Notre Dame High School junior CJ Petrin already had been designated as Mr. Bowling in TSSAA Division II. Saturday in Smyrna, Tennessee, he and his Irish teammates made themselves the division’s bowlers of the year.
Notre Dame rallied from a 6-2 first-game deficit to beat St. Benedict 16-11 and then knocked off another Memphis-area school, Christian Brothers, 18-9, for the state championship. And while Mr. Bowling certainly did his part, he was only a part of the triumphant day.
When Petrin rolled a 606 series in the semifinal, teammate Carson Barasha had a 654 with a high game of 239 as the Irish caught St. Benedict at 8-8. And as Petrin surged to a 658 with an opening 234 against Christian Brothers, Griffin Lee topped him with a 668 that was capped by a 236.
Like Petrin, Boston Eberly won five of his six head-to-head matchups in the two team matches, and he, Patrick Byrne and Lane Cannon each had one 200-plus game in each victory.
“It feels great to win the state title with this team that has worked so hard,” Petrin said in an email. “We really came together today when it counted. Both matches today were really close and came down to the third game. Every member of the team had to bowl their best. It felt amazing to win with this team after the tough loss in individuals.”