Comets chase down Cyclones on way to qualifying to Boys Bowling State Meet

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — If you chase a storm long enough, it may end up chasing you.

That’s what happened to the Charles City Comets after they found themselves trailing the leading Denver Cyclones by 210 pins six games into the Baker Rotation round of Tuesday’s Class 1A Boys Bowling State Qualifying Meet at Comet Bowl.

Vying for the SQer’s only team state berth, the Cyclones blew into town like an F5 twister bent on knocking things over if not pulverizing them. Their first Baker game (254) set off early alarms, putting them well in front of the six-team field, including the Comets, who rolled a 179 in their first game.

Denver continued its path of destruction with respective scores of 260 and 264 in the third and fourth games. And when the Cyclones rolled a 206 in the sixth game with the Comets countering with a lackluster 175, it put the former team up by the aforementioned margin (1,394-1,184) with nine games left in the round.

Charles City began to make up ground with a 254 seventh game to Denver’s 226. The Comets pulled even closer in the eighth (234-201) before the Cyclones did them a favor with a 150 ninth game with the Comets rolling a 215 in their ninth.

When Charles City sophomore anchorman Noah White struck out in the 10th frame of the 14th game for a 245, the Comets finally got in front of the Cyclones and had a 26-pin lead going into the final game.

There with the dissipating Cyclones behind them but still dangerously close in the rearview mirror, the Comets bowled smart and finished with a 203 as Denver — which bowled a 179 — was mathematically eliminated before the ninth frame.

The final score was Charles City 3,189 (213 average), Denver 3,139 with West Delaware (3,055), Sumner-Fredericksburg (2,469), North Fayette Valley (2,461) and Waukon (2,068) rounding out the field.

“That was one of the greatest comebacks in Charles City bowling history,” said Doug Bohlen, who might know what he’s talking about when considering him being the Comet boys bowling coach since the program began in 2015.

“I just changed the rotation a little … something we do in most every meet to keep things fresh,” Bohlen said of Comets’ malleable lineup consisting of White, senior Zach Putney, juniors Bryce Elsbury and Sullivan Gerleman, sophomore Joey White, freshman Cooper Holm and junior Jayden Lopez on hand as an alternate. “I think it was our cheering section that helped pull us through.”

The cheering section included members of the Charles City girls team, which qualified for state the day before at Comet Bowl.

In the subsequent individual round which qualified the top four finishers, four Comets were in contention through two games of the three-game-series format with Gerleman holding on to the fourth spot by 6 pins with a running total of 439.

White, an individual state runner-up from last season, was currently in sixth place (422) with Elsbury (405) and Robel (401) in and around the Top 10.

Gerleman maintained his coveted fourth-place standing with a 205 to cap a 644 series, finishing 3 pins ahead of the Cyclone senior pair of Sean Gomez and Conner Wurzer, who tied for fifth at 641 — Wurzer was leading the field and Gomez was third going into the third game.

West Delaware senior Jase Turnis was the SQer champion with a 709 series followed by runner-up and senior teammate Brady Hartke (674), and Denver senior Ryan Law, who edged Gerleman by 1 pin (645) for third place.

“It feels great,” said Gerleman, who qualified for the first time as an individual. “I always wanted to get there as an underclass individual to see what it’s like.”

White, who ranks seventh in the state in all classes with a Mark Roth-like 226.30 average, was able to string some strikes together in the final game but a pair of open frames contained his effort to a 215, capping his series at 637 for seventh place.

Robel placed ninth (614), Elsbury placed 13th (599), Holm placed 18th (553) and Putney placed 19th (545).

“I think the excitement of coming from behind like we did in the Baker round may have exhausted us a little for the individual round,” Bohlen said.

The Class 1A Boys and Girls Individual State Tournament, with Gerleman and senior Payton Hadley serving as Charles City’s respective lone male and female representatives, will take place at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo next Monday (Feb. 24) starting at 9 a.m.

The Class 1A Boys and Girls Team State Tournament will take place at Cadillac Lanes the following Wednesday (Feb. 26) starting at 3 p.m.