Nov. 23, 2011
Three nationally prominent high school bowlers have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Vanderbilt University.
Coach John Williamson has announced that Tori Ferris of Kalamazoo, Mich., Amanda Fry of Antelope, Calif., and Olivia Wirtz of Battle Creek, Mich., have chosen Vanderbilt after star-studded junior careers.
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| Tori Ferris |
“We have been fortunate that some of the nation’s finest student-athletes have been choosing Vanderbilt and this class continues that tradition,” Williamson says. “Tori, Amanda and Olivia are among the most highly sought-after bowlers in the country and we are very excited to welcome them to Vanderbilt and our program.”
The trio made a major splash at the prestigious Junior Gold, a national championship for women under age 20 that attracts hundreds of competitors and is normally dominated by college-age competitors. In 2011 Wirtz and Fry advanced into the round of 32 with Fry finishing 17th and Wirtz coming in 11th after leading heading into the final day of competition. Ferris was an impressive seventh at the 2010 Junior Gold event.
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| Amanda Fry |
Ferris is enjoying a brilliant prep career, having won Michigan’s Division I state championship as a junior. In the process, she crafted the highest average in the state (216), was captain of the all-Michigan team, was the Michigan Junior Masters Bowler of the Year and won first place at the Turbo Tech Collegiate Expo. Her average of 220.25 as a senior led her Red Conference.
Fry, a left-hander, established herself as one of the top talents on the west coast. In addition to her strong Junior Gold showing last summer, she has competed in the Las Vegas Main Event since 2006 with a best finish of second. Among her many successes, she has won the Orleans Wipeout Tournament, the NorCal Junior Bowlers Tour and the Bowl Bay Area Junior Bowlers Tour. She has been on the Northern California YBA All-Stars for nine consecutive years, having bowled three perfect games with a high sanction series of 811, a house record.
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| Olivia Wirtz |
Wirtz, who had bowled with and against Ferris in various Michigan events, was Michigan’s Division 3 state singles champion in 2011 and the champion of the 2011 Michigan Junior Masters Association.
She led Pennfield High School to a second-place finish in Division 3 and bowled her first 300 game at the 2010 Michigan State Youth Tournament. She is an honor roll student with a 3.65 grade-point average. She currently has a 204.5 average on sport shot lanes with a high series of 742.
