West comes up short in annual Battle for the Golden Pins

The Trojan bowling teams took on the Little Hawks to continue the cross-town rivalry.

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Alaina Greenlee

Kolby Ripperton ’24 aims for a strike in efforts for the King Pin on Feb. 10.

Alaina Greenlee, Video Editor

While two school’s flags claiming Colonial Lanes hang proudly above the bowling alley, the green and red came to a clash as the Trojans and Little Hawks dueled for the Golden Pins. 

As the King and Queen Pins stood unclaimed in 2023, the alley was filled with lanes on lanes of action. Senior boys captain Kolby Ripperton led the way with a total of 384 pins, closely followed by freshman Carston Guess, who accumulated a score of 377. However, West finished the meet with 2,582 total pins, and the Little Hawks ran away with a gap of 491 pins and King Pin in hand. West is now down by one in the historical King Pin matchup against City, 10-11, and Ripperton leads the team in total pins of the season at a grand total of 4,634. 

As the girls were looking to come back to West High with the Queen Pin, junior Whitney Noeller led all Trojans with a combined series score of 406 on the night, marking a season-best. Noeller and Kayla Schindler ’23 topped all categories for West’s girls’ team in first and second, respectively, covering total pins, high game, score per game, high series and score per series. A 305-pin deficit was enough to put the Little Hawks on top and return to City High with both the Queen and King Pin, leading history’s matchups 12-8 against West. 

The girls will be back in action for a home tournament on Monday, Feb. 13, at 9:30 a.m.