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Tackett wins semi-state and trip to bowling state finals

E.J. Tackett kept his personal tournament winning streak going by capturing semi-state at South Bend on Saturday, Feb. 14, and earning a trip to state this weekend.

Bowling from the top spot for the third consecutive week, Tackett beat Kankakee Valley's Derek Smenyak, 279-172 for the title.

He qualified for the top spot with a three-game total of 770, including a perfect game of 300 in his opening contest. He followed that up with a 259 and 211.
Tackett averaged 262 for his four singles games and 259 for the tournament.

Boys' state singles tourney is Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m.
Huntington didn't fare as well in team play, finishing sixth, 117 pins out of the fourth and final state finals spot.

The Vikings rolled a 975 in the first game and a 1,008 in the second to be in seventh place entering the five-game Baker position round. They rolled a 1,057 Baker total and racked up a 3,040 qualifying total, but still missed the top four spots.

Tackett rolled a 266 and a 245 in the two qualifying games to lead HNHS. Sean Smith rolled a 245 in the second contest after a 175 in the first and Eric Garrison went 205 and 149. Rounding out the scoring in the first game, Tyler Carroll rolled a 172 and Gage VanDine had a 157. Rounding out the second game scoring, Anthony Hipskind shot a 206 and Connor Brown had a 164.