Both the Wa
yland boys’ and girls’ varsity bowling teams defeated South Christian 25-5 Wednesday in a makeup of a match postponed Tuesday because of weather.
While the girls keep rolling along undefeated in dual matches this season, it was a particularly satisfying afternoon for the boys, who in the past have rarely beaten the Sailors.
“As a coach, I couldn’t figure out why my jaws hurt so much… well, it was because I was smiling so much!” said coach Sherry Miklusicak. “It was a match I was very concerned about based on pre-conference tournament scores (South Christian finished over 600 pins better then the Wildcats).”
Baker game number one had the ‘Cats up by just one pin with a score of 157 to 156.
“I rounded up the boys and told them they should expect South to pull it together and a 150 game wasn’t going to cut it for game two,” Miklusicak said. “Well, the coach was wrong but the boys responded with a 177 game to a 139 game from South. We were up 10 points to 0 at this point and a possible win was screaming through my mind”
Individual game one was all that was needed to seal the win. Only six points were needed and that is exactly how many Wayland won in this round, with the score of 863 to 804. Cameron Heintzelman rolled a 202 for Wayland, but lost that extra point by just one pin.
Individual game number two wasn’t even needed.
“I rounded up the boys and told them we had won and just to relax and have some fun in the final game,” the coach said. Relaxation and fun helped Bryan Franck to his high game of 207 and Austen Beggs’ 257. The team shot a respectable 971 in that game.
The Lady Wildcats weathered an early storm by a quickly improving South Christian to improve their conference match record to 4-0.
The Sailors came out strong in the first Baker game while the Wildcats struggled to make good shots resulting in 154-151 loss. The Lady Wildcats continued to struggle in the second Baker game but an open frame in the 10th by South Christian’s anchor bowler and a double and 7 by sophomore Sydney Urben in the 10th gave the Lady Wildcats a 141-136 win and a scant two-pin lead in Baker total 292-290 and a 6-4 lead heading into team individuals.
The ladies righted the ship quickly after their slow start and won the first team individual game 899-687 and took all nine points for a 15-4 lead. The Lady Wildcats continued that solid bowling in game 2 with a 896-678 win and took 10 of the final 11 points.
Leading the way for the Lady Wildcats was Urben with a 222-192=414.
Coach Bill Holbrook said, “We were strong top to bottom tonight in the team individual games.”
Other key contributors include senior Lizzy Cobb, who threw three strike in four chances in the Baker format and finished with a 179-153=332.
Senior Aubree Hodges finally was able to take her good bowling in practice into a match with 160-170=330; junior Alicia Sweeney 171-169=340; sophomore Marissa Bruinsslot 167 and Junior Erin Porteous took full advantage of her opportunity to bowl with a 212.
“The Baker games were sloppy and disappointing tonight, giving an opening to the Lady Sailors,” observed Holbrook. “However, as poor as the Baker games were tonight, the team individual games were extremely solid with much better shot making and spare shooting. This could have been a case of taking an opponent too lightly, but their strong finish assured them of another quality conference win.”
The coach added, “Tonight the lowest game in the individuals for the Lady Wildcats was 153. That is pretty incredible! Their depth is impressive and they bring out the best in each other!” Next up is Byron Center at Spectrum Lanes 3:30 p.m. today.
PHOTO: Sophomore Sydney Urben
