vikingssportsn The Hopewell Vikings completed their 8th match of the year on the same day they finished their first semester of the 2025/2026 school year. Fresh off of early dismissal for midterm exams, the Vikings traveled to Sim’s Lanes to take on the Beaver Falls Tigers in important matchups for all three teams.
The Viking Boys had an opportunity to exert some pressure on their competition along the way to a hopeful section title and took full advantage, taking all 7 games from the Tigers in a very close match.
Junior Ayden Gault led all Vikings for the third straight week with yet another 600 performance. Senior captain Brayden Mowry came out of the gate with a career-high 253 game to lead the Vikings to a game one victory. This marked the first clean game of the season for Mowry and added the high game of the match.
Gault led the way in match two with a 220 game and was followed closely by junior Aidan Heppner, who added a 198 clean game to the Vikings’ 23-pin victory that decided the match.
However, due to the way league tie-breakers work, the Vikings needed game 3 in order to maintain their section lead heading into the last two matches of the season. Gault threw the first six strikes of the pivotal match and scored a 214 final game, while Heppner threw the last four strikes to ice the win with a final score of 933-924.
With this victory, the Vikings guarantee themselves a playoff berth. They will have the upper hand heading into next week where they’ll have a chance to clinch their second straight division title. They’ll head into the match as underdogs but have a defined path towards winning the section.
The Lady Vikings suffered their first loss of the season with a 5-2 loss to the Tigers.
Junior captain Annabeth Sembower added a 181 game and the match high series of 475 to a very close match. Junior Krysten Clary scored a career-high 166 in the pivotal game 3 that the Lady Vikings won by just 5 pins (660-655). Freshman Fiona Zelechowski continued her trend of improving every week with a new career-high series of 319.
MVP honors went to sophomore Layla Biller, who stepped up replacing one of the Vikings’ usual starters and bowled above her average in a tough spot for the rookie bowler. Biller held her own to keep the Vikings in the first two games and helped put them over the finish line in the third.
While this drops the Lady Vikings to a season record of 7-1, they remain in the driver’s seat of the Northwestern section with a chance to win the section next week. By taking two points in the match, they maintain control of their own destiny and own most tiebreaker scenarios as they look to qualify for the playoffs for the second straight year.
The JV Vikings left Sim’s Lanes with the most to be happy about. They were able to avenge their week 3 loss with a 7-0 sweep against the Tigers.
Sophomore Thomas Turino notched his very first career “200” game with a 206 in game 2, and then immediately followed that up with his second career “200” game with a 203 in game 3. Turino led the Vikings with a 551 series. Freshman Desmond Sembower added his career high with a 200 first game to lead all scorers in game one—this was also Sembower’s first clean game in a Viking uniform.
Sophomore Joe Bulebush added 184 and 179 games to a day that saw the Vikings shoot a season-high 876 game three. Sophomore Nate Cronin also added a career high 158 game. For context, of the 54 varsity men’s teams in the WPIBL, 44 of them average less than 876. This incredible score sets the Vikings up nicely heading into the MAC Conference tournament in a few weeks.
For the second straight week, MVP honors were earned by JV Vikings, with Turino and Sembower sharing the honors to commemorate their first career 200 games and first career 500+ series.
The Vikings will return to Sim’s Lanes next week for a huge match-up against the New Castle Hurricanes with section titles up for grabs!
