The Wayland boys’ varsity bowling team lost its second straight conference dual match Wednesday afternoon, 24-6 to Grand Rapids Christian, but the girls, meanwhile won their second by the same score.

The Lady Wildcats for the second straight  dropped the first Baker game 149-147.  They bounced back the second game winning it by a score of 160-134 which also gave them the bonus points for the Baker total, 307-283, and an early 6-4 lead.

Wayland dominated the first individual game, 844-640.  Leading the way in game one was sophomore Marissa Bruinsslot with a 224 and senior Erin Porteous 200.  The ladies took eight of nine points in game one to extend their lead to 14-5.

The second individual game saw a similar result with the Lady Wildcats besting Christian 811-613.  Junior Sydney Urben got hot in game two to lead the way with a  245 game. Junior Marissa Bruinsslot continued her strong night with a 169.

Coach Bill Holbrook said, “It was great to see our individual games continuing to improve but we are still missing way too many spares, especially in the Baker format.  They are continuing to improve and get back into the swing of things.  We now get some much needed practice time before a very busy next week that includes two matches and two tournaments.”

Coach Sherry Miklusicak said her young and inexperienced boys’ group actually entertained thoughts about a victory.

“Wayland seemed to have a decent chance of winning this afternoon as we finished only slightly behind Grand Rapids Christian in this past weekend’s Wyoming Invitational at Eastbrook Lanes and we had ‘home lane’ advantage,” she commented. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t manage to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Christian started tough in the first Baker game defeating Wayland 203-137, but the Wildcats took the second game 156-142.

“A bright spot in this game was Michael Foley striking out in the tenth frame to seal the win,” Miklusicak said.

The first set of individual games was a close one as Wayland lost only by two spares (807-787).

“Instead of igniting the team we pretty much fizzled out in the last game, losing 676-836,” the coach observed.

High game of the match for the boys was Wayland’s Michael Foley with a 186 game.  Jordan Peters was most consistent with a pair of 173 games.

The Wildcats, who lost four of their top five bowlers from last year to graduation, finished 15th at the Wyoming Invitational Saturday and dropped their season opening dual match with Forest Hills Eastern Monday.