March 2, 2018 at 11:32 a.m.
Bloomquist has high expectations entering state high school bowling meet
Bloomquist has high expectations entering state high school bowling meet
Bloomquist is back in Weston for the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club state tournament, which started last night and concludes Sunday at Dale's Weston Lanes. He placed 34th there as a sophomore. Bloomquist returns this weekend two years wiser and with a greater understanding of, and passion for, the game he loves.
"The more and more I come in here, the stronger passion I get for the game," Bloomquist said prior to a practice session Wednesday at Hodag Lanes.
"He's made a big leap in understanding the game, but he's also made a big leap mentally," added Bloomquist's coach, Mike Bourcier. "Bowling, like a lot of sports, is so mental. The physical, you know your body can do it, it's just focusing, putting the bad shots out and move on."
There have been several growing moments the last two years that have transformed Bloomquist from what Bourcier called a "cocky" sophomore to a confident senior.
Bloomquist admitted his performance two years ago was not his best. He shot a 534 series on tough lane conditions in Weston and missed qualifying for the semifinal round by only 13 pins.
"The timing was off. The consistency wasn't there," he said. "I wasn't accurate. Spare shooting was definitely an issue. Now I'm looking two years down the road and I guess I hit a learning curve."
A jump into the U20 division on the junior circuit opened Bloomquist's eyes to a new level of competition. Then, there's what transpired on the final day of District 9 play last year.
Bloomquist showed up at the Rose Bowl in Marshfield with another state qualifying spot practically in his hands. A standard day would have kept Bloomquist in the top eight in the conference standings, based on a ratio of strikes and spares per frames bowled, otherwise known as fill percentage. Instead, Bloomquist struggled mightily. He filled only 18 of 28 frames that day, fell to 10th in the standings and out of the state tournament. He missed qualifying for state by two fills.
Bourcier called it the biggest learning experience of Bloomquist's career.
"You've got to stay in the moment. You've got to understand your game, not worry about how everyone else is doing. I think that drove him to come back this year," he said.
Refocused, there was no question Bloomquist would return to state this season. He finished atop the District 9 individual standings this year, filling more than 87 percent of the frames he bowled. He threw strikes at a nearly 61-percent clip, also the best in the district.
"This was a year of redemption, more so a year of learning," Bloomquist said. "I just came with a new mindset, I guess. It gave me a new perspective on the game, a new, stronger mental game on how I wanted to attack this year. I knew it wasn't going to be easy going into this year, but I knew I had to put the time in on the lanes in order to put the numbers up."
That time has been more than merely bowling in league and competition. There's hours of practice working on timing, release and specific shots. It's akin to a golfer honing his or her skills for hours on the driving range opposed to smashing a few balls with the driver and then strolling onto the first tee.
"Every time I come out, I try something new," Bloomquist explained. "I practice something different. A lot of kids when they show up, they just show up to bowl. They don't show up to work on the basic skills. A lot of time score doesn't matter. You just come in and practice corner pins for a day. You don't practice your normal, daily, everyday shot. You try different things to make yourself versatile to the lanes, different (oil) patterns."
The ability to process and understand the intricacies of the game turned Bloomquist into essentially a playing coach this season for the Rhinelander/Eagle River high school squad. On a number of occasions he worked in concert with Bourcier to help the other members of the team during competition.
"We'd talk about certain players on the team and talk about what move we should make them do, how we should get them to attack the pocket, speed changes," Bloomquist said. "The good thing is we could bounce it off each other. Not only am I learning off of that, I get to help my teammates and not just worry about myself."
State expectations
Bloomquist has high expectations for this weekend, including hopes of reaching Sunday morning's state finals.
That journey started with last night's preliminary round. The 94 bowlers in the field all bowled a three-game series with the top 25 percent (24 bowlers) qualifying for tonight's semifinal round. From there, the semifinalists will bowl three more games, trimming the field down to five finalists.
The five finalists will return Sunday morning to bowl a stepladder finals, just like the professionals on the PBA tour do, until two are left to bowl the championship match.
"I have the ability to make it there," Bloomquist said. "It just whether or not I can execute it when I show up. I don't want to cut myself short and I don't want to get too over zealous or too overconfident going in. I've got to show up and bowl my game. I can't worry about anyone else, anybody's score. I've got to execute the shot in order to be the top of the state."
Bloomquist enters the tournament in good form. Last week, he bowled a perfect 300 game and an 803 series during junior league play at Hodag Lanes and followed it two nights later with another 300 and an 800-plus series in a qualifier for the Wisconsin Adult-Youth Scholarship tournament.
"I think Darin's peaking at the right time," Bourcier said. "He's put the time in. He's put the practice in. What I've seen over the last four years with him, every year is learning. He's learned every year. He's learned things.
"I think this weekend he has a good shot to go all the way."
After state
Regardless of how things shake out for Bloomquist this weekend at state, it will be far from the swan song for the Hodag senior.
As one of the top five finishers in District 9, he made the squad for the All-Star Team Challenge, which will take place next Saturday in Madison. From there, he'll take part in a number of tournaments and continue to hone his game ahead of the USBC's Junior Gold Championship in July in Dallas.
"The goal there would be to make the cut and to make Team USA. It's a longshot, but it's possible," Bloomquist said.
From there, Bloomquist's career will likely continue at the college level. He and Bourcier both said and number of colleges have shown interest, though Bloomquist has yet to commit to a school.
"I want to pick a school I can learn more from," Bloomquist said. "A lot of them have been contacting me. My main drive I guess is what more can I learn. I don't want to go into a college having to lead a team. I want to go in, work my way (into the lineup) and become a better bowler, progress my game where some day I could make PBA (Tour) or Team USA or travel a little bit."
Bloomquist said he would also like to eventually work in the bowling industry in some fashion.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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