WESTLAND — The Catholic League crowned bowling champions in four divisions Saturday, Feb. 22, at Oak Lanes.

It took nearly five hours for about 150 boys and girls bowlers representing 16 schools to advance through three rounds of competition.

At the end, these were the champion teams:

Girls East — Farmington Hills Mercy (Angela Rea, Faye Storck, Caitlin Hill, Abby Worley, Maddie Briggs, Anna Burns, Claire Zahra, Beth Widun. Coach Vicki Kowalski).

Girls West — Madison Heights Bishop Foley (Jenna DeSantis, Kaitlyn Wilton, Rosa Burgaj, Sador Assefa, Elizabeth Uhlarik, Maria Nicolas. Coach Joe DeFonzo).

Boys East — Dearborn Divine Child (Shane Green, Anthony Kaniski, Jon Ligenza, Paul Scheuher, Noel Jackson, Andrew Carl, Kurt May, Adam Thompson. Coach Nick Ploucha).

Boys West — Allen Park Cabrini (Matthew Heath, Nathan Radke, Adam Berthiaume, David Kowalski, Chris Stevens, Evan Pogorzelski, Anthony Russo. Coach Josh Jablonski).

The morning opened with all teams rolling three games to determine the top four in each division who would move along to the semifinals, and these winners, in turn, would proceed to the championship match.

At this juncture, the Baker Format method of scoring is used in a best-of-three series, which places emphasis on the team effort rather than the accomplishments of the individual players. Teams rotate so each player plays in order: the first bowler bowls frames 1 and 6, the second bowler bowls frames 2 and 7 and so forth, with the fifth bowler bowling frames 5 and 10.

The semifinalist matches in East Girls Division: Divine Child defeated Warren Regina and Mercy defeated Bloomfield Hills Marian. In the finals, Mercy defeated Divine Child.

Girls West semifinalists: Bishop Foley defeated Chesterfield Austin and Cabrini defeated Riverview Gabriel Richard. Bishop Foley beat Cabrini in the final.

Boys East semifinalists: Divine Child defeated Detroit U-D Jesuit and Warren De La Salle defeated Novi Detroit Catholic Central. Divine Child defeated De La Salle in the final.

Boys West semifinalists: Cabrini defeated Riverview Gabriel Richard and Bishop Foley defeated Detroit Loyola. Cabrini beat Foley in the final.

De La Salle junior Jack Gohlke captured everyone’s attention flirting with back-to-back 300 games. He rolled a 279 in the first game and 267 in the second. He cooled off to 155 in the third game for an outstanding 701 series.

Gohlke, 16, started out with six strikes in a row in both games. In the seventh frame in both, he had a 9-spare and an 8-spare.

He carries a 203 average during the season.

In a holiday tournament recently, he rolled a 1074 series, qualifying him to compete in the Junior Gold Championships, an annual national tournament for the top male and female youth bowlers in the United States, held July 10-18 in Las Vegas. 

The Qualifying Opening Round

Boys East — 1^st Detroit U-D Jesuit 2703; 2^nd Novi Detroit Catholic Central 2696; 3^rd Warren De La Salle 2687; 4^th Dearborn Divine Child 2484; 5^th Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 2254.

Girls East — 1^st Farmington Hills Mercy 2208; 2^nd Dearborn Divine Child 2020; 3^rd Warren Regina 1725; 4^th Bloomfield Hills Marian 1157.

Boys West — Allen Park Cabrini 2296; 2^nd Madison Heights Bishop Foley 2262; 3^rd Detroit Loyola 2172; 4^th Riverview Gabriel Richard 1788; 5^th Chesterfield Austin Catholic 1782; 6^th Clarkston Everest 1681; 7^th Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard 1661; 8^th Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes 1351.

Girls West — 1^st Madison Heights Bishop Foley 1990; 2^nd Riverview Gabriel Richard 1817; 3^rd Allen Park Cabrini 1739; 4^th Chesterfield Austin Catholic 1659.

Top 10 Individuals Series — Boys 

1^st Jack Gohlke (DeLaSalle) 279-267-155=701; 2^nd Tyler Jackson (Catholic Central) 212-198-208=618; 3^rd Nate Comerford (U-D Jesuit)161-267-159=587; 4^th  Evan Nazareno (U-D Jesuit) 199-182-203=584; 5^th Pietro Cataldo (Riverview Gabriel Richard) 185-226-149=560. 6^th (tie) Matt Wilton (Bishop Foley) 175-205-159=539; 6^th (tie) Michael Morrone (Catholic Central) 202-155-182=539; 7^th Kellan Okray (Catholic Central) 210-144-178=532; 8^th Jon Ligenza (Divine Child) 178-181-168=527; 9^th Noel Jackson (Divine Child) 154-213-148=515; 10^th Luke Whalen (St. Mary’s)167-156-184=507.

Top 10 Individuals Series — Girls

1^st Jenna DeSantis (Bishop Foley) 177-170-184=531; 2^nd Jordan Downham (Cabrini) 156-167-178=501; 3^rd Emma Uetz (Divine Child) 169-134-179=482; 4^th Maddie Briggs (Mercy) 123-135-196=454; 5^th Paige Westergaard (Regina) 142-150-158=450. 6^th Trianna Smith (Divine Child) 140-143-148=431; 7^th Hanna Sauve (Riverview Gabriel Richard) 113-148-164=425; 8^th Madeline Beattie (Austin Catholic) 188-128-105=421; 9^th Kaitlyn Wilton (Bishop Foley) 138-144-134=416; 10^th Jewell Redman (Divine Child) 143-149-122=414.

Top 10 Individuals Games — Boys 

1^st Jack Gohlke (De La Salle) 279; 2^nd (tie) Jack Gohlke (De La Salle) 267; 2^nd (tie) Nate Comerford (U-D Jesuit) 267; 4^th Pietro Cataldo (Riverview Gabriel Richard) 226; 5^th Noel Jackson (Divine Child) 213; 6^th Tyler Jackson (Catholic Central) 212; 7^th Kellan Okray (Catholic Central) 210; 8^th Tyler Jackson (Catholic Central) 208; 9^th Tony Wojtasik (Catholic Central) 207; 10^th Rafe Dewar (De La Salle) 206.

Top 10 Individuals Games — Girls

1^st Maddie Briggs (Mercy) 196; 2^nd Madeline Beattie (Austin Catholic) 188; 3^rd Anna Burns (Mercy) 187; 4^th Jenna DeSantis (Bishop Foley) 184; 5^th Emma Uetz (Divine Child) 179; 6^th Jordan Downham (Cabrini) 178; 7^th (tie) Jenna DeSantis (Bishop Foley) 177; 7^th (tie) Angela Rea (Mercy) 177; 9^th Jenna DeSantis (Bishop Foley) 170; 10^th Emma Uetz (Divine Child) 169.