunteer staff whose goal is to serve bowlers who find the sport not just a competitive oulet but also a way to earn scholarship money to fuel a college education.
“The money we make running all these events do not go to us. They go towards scholarships for the kids,” Dumas said. “We take all the money and put it into scholarships, over $12,500 last year, and they are divided up into smaller amounts so we can help as many kids as we can.”
As for the boys, Greensburg Salem stole the show with a combined 2,963 pins in claiming the team crown. Hempfield snuck past Belle Vernon to finish in second with 2,752 pins, six more than the Leopards’ 2,746.
Golden Lions coach Greg Shrum was proud of his team’s effort.
“Justice Payne has been a senior leader for us,” said Shrum. “He rolled well today. Zach Carasella also has played well. There’s a lot of money for the kids for bowling scholarships that not a lot of people know about. Kids can get full rides to big schools. More ADs should know about this.”
Payne finished tied for second overall in the boys individual event behind Franklin Regional’s Brayden Fallon, who rolled a 701 series to claim top honors. Hempfield’s Braylon Johnson matched Payne’s 651 to also earn a medal.
Aaron Yarhouse, the proprietor of Hillview Lanes, said he is proud of the lane’s community approach to hosting events like this.
“I like to give back to the community any way I can,” he said. “We host Special Olympics every December. There are other events coming up in the spring. I grew up bowling at Greensburg Salem and always saw myself running and operating a place like this, and here I am.”