NEWINGTON — There was no three-peat Saturday at Callahan’s Bowl-O-Rama.
A group of area high school bowlers from Plainville’s Lessard Lanes was denied a third straight CIAC state bowling championship. The squad finished third behind 2023 champ Norwich Tech and runner-up Fairfield.
Competing against 25 teams from across Connecticut, the Lessard Lanes team combined high school bowlers from Southington, Waterbury, New Britain, Plainville and Bristol.
Lessard Lanes lost in the semifinals to Norwich Tech, 181-151. Norwich Tech, runner-up to Lessard a year ago, then beat Fairfield, 194-148, to claim the championship.
Maloney was also in the field Saturday. The Meriden school fielded five teams that finished fourth, eighth, 15th, 18th and 22nd.
The Maloney squad that finished fourth featured two bowlers from Platt, juniors Trevor Cannata and Tyler Cessario. Cannata, the kicker on the Platt football team, won the 2021 Pepsi Youth individual state championship.
On Saturday, Cannata and Cessario were joined by Maloney seniors Dylan Miller, Thomas Sullivan and Kyle Valentine on the leading Maloney squad, which just missed advancing to the single-elimination semifinals, finishing 118 pins behind Norwich Tech after 10 games of qualifying.
Competing in the Baker-style alternating shot format, Maloney knocked down 1,699 pins in averaging just under 170 a game.
Norwich Tech, with an average of 181.7, qualified as the No. 3 seed in the semifinals behind Fairfield (185) and Lessard Lanes (182.8).
Lessard Lanes was represented by three bowlers who were aboard for last year’s title: Southington High School sophomore Sean Buck, Waterbury Career Academy senior Joey Stango and Plainville senior Jeff Wasieleuski.
Joining the trio on this year’s Lessard Lanes team were Southington senior Chase Krenke, Bristol Eastern sophomore Briana Provenzano and New Britain’s Tay Bernier, a freshman who attends Hartford’s University High School of Science and Engineering.
None of the Lessard Lanes bowlers go to schools that field a bowling team. As a result, the CIAC allowed Lessard Lanes to sponsor teams of high-school age kids, all of whom bowl in the alley’s junior league.
Lessard Lanes fielded a second team for the CIAC championships. That squad finished seventh. It included Skyler Scott, Ryan Fontaine, Marykate Stango, Cayden Mulanny, Gavin Kremers and Tyler Jordan.
The five Maloney teams featured a total of 26 bowlers representing the Meriden area.
Comprising the eighth-place team were Logan Brazel, Madelyn Fitzgerald, Dylan Marchittto, Alex and Ethan Nedinski, and Josh Scaramuzzo. This group averaged 138.4.
Finishing 15th were the Maloney fivesome of Isaias Barreto, Braeden Crispino, Colin Mayhew, Tyler Owen and Anthony Valerie.
Platt’s Will Berthiaume, along with Maloney students Griffin DePalma, Mason Jones, Ayden Jones and Aiden Valerie, finished 18th.
Maloney also took 22nd with Emily Asplund, Rylie Benigni, Addison Markoja, Leah Marrero and Peyton Pulaski.
Last month, Maloney hosted a tournament at Apple Valley Lanes in Plantsville and the same team that finished fourth Saturday was fourth in the pre-CIAC championship event.