Senior Voyles leads Edwardsville in Alton Invitational

 Edwardsville senior Tyler Voyles had the best day of his bowling career Tuesday at the Alton Invitational, placing 14^th with a score of 1,219 and a 256 high game.

“A 256 is a good game for anybody pro or amateur,” Edwardsville bowling coach Craig Ohlau said. “It was good to see him put up some big scores like he did. He is finding his shot and the right groove. It is good to see him come into his own. It’s definitely a time to start putting things together and it is a culmination of all the work done throughout the year coming to fruition.”

Ohlau said his team rolled some good games in the tourney bowling against a tough house. On the average, the Tigers were around the 935 mark as a boys’ team. Typically the boys are closer to 930.

Tyler Cooper finished 22^nd for the Tigers with a 1,204; Blake Gifford was 43^rd (1,077).

The Edwardsville girls are building this year with freshmen, sophomores and juniors playing key roles. Megan Wallace led the Lady Tigers Tuesday averaging close to 150, which is an improvement over what she had done this year.

“It is a lot of fun seeing the young newcomers improving so much throughout the year,” Ohlau said.

Jersey’s boys and Alton’s girls each placed second in the tourney.

Alton junior Eryka Graham captured first place in the invitational in the girls’ competition, finishing with 1,314 pins and a 219 average for six games. Jacob Freand had an outstanding tourney for Jersey, placing second overall. He had the second highest game on the day with a 288.

Alton bowling coach Jeff Woszczynski said Graham and the rest of his girls did a “great job” in the invitational.

Becca McBridge was fifth with a 1,200 and Ashley Heistand was sixth (1,183).

“Our girls are one of the best teams in the Southern Illinois area,” Woszczynski said.

Collinsville and Herrin have been battling in other tournaments with the Lady Redbirds, the coach added.

Lindsay Vanost led the Jersey girls with a 21^st place. Allison Steines was also in the top 20 with 14^th place for Alton.

Herrin won the girls invitational with a score of 5,875; followed by Alton (5,778); Collinsville (5,603) and Harrisburg (5,322). Jersey scored a 4,721 for a 10^th-place finish.

Cahokia won the boys team competition with a 6,141. Jersey was second (6,107) Collinsville (6,080; Highland (6,007); Civic Memorial (5,895); and Alton (5,782) as top finishers.

Lucas Pejakovich topped Alton’s individual efforts with a sixth-place score of 1,306. Jacob Donahue placed 15^th for the Redbirds. Kevin Mangrum was 13^th for Jersey and Jeffrey Gump was 18^th.

Cahokia Michael McGarry was the boys’ individual champion with 1,378 pins; Freand finished with a 224 average. Jersey’s Trevor Ayres was 28^th and Brandon Handler 29^th in the tourney.

The top three Civic Memorial bowlers were Jacob Troeckler (17^th); Ryan Hayes (19^th); and Phillip Ramos (23^rd).

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