Gateway bowlers earn trip to regional championships

By: Michael Love
Sunday, February 19, 2023 | 11:01 AM

The youthful Gateway boys bowling team collected 2,561 pins through three games and finished 15th out of 24 teams at the WPIBL boys team championship tournament Feb. 15, at Sims Lanes in Beaver Falls.

Junior Alex Keeling-Oliver led the Gators with games of 165, 210 and 168 to finish with a 543 series, while sophomore Josh Zlokas posted a 523 series with games of 181, 155 and 187.

Sophomore Landon Lohr produced a 513 series with a top game of 189.

Fellow sophomore Allon Wallace Jr. checked in with a 493 series, which included a 204 high game.

Also scoring for Gateway were sophomores Joe Jurczak (196 high game) and Kai Jones (171 high game).

Gateway punched its ticket to the WPIBL team finals with a second-place finish in the East section at 8-2. Plum, which won the section title with a 9-1 record, placed fifth overall in the tournament with 2,818 pins.

The Gators and Mustangs are two of the 16 boys teams to qualify for the Western Regional championships set for March 4, at AMF Noble Manor Lanes in Crafton.

Hempfield won its second straight WPIBL boys team title defeating Butler, 2-1, in the championship match.

Greensburg Salem, Franklin Regional, Latrobe, Baldwin, Thomas Jefferson, Shaler, Armstrong, Montour, North Allegheny, Moon, Woodland Hills, Blackhawk and Norwin also qualified for regionals.

Keeling-Oliver, Wallace Jr. and Gelsey Stone, a junior from the Gateway girls team, qualified for the WPIBL singles championships Feb. 22 (boys) and Feb. 23 (girls) at AMF Mt. Lebanon.

To qualify for the singles tournament, a bowler had to have competed in at least 21 of his or her 30 team games and averaged at least 170 (boys) or 140 (girls).

Keeling-Oliver maintained a 183.03 average for 30 games, while Wallace Jr. averaged 175.53 through 30 games.

Stone finished fourth in the girls East division with a 156.73 average for 30 games.

Gator wrestlers set for section tournament

The Gateway wrestling team has concluded its dual matches and regular-season tournaments and now will turn its attention to the Class 3A Section East individual championships Saturday at Norwin High School.

Set to represent the Gators are senior Arontay Heningcamp (114); sophomores Nathaniel Eichenmiller (121), Luke Pawlowski (133), Conner Smith (145) and Jakob Williams (152); and junior Jacob Pawlowski (189).

Sophomores Nizaiah Heller and Shawn Meadows were scheduled to wrestle-off for the spot at 127. Juniors Dallas Steele and Adam Taha were to do the same at 139.

Luke Pawlowski leads the team with 21 victories (21-6). He posted an 8-2 decision victory over Fox Chapel’s Andrew Kratsa in a dual meet Feb. 15, and has won eight straight matches overall (four pins, two decisions, two forfeits).

Pawlowski finished fourth at 120 at last year’s section tournament and qualified for the WPIAL/Southwest Regional tournament.

Heningcamp won his 50th career varsity match with a pin of Valley’s Xavier Ross during the Gateway Quad on Feb. 11, at the Furrie Sports Complex. Twelve of his 20 wins (20-6) this season have come by pin, major decision or technical fall.

He owns 45 of his 50 victories the past two seasons. Last year, Heningcamp qualified for WPIALs/regionals after placing third (113) at sections.

Jacob Pawlowski sits at .500 through 24 matches (12-12) with nine pins, a major decision and a regular decision to his credit.

The top six finishers in each weight class at the section tournament will advance to WPIALs/regionals March 3-4, at Canon-McMillan.

Gateway JV hockey hopes to finish strong

Gateway’s JV hockey team will take part in the PIHL Junior Varsity Tier 3 open tournament tentatively set to begin March 13.

But before the postseason arrives, Gateway has some unfinished business to take care of in the stretch run of the regular season.

The Gators, tied for third in the Tier 3, Division 3 standings at 7-3-3 (17 points) through a 2-1 victory over Carrick on Feb. 3, were to take on division leader Deer Lakes (11-2, 22 points) on Thursday (Feb. 16) at Alpha Ice Complex in Harmar.

Gateway is set to wrap up the regular season with two games at Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont — matchups with Norwin on Friday at 7:35 p.m. and West Allegheny on Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

The Gators went into the game with Deer Lakes on a 6-0-1 unbeaten streak dating back to a 3-1 win over Norwin on Nov. 22.

Gateway surrendered just eight goals in those seven games with four wins coming by just one goal.

The Gators led Carrick, 2-0, in the second period before the Raiders tied it in the latter half of the second. But the Gateway defense and senior goalie Jimmy Capell stood tall the rest of the way to keep the unbeaten streak intact.

Capel made 16 saves, senior Brandon Cirucci and junior Hayden Hines scored goals, and junior Blake Marsh assisted on both tallies.

Sophomore forward CJ Evans led the team through the Carrick win with 11 goals to go along with six assists. Hines’ goal against Carrick was his seventh of the season, and Marsh’s pair of assists gave him a team-best seven.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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