The 2015 FHSAA Bowling finals took over Boardwalk Bowl in East Orlando for the last two days and now they’re champions that have been crowned.
After day one, the field was narrowed down to the top six in each the boys and girls individual brackets and it was capped off with a head to head showdown for gold on Thursday.
For the ladies it came down to Apopka’s Samantha Johnson and Oviedo’s Katelyn Jones—Johnson, whose only been bowling for two years, entered the final round undefeated in the tournament-- earlier in the day knocking Jones down to the consolation bracket.
Jones though avenged that loss and shined taking the first match 2-0 to force a second as double elimination rules were in place.
The momentum flowed over for Jones who keyed in to rally off 18 strikes in the final 20 frames to clinch the state crown, her first as an individual.
As for the boys, there was history to be made.
Lake Mary’s Robert Poole hadn’t won a head to head playoff ever and during the finals tournament he won 4—to land in the championship round against the reigning title holder Petey Vergos.
Vergos barely made it out of the qualifying round on day one, three pins kept him in contention.
From there on, a fire was lit inside of Vergos as he’d go on to win another gold medal–this time as the lowest seed in the bracket and making history.
Vergos is the first bowler to win back to back state titles in the 13-year existence of the state bowling tournament.
He’d later lead his Blue Darters to the overall team title defeating Atlantic in a five game match to reign now for the third straight year.
In the ladies team bracket it was the Circle Christian Centurions that topped Atlantic in four games to earn the schools’ first bowling crown.
Click on the video link for the highlights of the 2015 State Bowling Finals.