Notre Dame wins boys' bowling state title; CJ Petrin is Division II Mr. Bowling

Bowling pins. / Staff file photo
Bowling pins. / Staff file photo

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."

He was the Division II runner-up in the individual state tournament that preceded the team competition Friday, but he had extra reason to cherish the Mr. Bowling award that recognized his season-long success.

"This year the awards were dedicated to Kyle Frasure and Caroline Conrad, who were both great bowlers in Tennessee and passed away in separate car accidents," Petrin said. "To win Mr. Bowling in memory of them is a great honor."

Soddy-Daisy finished fourth and East Hamilton sixth in the special "unified" invitational. Soddy-Daisy won 214-206 in their head-to-head consolation semifinal.

Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.

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