The Oxford varsity bowling teams took the top spots at this year’s Oakland County Bowling Tournament.

The boys bowling team reclaimed its 2017 title with a score of 429 on Jan. 14, after nearly the entire team returned to the Oakland County Championship to defend it.

Qualifying consisted of total pin fall in 3 team games and 4 baker games to cut the field of 31 teams down to the top 16 schools. Oxford had a bit of a roller coaster ride during qualifying, shooting both a season high 1090 and a game of 786.

The team bounced back with a solid game 3 of 997 and averaged 202 in the 4 baker games. The score of 3683 earned the Wildcats a 6 seed and match up with Walled Lake Northern (WLN) team. Oxford lost game 1 in this match up 204-169 but rallied in game 2 beating WLN 227-149.

They advance to round 2 versus Novi, which had just beaten number 3 seed Clarkston. The Wildcats outlasted Novi 392-349 to advance into the final 4 and then went on to face Troy, which they then bested– shooting scores of 203 and 237 to Troy’s 166 and 194.

The defending champions were then matched against the number 1 seeded Farmington Unified team, formally Farmington Harrison. Oxford Marked in all 20 frames and never let up. The Wildcats shot scores of 226 and 203 to Farmington’s 177 and 204 and ultimately captured the championship, scoring 429 to Farmington’s 381.

In the first game Jimmy Dehmel tossed the first 9 strikes in route to tournament high game of 267. Christian Cartner also earned honors with a solid 247 game.

“This was as crazy a ride as I have ever been on,” said Head Coach JR Lafner. We started like a rocket in game 1 but the rocket crashed in game 2. Some teams might have folded but not these guys. They worked their butts off getting back to the 6 seed and bowled like champions in the playoff rounds. They earned this title and learned a lot about not ever giving up.”

The Lady Wildcat bowlers took a step up from their second-place finish last year and were also crowned champions at the 2018 Girls Oakland County tournament held Jan. 13.

Qualifying consisted of total pin fall in 3 team games and 4 baker games to cut the field of 27 teams down to the top 16 schools. Then the teams bowl to head in 2 baker games with total pin fall determining who moves forward in the championship round.

Oxford Started slow in games 1 and 2, bowling 816 and 755. It was in game 3 that the team exploded with a tournament high and season high score of 982. The Lady Cats then proceeded to average nearly 175 for the 4 baker games. Their effort netted them the number 2 seed behind Lake Orion.

Oxford beat the number 15 seeded Novi Wildcats in round 1 by 58 pins. In round 2 they pervailed, beating Waterford Kettering by over 100 pins. The number 3 seed South Lyon was next to fall to the streaking Wildcats. The Oxford Bowlers won by 49 pins to advance to the finals against the number 1 seeded Lake Orion Dragons. The Dragons beat Royal Oak, Notre Dame and Holly to get into the finals.

In the finals, the Wildcats pounced on the Lake Orion Dragons 210 to 181. The Wildcats knew their 29-pin lead wasn’t enough and the match was still undecided. The Dragons trailed Holly by 27 pins in the semi final round and rallied to win. In game two, the teams battled and Lake Orion mounded a charge. The young Wildcats bowlers felt the heat and made a few mistakes, causing the match to be dead even going into the 9th and 10th frames. Megan Armbruster tossed a strike in the 9th and she was followed by Claire Sandstrom’s strike and spare in the 10th.

Sandstrom landed a top 10 series finish and medal. She shot a game of 245 and earned another medal for her high game.

“I was so proud of the effort from these ladies today. They worked together and supported each other weather they were in the line up or not. Everyone had a hand in this championship,” said Lafnear.