February 6, 2019 at 3:24 p.m.
Hodag boys 3rd, girls 2nd after opening round of district bowling tournament
Hodag boys 3rd, girls 2nd after opening round of district bowling tournament
The Hodag boys dropped a pair of 4-3 decisions to D.C. Everest and Wausau East/West Sunday at Hodag Lanes, while the Hodag girls fell 5-2 to Wausau East/West and 6-1 to Marshfield.
The match results were not the most important number of the day, rather the teams' aggregate scores through 14 baker games. Both teams bowled well above their season average and the Hodag boys currently sit third in Division 2 through the first two rounds of district play. Rhinelander/Elcho is second in the girls division. The top three D2 school and the girls district champion will advance to next month's state tournament in Ashwaubenon.
"Overall, for both teams it was good scoring," Hodag bowling coach Mike Bourcier said. "The scores across the house, you look at the teams that average higher were right there, but our kids bowled really well. I think having it at our home house really helped on this one."
The home house definitely helped the Hodag boys, who bowled more 200-plus games in the opening match against D.C. Everest (four) than it had all season up until that point. The Hodags won all but one of those 200-plus games, a 222-207 loss to the Evergreens in Game 6 that proved to be the difference in the match. Regardless, Bourcier said the team's stomachs will be rewarded for the strong effort.
"We made a few little adjustments here, just trying to keep them smooth and all of a sudden they pop out a 200 game. So I put a little challenge. I said, 'OK, we need at least four 200 games (today). That's one out of three, and we'll do pizza on Wednesday,'" he explained. "All of a sudden the kids relaxed and we hit some of the better lanes. It showed. They rattled off three, 200 games in a row to close out the first match."
The Hodags followed with a fifth 200-plus game to open the second match against Wausau East/West. Rhinelander/Elcho led that match 3-1 after four games, but Wausau closed out with games of 217, 201 and 215 to take the dual.
"Overall, they did well. Our low game was 150. We didn't shoot anything lower than that, but we left a lot of pins out there," Bourcier said. "There were a lot of single-pin misses again, and simple ones, not even corner pins ... I think we had probably almost eight single pin misses. We could easily be sitting 100, 125 pins higher for conference play. But I've got to be happy with the showing. We didn't tank it. The kids came through. Our goal was 150 and above, and we did that."
As a team, the RHS/Elcho boys filled more than 74 percent of their frames, averaged 182.3 pins per game on the day and currently sit four pins ahead of Antigo for the final D2 state qualifying spot. Calvin Schneider led the way filling 24 of 28 frames with 15 strikes. Jeremiah Bellow and Jeremiah Braun each had 21 fills. Jacob Wagler and Kody Litzen each had 19 fills.
"Calvin bowled really well. Kody missed an easy spares, but he only had nine opens," Bourcier said. "I'm real happy with Jeremiah Bellow. He's come a tremendous way from the beginning of the season when he's averaging 12-13 opens on an 18-frame match. What did he have, seven opens for 28 frames? He's worked hard at it, practiced a lot and it shows."
It was a similar story for the Hodag girls, who averaged 163.1 pins per game and filled more than 64 percent of their frames, but ran into strong Division 1 boys' teams during their duals.
Rhinelander/Elcho won its two highest games to 194 and 193 in the first match, but lost the first six games against a hot-shooting Marshfield team - including a 215-212 loss in Game 6 of their match.
Sophomores Mackenzie Bourcier and Katrina Blasius led the way for the Hodags. Bourcier totaled 24 fills and 15 strikes, while Blasius had 22 fills and eight strikes.
"The girls had their bright moments then, like the boys, missed some easy spares," coach Bourcier said. "Mackenzie and Katrina were both the strong points. Mackenzie had only four opens, great second match with only one open. She threw a lot of strikes on the day and was consistent on the day. So was Katrina. With Katrina bowling the anchor, she saves a lot of pins for the team. In the first match, she struck out in three or four of the 10th frames. That adds extra pins right there."
Alexis Kriesel and Bella Walkowski each had 15 fills on the day while Brooke Mork filled 14 frames. Rhinelander/Elcho's 14-game total of 2,284 pins puts it 215 pins behind Amherst for the district first and only state qualifying spot in the girls' division.
"That's 15 pins a game. I think the girls easily left that out there. That's one mark a game, plus some of the pin count. That puts them right there near the top," Bourcier said.
The District 9 tournament concludes this coming Sunday at 5-Star Lanes in Plover. Not only will the district's team state qualifiers be determined at the end of the meet, so will its individual state qualifiers based on season-long fill percentage.
The top four girls and top eight boys will advance individual to state. Currently Mackenzie Bourcier sits tied for fourth and Blasius is eighth in the girls' division. Calvin Schneider is the top-ranking Hodag boy, in 17th place in the district.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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