11th Frame
By BILL RYAN
A look at the BG Bobcat bowlers
The high school bowling season is now in full swing, so let’s take a look at this year’s Bobcat bowling teams from Bowling Green High School.
We will start with the girls.
Two seniors are returning this year, Sofia Calderon and Destiny Garner. Kelly Miller is a sophomore and already one of the top bowlers in the Northern Lakes League along with Sofia and Destiny. Alli Fahy is a junior and Jena Kirian is a freshman.
Early in the season the girls have a 2-1 record. Completing the team are Jena Kirian and Alli Fahy.
Destiny had not returned from her classes at Penta Career Center upon my visit on Tuesday at the team practice.
Sofia said “Despite the fun, it is a lot of work” She noted the challenge faced by the team’s rival Napoleon.
The team is 2-1 early in the season with the one loss being to Napoleon.
Sofia will be attending Notre Dame College in Ohio and will be on both the school’s softball and bowling teams.
Alli said she has not been bowling much, if at all, since eighth grade and she is happy to be back involved in it and is happy to be working to improve her game. Jena said she has bowled since she was 5-years-old and is happy to be on the team. She says everyone has been very supportive and trying to help her improve her game.
The girl’s coach Steve Etzel said the team is somewhat in a rebuilding year after losing some of their top bowlers to graduation last year. This year the team is working hard and hope to again win the NLL.
Boys
The team this year is off to a fast start at 5-0, including a 3-0 Northern Lakes League record. That will be tested today (Jan. 10) as they face the other undefeated team in the league at Al-Mar Lanes at 3:30 p.m.
Bill Wammes is the official coach, but is assisted by others including Mickey Higham who serves a primary role with the boys.
“We are a very young team but they are working very hard,” Higham said.
Indeed they are young as they are led by two sophomores with three freshman. The sophomores are James Alfaro and Brandon Knell. The other team members are Colin Fahy, Clayton Jenson and Mark Kolczynski.
James said, “We have a pretty good team. We struggled, but we still managed to win. We have a lot of young people but I like young, it gives us more opportunities to come together and to be a leader.”
Brandon said he is trying to follow in his sister’s footstep, (Kirsten) who also bowled for the Bobcats during her school years.
It means a lot for me to go from the JV team last year to varsity.”
He went to a camp over the summer and improved his average from last year’s 134 to around 207 so far this year he said, because of the graduation of bowlers and absence of others from last year’s team, Mark noted it was exciting to be on a team where you can earn a varsity letter in their first year. “The coaching is great, it’s helped me a lot,” Mark said.
Colin said being on the team is a lot of fun. “I like to meet new people and learn new things.”
He said that he has learned about the composition of the lanes and the oils used and it has helped him t average about 191. He learned to bowl by bowling in the after school leagues and is enjoying his time on the varsity squad.
Clayton also mentioned making new friends and be comfortable in the environment.
“I’ve had a lot of experience, but I’ve learned a lot, noting, “I learned that setting up properly is important because you can change the outcome by just making a small adjustment.
Higham added,
“This is a great group of guys and will help grow the program. They bought in and there is no substitute for experience.”
In the leagues
* Turkey Hunters leads the Bobcat 2 a Days League with a 24-6 record. High last week was Avery Latta with a 283 and 505; while Linda Alfaro had a 168 game in her 477 set to pace the girls.
* For the younger youth The Buckeyes lead the Rally’s Junior All Stars league at 44-12. Last week’s high scorer was Conner Main with a 138 and 361. Madilyn Duncan was the high girl with a 68 game and 184 series.
* Three teams are tied at 7-0 as the V-Tech 2nd Shifters start the second half. Those teams are Team Hype Guys, 2 Pins-1 Ball, and Pocket Pounders. High last week was Ben Tussing with a 255 game and Wes Wint with a 609 series. High for the women was Rachel Mack with her 130 and 356.
*Henderson-VanDeVelde lead the Randy Miller Doubles league with a 11-49 record. Kyle Waynick had last week’s high game with his 285; while Shaun Crusa had the high 4-game total with his 968. Yogi Wammes was the high woman with her 246 and 873.
*American Family Insurance and Tin Man Heating and Cooling are t67 two divisional leaders at 39-10 and 32-17 respectively. Bill Rifner had an outstanding 780 series last week to the the league including a 277 game. Lucas Jenne was not far back with his 279 for 763; while Ron Steinman also had a 279 for his 733 set.
* Jug’s South, 40-16, and Boys Nite Out, 37-19 are the two division leaders in the American League. Jay Samelak, 728, Mickey Higham, 720 and Brad Simon, 704, were the three bowlers to crack 700 last week. Lucas Jenne had the high game of 289, with Ron Steinman rolling a 277 and Ron Golightley a 266
*Effin A’s and Rosenboom are the two divisional leaders in the Elks League with 115 and 114 1/2 wins respectively. Orin Prosser had the high game last week with his 258 and David Baer had the high series of 689 including a 255 game. Gary Wachter shot a 687, For the women Sam Wiley was high with her 232 for 651.
* Heritage House leads the Farm League at 43-20. Paul Klockowski led the league with a 255 and 678.
* Team 9 sits atop the Tuesday Coffee League at 49-31. Last week’s high bowler was Cathy Lowry with a 207 for 367 for her two games.