Plum’s Small, Penn-Trafford’s Barvinchak claim Western Pa. Regional bowling titles

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 9, 2018 | 7:27 PM

Plum's Shannon Small and Penn-Trafford's Mike Barvinchak each captured singles titles at the Western Pennsylvania Regional Championships on Friday at Princess Lanes in Whitehall.

Small finished first in the girls five-game qualifying round with a score of 974 (194.8 average), eight pins ahead of second-place finisher Jessica Cadez from Canon-McMillan.

The top 12 finishers in the qualifying round advanced to a playoff bracket. Small and Cadez earned byes to the semifinals.

Small defeated No. 8 Brittany Metzler from Erie McDowell, 216-158, in the first semifinal, but Norwin's Rachel Lundy topped Cadez, 211-201, to earn the other spot in the finals.

In the championship game, Small kept her momentum strong as she defeated Lundy, 223-202.

The top 12 finishers in both the boys and girls tournaments also punched their tickets to the state tournament, set for next Friday at Princess Lanes.

Barvinchak finished third in the boys qualifying round with a 979, one pin behind Armstrong's Jesse Halutick and eight behind Moon's Sam Copeland.

Starting the playoffs in the quarterfinals, Barvinchak, as the No. 3 seed, edged No. 6 Adam Scruci from Blackhawk, 151-148, and then defeated Halutick, 191-171, in the semifinals.

Copeland scored a 226-184 victory over Beaver Falls' Devin Crepp, the No. 4 seed, in the other semifinal.

Barvinchak kept rolling in the finals with a 226-194 triumph over Copeland.

The 12 state singles qualifiers for the girls are Small, Cadez, Lundy, Metzler, Butler's Ashley McCue and Mercedes Belch, Greensburg Salem's Mattie Mae White and Erica Moss, McDowell's Maura McLaughlin and Lauren Lytle, Woodland Hills' Johnna Hill and Burrell's Carlee Hummel.

The boys state qualifiers are Copeland, Halutick, Barvinchak, Scruci, Crepp, Plum's Vincent Cocca, Norwin's C.J. Turek, Hempfield's Ethan Hayden, St. Joseph's Bowen Lambermont, Blackhawk's Adam Rolston and Brandon Sullivan, and Ambridge's Ryan Adams.

The Western Regional Championships continue Saturday at Princess Lanes with the boys and girls team tournaments. Bowling begins at 9 a.m.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Armstrong, Beaver Falls, Blackhawk, Canon-McMillan, Moon, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Plum