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Comet bowlers bring home two state runner-up trophies

  • Press photo by John Burbridge Members of the Charles City girls bowling team pose for a photo with their Class 1A runner-up trophy. From left, Macy Ross, Baili Girkin, Aryah Nelson, head coach Doug Bohlen, Sarah Mitchell, Joslyn Cotton, assistant coach Tyler Mitchell, Katie Sickman, Falyn Knecht and Madison Ross.

  • Press photo by John Burbridge Members of the Charles City boys bowling team pose for a photo with their Class 1A runner-up trophy, From left, Noah Reams, Dawson Solomon, Nathan Shultz, head coach Doug Bohlen, Hunter Brockney, assistant coach Tyler Mitchell, Cade Schmidt and Kaleb Ross.

  • Press photo by John Burbridge Charles City senior Baili Girkin, who will continue her bowling career at Iowa Central Community College, placed third among individual girls with a two-game series of 439.

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

WATERLOO — It’s something you don’t see everyday … even if you spend most of your days in a bowling alley.

“I just bounced the 10-pin off the wall and it came across and took out the 7-pin,” Charles City sophomore Cade Schmidt said of him picking up the 7-10 split in State Bowling Tournament action, Monday at the Cadillac Xtreme Bowling Center in Waterloo.

“No … I’ve never picked one up before,” Schmidt said while answering a somewhat stupid question. “I’ve never seen anyone else pick one up, either.”

To say that Schmidt’s split conversion was a “one-in-a-million” shot might be an understatement when you do the math and re-estimate the odds.

“It was 100-percent skill,” Schmidt said just to get a rise out of his within-earshot teammates.

The conversion did lift the team and its fans a bit when it occurred during the individual round of the Class 1A boys tournament. And after the Comets combined forces to record a 269 game to start the Baker Rotation, Charles City took an 8-pin lead over West Delaware — with whom it was sharing the same pair of lanes — in the two-team race to the state championship.

But the Comets came up one or two split conversions short — or even a couple one-pin conversions short — as the Hawks ended up bettering Charles City by 31 pins (3,179-3,148) for the state title.

“We had it in our hands going into the final Baker game,” Charles City head coach Doug Bohlen said. “They managed to string some strikes together to build momentum.”

The Hawks finished with a 246 in the final Baker game while Charles City rolled a 185.

“We just had that one bad Baker game, and that’s what cost us,” Bohlen said of his team, that had produced three individual medalists — seniors Kaleb Ross (450, 3rd) and Hunter Brockney (429, 9th) and Schmidt (422, 10th).

The Comet girls also finished a few marks shy of a championship as their 2,786 pin total was good for another second-place state finish. Louisa-Muscatine won the Class 1A girls title with a 2,827.

Charles City, which finished the season undefeated after placing third at last year’s state tournament, came out of the gate sluggish.

Senior Macy Ross, who was the 2016 Class 1A individual champion and recently set school records in two-game series (553) and game (299), opened in three of her first five frames before finishing strong to salvage a 166 game.

Fortunately for the Comets, senior left-hander Baili Girkin’s 246 first game helped keep Charles City in the running after Ross shook off her malaise to string seven in a row to start the second game on way to a 234.

Girkin also bowled well in the second game on way to a 439 series, which placed her third behind Louisa-Muscatine’s Whittney Morse (487) and Camanche’s Ashton Haskell (457) among the Top 10 individuals.

Ross’s 400 series tied her for fifth with Lauren Bodman of Louisa-Muscatine.

“We just helped them with simple adjustments … like when you miss left, move left … miss right, move right,” said Charles City assistant coach Tyler Mitchell, who also advised bowlers on proper first-ball speed and when to change balls.

“Our kids are good bowlers, so they often know what to do,” Mitchell said. “We don’t have to spend extra time explaining things to them.”

Charles City’s “double-up, runners-up” performance is the best team finish in the program’s history.

State Bowling Tournament

Feb. 19

AT CADILLAC XBC, Waterloo

Boys Class 1A

TEAM RESULTS

1. West Delaware 3,179, 2. Charles City 3,148, 3. Knoxville 2,912, 4. Maquoketa 2,885, 5. Shenadoah 2,783, 6. Durant 2,783, 7. Louisa-Muscatine 2,763, 8. OA-BCIG 2,714.

TOP 10 MEDALISTS

1. Dustin Beaham (LM) 514, 2. Jim Shover (WD) 507, 3. Kaleb Ross (CC) 450, 4. Tanner Mason (K) 447, 5. Cole Weber (Columbus Catholic) 440, 6. Keagan McCarty (K) 436, 7. Caden Stephany (Ma) 431, 8. Cyrus Elwick (Vinton-Shellsburg) 430, 9 Hunter Brockney (CC) 429, 10. Cade Schmidt (CC) 422.

CHARLES CITY (3,148)

Hunter Brocknew 205, 224-429; Kaleb Ross 246, 404 450; Cade Schmidt 224, 198-422; Nathan Shultz 204, 181-385; Dawson Solomon 174, 141-315; Noah Reams 126-212-338; BAKER ROTATION — 269, 192, 236, 242, 185.

Girls Class 1A

TEAM RESULTS

1. Louisa-Muscatine 2,827, 2. Charles City 2,786, 3. Camanche 2,709, 4. Maquoketa 2,618, 5. West Delaware 2,555, 6. Tri-Center 2,293, 7. Creston 2,251, 8. Forest City 2,132.

TOP 10 MEDALISTS

1. Whittney Morse (LM) 487, 2. Camanche (Ashton) 457, 3. Baili Girkin (CC) 439, 4. Andrea Salow (WD) 425, 5. Macy Ross (CC) 400, 5. Lauren Bodman (LM) 400, 7. Maddie Putnam (Decorah) 399, 8. Lorna Niedert (WD) 389, 9. Olivia Massen (TC) 378, 10. Jennifer Weber (Columbus Catholic) 375.

CHARLES CITY (2,786)

Aryah Nelson 156, 156, 342; Katie Sickman 174, 160-334; Macy Ross 166, 234-400; Baili Girkin 246, 193-439; Falyn Knecht 156-191-347; Madison Ross 146, 165-311.

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