Sophomore Madison Zollicoffer was the only Greenwood bowler to qualify for the state tournament, but she sure made her presence known, winning the 7A/6A individual girls state championship with a 598 series. The tournament was held on February 14th in Lowell.
"She finished third in conference, so going into it we knew she had a chance at winning it or finishing in the top five," said GHS bowling coach Trey Holloway. "She was the only person from Greenwood competing in the state tournament.
"[Madison] bowled a 201 in the first game and [a personal best] 255 in the second game," said the coach. "She didn't have an open frame the entire second game. She bowled either a strike or got a spare every frame.
"We knew going into the third game that she had a pretty good lead. But in the first frame of the game she slipped and fell, and on the second frame she fell again.
"She did a great job of keeping her composure. She looked at her shoe and she had a piece of popcorn on the bottom of it," explained Holloway. "We got the popcorn off and she went on to bowl a 142. She finished with a total score of 598 and was the 7A/6A individual state champion," he said.
"She did a tremendous job performing under pressure. She also does a great job handling her emotions. If she bowls a strike or misses a spare, she has the same body language and mindset. That's what makes her tough," said the proud coach.
The sophomore said that she has been bowling for about seven years now, but the third place finish in the conference tournament had been her best performance to date.
"What made winning state so special was all the support I had," she said. "It feels amazing to have everyone on your side and congratulating you."
After describing her troubles in the third game, Zollicoffer added, "Luckily, I was able to recover, and I won by 17 pins."