With the first week of competition under the belts, both the boys and girls bowling teams came out on top — going undefeated in league play. The Wildcats downed both Clarkston and Avondale. Both teams are now 2-0 in the Oakland Athletic Association’s Red Division. The girls are 3-0 overall, the boys 3-1.
In addition, the boys played host to the Birmingham Black Hawk bowling team at Collier Lanes on Feb. 11. The Black Hawks have a much smaller team than they have had in the past and are rebuilding their program.
Oxford dominated the match winning 30 to 0. The varsity boys had some big performances by several bowlers. Junior Jake Love started game 1 with 7 strikes in a row ending up with a big 266 game and Sophomore Tommy Mace started game 2 with the front 7 and finished with an impressive 244 game. Sophomore Jason Paslean had a fine 229 game and Junior Blake Denning scored a 217. Junior Justin Schilling also won 2 matches for the Wildcats.
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On Feb. 10, the Wildcats traveled to Century Lanes in Waterford to face the Clarkton Wolves.
The girls continued to shine winning both baker games and six of the 10 matches. The final score in the match was Oxford 26, Clarkston 4. Winning two matches was Senior Lily Boothe and Sophomore Macey Strevel. Sophomore Tessa Bonk, Freshman Maddie von Knorring each won a match. Boothe 187, Bonk 183 and Senior Grace Meyer 184 lead the scoring for the Wildcats.
“These ladies just do what needs to be done to win. We are making quality shots and winning with the entire team chipping in. We are young but the senior leadership is strong and that helps. We need to continue to improve on the little things and we will. These ladies like to work hard at the game and are committed to being better,”said coach Claude “Jr.” Lafnear.
The Clarkston boys team entered the night 3 and 0 on the season and had been bowling well. After splitting the baker games 188 to 184 and 205 to 208 the ‘Cats held a 6 to 4 lead. The boys would go on to win 6 of the 10 matches and both game totals to win the match 22 ½ to 7 ½. Oxford was paced by Love winning two matches and bowling 222, 223. Also bowling well was Denning 232, 227, Mace 235, Senior Tony Verbeke 255 and Collin Massie 214. The boys second game was an impressive 1154 game.
“The boys knew coming into the match Clarkston was a talented team and if the OAA title streak was going to continue they needed to step it up tonight. The boys bowled well and scored a big win, beating a good team. We still have some talented teams to bowl but this was a big step,” said Lafnear.
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On February 8,  they rolled over the Avondale Yellow Jackets at Classic Lanes in Rochester.  Classic Lanes had been closed for the pandemic and the lane conditions reflected it, they were extremely tough. Both the girls and the boys battled through it and scored road victories .
The girls bowled well winning their match 29 to 1. After sweeping the baker games 148 to 78 and 175 to 118, the girls won 9 of 10 matches. Lily, Strevel, vanKnorring, and Meyer each won two matches and Bonk won a match.
The boys won 27 to 3. The only bowler to win both of his matches was Love. Jake bowled 191 to 190 and 190 to 129 to pace the ‘Cats. Junior Justin Schilling scored a victory with 188 to a 176, while Sophomore Jason Paslean, Senior Tony Verbeke, Mace and Denning each scored match wins. T
“The boys team scored their first victory of the year but none of them would say they are happy about that. The scoring was extremely low, and they know they need to get better. We got the win, but we have to improve or else,” Lafnear said.
Today (Wednesday)  the Wildcats take on the Troy Colts at 5-Star Lanes in Troy.