GRAY DEYOSports Writer

The THS bowling season had a great season as a team, and one individual member had an outstanding season that landed her a spot in the state tournament in the 2024-2025 season.

As a team, the boys and girls did well at the District Team Tournament. The boys went on to win the tournament, and the girls’ team finished as runner-ups.

“Our practices were focused, and we just have had an exceptional team this year,”  head coach of Tullahoma Derek Swinger said regarding what he believes is one thing that has led to his team’s success for this season,” said head coach Derek Swiger of the Tullahoma High School bowling team.

As far as individual seasons went for the Wildcats, they had 13 bowlers qualify for the District Individual State Qualifier.

Seven guys represented Tullahoma at the district event, and all seven placed and earned a spot at the next stage at the region qualifier. Britton Perry and Jordyn Pilkington had top-five finishes, with Perry finishing in second and Pilkington finishing fourth out of the 50 bowlers in the event. The five other bowlers for Tullahoma who are all moving on to the next level all placed inside the top 25—Chase Dodson placed 12th, Eli Phillips placed 16th, Avery Baker placed 20th, Bryson Mcelvie placed 21st, and Landyn Rodgers placed 24th.

The Lady Wildcats bowling squad had six girls go to the district qualifier, and four stamped their spot into the regional qualifier. Christiana Petty flat-out won the event, placing first out of the 24 girls attending, and the three other Wildcats’ bowlers finished in the top 12—Olivia Williams finished seventh, Hope Thomas placed 11th, and Lizz Prater finished 12th,

In the next round at the Region 3 Individual State Qualifier 11 out of these 13 bowlers qualified for the event.

Christina Petty State

Only one of these bowlers ultimately made it to the big dance at the TSSAA State Bowling Championships, and who better than the dual-dance sport athlete Petty?

She started as the 14th seed and weaved through the competition of the 42 competitors, but eventually got halted in the quarter-finals. She barely missed the cut to the semi-finals with a seventh-place finish—the top six advanced to the semis. She averaged a total of 180.3 pins per game, while sixth place barely finished higher with a 183.5 pin average. Although Petty did not make the cut, she had the highest score in a single game at the event and a personal season high of 288 pins.

Her bowling career for Tullahoma is now over, but she will continue to bowl at the collegiate level. She has committed to Campbellsville University for both bowling and dance, and officially signed on Feb. 5.

“Without Christina next year, our girls’ bowling team will lose a key mental edge. When she stepped onto the lanes, everyone knew who she was and expected great performances from her. That presence alone made a difference. While we will certainly feel that loss, I’m confident we have a few girls ready to step up and put in the effort to fill that role next season,” said Swiger regarding what he will miss about Petty being on his team.