The Hopewell Viking Boys Varsity are the WPIBL Southwest Section Champions!

The Hopewell Viking Boys Varsity are the WPIBL Southwest Section champions!

After defeating the Montour Spartans 5-2 on Monday at Sheffield Lanes, the Viking Boys can call themselves outright section champions for the first time since 2014! The Vikings last shared a section title in 2022 when they tied the Blackhawk Cougars for the Northwest Title. Since then, the Vikings were moved to the Southwest division and can now claim this title for the first time in program history.  With this victory, the Vikings clinch a playoff spot in the WPIBL tournament and punch their ticket to the WPIBL Western Regional tournament for the first time since 2022.

The Vikings were led by Senior captain Daniel Earley shooting a match high 620 series and sophomore Aidan Heppner adding yet another 600 series to his campaign with a 615. But, the story of the match was freshman Max Butter finally erupting and shooting a match high 274 followed immediately by a 205. This is Butter’s first varsity 600 series and set the tone for the Vikings as they carved out the first game of a huge match.  Butter threw the first 5 strikes of the match, converted a 4 pin spare in the sixth frame, and then threw the next 5 strikes. Earley contributed his own 7 consecutive strike run to set the Vikings on a pace that ended with a  230+ pin win in the first game that set the tone for the entire match.

The Lady Vikings dropped a tough match 0-7 to the section champion Lady Spartans. The Lady Vikings were led by senior captain Jenna Willy shooting a 423 series including a 154 game and senior captain Marissa Platko adding a 397 series to the effort. Sophomore Danica Jackson tied her career high series with a 344. The Lady Vikings are now sitting at 4-4 and have a huge matchup on deck on Wednesday vs. the Ambridge Bridgers with section repercussions at stake.

The JV Vikings won their match 7-0 and were led by senior Cade McIlvain adding a career high series of 483 and freshman Joe Bulebush posting two career high games (140, 144) and a career high series of 417.  Freshman Thomas Turino added a career high and match high game of 179 to the effort for the JV Vikings who remain undefeated.

Team MVPs were awarded to freshman Max Butter and senior captain Jenna Willy.

The Vikings will be back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Fair Oaks for their last away match of the season.

Viking Boys Varsity

Viking Boys Junior Varsity

Lady Vikings Varsity