May 6, 2016 at 2:04 p.m.
Middle school bowlers gear up for state
Hodags to compete Saturday in Green Bay
Middle school bowlers gear up for state
The Hodags will be one of several middle school teams across the state to visit Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay Saturday for the Wisconsin Middle School Bowling Club state tournament.
The Hodags will be well represented at state, competing in both the team and individual competitions. Rhinelander/Elcho qualified as a team after winning the WiMSBC District 9 North division and placing second in the District 9 tournament. Katrina Blasius, Mackenzie Bourcier, Calvin Schneider and Jacob Wagler will take part in the individual portion of the tournament after finishing near the top of the district standings in fill percentage - a ratio of strikes and spares per frames bowled.
"It shows we had a pretty strong year here all together," coach Mike Bourcier said.
But the middle school team's last competition took place during the District 9 tournament Feb. 21. Unlike most districts throughout the state, District 9 runs its middle school season at the same time as its high school season. That means the Hodags have had plenty of time off.
"Basically we got back at it three weeks ago," Bourcier explained. "All these kids, plus some of my high school kids, I took them down to the youth state, which is for all youth. We went down there on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday and bowled nine games in team doubles in singles. We started on that weekend then we started right away the following week we started (practicing) on Wednesday. We'll get five practices in before the competition. It's more about staying smooth, getting consistent, throwing the ball and just getting back into the rhythm of things. A bunch of them have practiced (since the end of the regular season), not as much, but they've come out and practiced."
The youth state tournament also took place at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley, giving the Hodags a little advance knowledge of the venue heading into this weekend's tournament.
"That's going to give them a little advantage there," Bourcier said. "They're not going to walk into this new 60-lane center and think, 'Oh, wow!' They've all been there. They know what to expect. It should be good. I feel confident that they're going to do really well this year."
The Hodags hoping that last year's experience at state will help as well. With the exception of newcomer Kody Litzen, the rest of the roster took part in the team portion of the state tournament last year, placing 38th out of 40 teams. Blasius and Mackenzie Bourcier return after strong showings in the state singles competition last year. Bourcier placed fourth in the girls' A flight, while Blasius won the B flight, rolling a 245 in her final game to claim the title by 28 pins.
"Katrina moves up into the average groups (to the A division)," coach Bourcier noted. "Mackenzie's already in the upper average group. Katrina was the state champ in her group last year, she did really well. The team didn't do as well last year, but Mackenzie got real sick to the point where she couldn't finish the last few matches, but we were already down and out of it."
The team has practiced Mondays and Wednesdays over the last few weeks at Hodag Lanes in preparation for the tournament. Bourcier said he hasn't gotten too technical in his coaching during practice.
"The last two, three weeks is when we've really worked on it, just working on basically getting back in the motion, getting the form going, throwing the ball, staying square to the line, following through. Pretty much that's it," he said.
That approach, he said, will hopefully pay dividends Saturday.
"I'm expecting this year to have a lot better showing," Bourcier said. "We've got a good team. They've been practicing. Spare shooting is key. We don't have to throw strikes, just pick up our spares, stay smooth and have some fun. They can do it. I know they can."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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