Several local teams qualified for the first-ever Alabama High School Athletic Association regional bowling tournaments this week.
The Gadsden City and Etowah boys and girls and the Southside girls will compete on Thursday and Friday in the North Regional at Leland Lanes in Tuscaloosa. Both Etowah teams won the regular season Region 7 titles. The GCHS boys finished runner-up to Etowah, while the Lady Panthers and Lady Titans finished third and fourth, respectively, in Region 7. The schools qualified through head-to-head regular-season competition.
First-day competition will consist of three traditional 10-pin games to determine seeding for Day Two. The second-day competition will place schools in eight-team brackets with teams competing in elimination rounds consisting of one traditional and five Baker games each.
The top eight boys’ and girls’ teams from the North and South regional tournaments will advance to the AHSAA state bowling championships to be played at Oak Mountain Lanes in Pelham on Jan. 28-29. The state tournament will follow the same two-day format.