After sending four rollers to the TSSAA Boys Individual Championship last season, Cleveland High earned the four-year program's first bid to a state team tournament Friday, doubling up Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett in Sectional play, on the Leisure Time lanes.
Joining District 4 champion Cleveland, three other teams qualified Friday, including District 5 winner Rhea County, which knocked off Lebanon 21-6 in Dayton.
After repaying Karns for a 30-pin defeat in last year's Region 2 semifinals with a 528-pin, 15-12 win on Tuesday in Maryville, Cleveland earned the right to host its first TSSAA Sectional by knocking off district 3 champ William Blount 16-11 by just 21 pins for its first region title.
Getting to host its first TSSAA Sectional battle, the Rolling Raiders roared to a quick 6-2 advantage with first opening round wins, plus 148-pin fall bonus.
Taking heads-up wins were Joshua Bomboy with a day's high-game of 257, Pierce rolled a 192, Parker Rogers 174 and Britt Clark 163.
The two Dobyns-Bennett opening round wins were by a combined 14 pins, as Davis Segui and Darius Thompson rolled 177 and 176, respectively for the Raiders.
The second round saw Cleveland team captain and TSSAA Individual qualifier Pierce shoot a 243, followed up by Thompson at 212, Segui 234 and Bomboy 208.
The Rolling Raiders also took the second round by a 6-2 margin, with a 1,259-1,088 tally.
Cleveland opened the first Baker game with a 188-123 win, which was more than enough to seal the deal, despite the Indians exploding for a 258-153 win in the final game.