Photo by Marty Gordon
General Manager Terry Stike stands in front of one of the four final brackets at New River Valley SuperBowl as part of its March Madness tournaments.
Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
March Madness is like a virus that spreads to thousands and thousands of basketball fans this time of year. In order to grab some attention associated with college basketball’s 64-team tournament, New River Valley SuperBowl is holding its own bracketology.
Just in time for the college tournament three weeks ago, General Manager Terry Stike unveiled his own top 64 teams in four different time frames: women day bowlers, women night, men day and men night.
He took the top average of anyone that wanted to participate and began the arduous task of seeding bowlers.
“With college basketball being so popular and March Madness being contagious, we thought we would grab some of the excitement,” Stike said.
The bottom line cut for seeding in this March Madness tournament was: 187.76 average for the men night bowlers, 140.8 for men day, 117 for women night and 107.31 for women day.
From there, Stike and his staff broke down the list, and just like the seeding committee for college basketball found it tougher than expected. “It’s not so easy to do,” he said.
Each 64-team bracket had its own number one seed. They included: men night- J.C. Conner with a 232 average, men day- Jim Hankins at 190.41, women day- Evelyn Wilson with a 157.81 and women night- Destiny Hairfield at 195.
And just like the national collegiate tournament, there have been some upsets and lots of surprises. So far, going into rescheduled action last night, the top number one seeds in every bracket had been eliminated.
“All the bowlers seem very excited about it,” Stike said. “We have had great response and are pleased with this first year’s tourney.”
He said each overall champion will receive a $500 bowling winner’s packet that includes a new ball.
Stike is already making plans for next year and the 2018 March Madness Tournament. Final Four participants will be known later this week with the “national” NRV champion being named next week at the same time as the NCAA crowns its own national champion.
