October 28, 2020 at 11:41 a.m.
Hodag club bowling team ready following uncertain offseason
Hodag club bowling team ready following uncertain offseason
"I have a good feeling about this team that we should do well," he said.
That's saying something considering about two and a half months ago the Hodags did not know if they would even have a home center to bowl in. Now, thanks in part to a change of ownership at Hodag Lanes and a reconfigured schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team will have seven matches in Rhinelander during the 2020-21 season.
In August, the team was essentially homeless after the previous owner of Hodag Lanes made the decision not to reopen the bowling center after being closed for months due to the pandemic. At that point, the team was considering alternatives, including traveling out of town and bowling out of another center for the season.
Those fears, and the need for a contingency plan, were pacified when local businessman and avid bowler Nick Plouff purchased Hodag Lanes and reopened the facility in late September.
"It was a relief from trying to figure out how we're going to organize it," Bourcier said, noting he was looking at possibly having his team bowl out of Tomahawk, Minocqua or Merrill this year if Hodag Lanes was not open. "Six weeks ago we didn't know what we were doing. Now, here we are, one week 'til the first meet."
Back in their home house, the Hodags have had a couple of weeks of preparation ahead of Sunday's opener at home against Iola-Scandinavia.
Bourcier said preparation has been a little hastier than normal. Though the amount of formal preseason practice has been about the same as in previous years, the in-house junior league the team members participate in was delayed a couple of weeks this year due to the changeover in ownership at Hodag Lanes.
"It's a little pressing to get them in shape. We've had a week of practice," he said, noting only a handful of his returning players were able to bowl elsewhere while Hodag Lanes was closed over the summer. "Overall, the kids have retained a lot from over the years. Bowling, it's like anything. If you've done it before for quite a while in your life and then you come back to it, it's like riding a bike. You don't forget how to do it, you just fine-tune how you do things and get back into shape. I'm seeing that from the kids already."
Over the past couple of seasons, the Rhinelander club program has been able to field separate boys' and girls' squads. However, due to graduation, the program is down to only eight high school-aged bowlers this year and everyone has been combined into one co-ed squad that will compete against other boys' and co-ed squads in the district.
There is plenty of talent returning for the combined team, including the top three bowlers from last year's girls' squad - seniors Mackenzie Bourcier and Katrina Blasius and junior Bella Walkowski.
Blasius and Bourcier both qualified for last season's WiHSBC state meet, finishing third (80.2%) and fifth (78.2%) in the district among girls in total fill percentage. Walkowski was 15th in the district standings with a 70.2% fill rate.
Four players are back from last year's boys' squad that parlayed a late regular season run into a fifth-place finish in Division 2 at the WiHSBC state meet. Junior Kody Litzen leads that group, after filling 80.5% of his frames last year. Also returning are senior Jacob Wagler (78.2%), sophomore Cody Bednarz (71.5) and senior Jeremiah Braun (66.7%).
Freshman Calvin Welch, who had a 63.5% fill rate at the middle school level, is the lone addition to this year's team.
"We've got three strong returning girls coming (back) and four strong returning boys from the No. 5 team in the state last year," Bourcier said. "Katrina's bowled a number of tournaments around the state already. She's been practicing and ready. She's right about in her same form. Then I've got Kody and Bella who have been bowling all summer. They've been traveling down to Merrill and bowling.
"I have a good nucleus. I feel strong about this team. I feel that, if we start out slow, I think we're going to come through and we're going to be a contender."
Last year District 9 went to head-to-head dual matches as the criteria used to determine which teams qualified for the state meet. This season, due to COVID, that format has been taken to another level.
Instead of all District 9 teams gathering at the same bowling center on meet day, the district schedule has turned into a bonafide dual meet format, with only two teams in a center at a time in Division 2.
As a result, the Hodags are bowling 12 matches this winter, seven of which are at home.
It's an old school solution to a new school problem caused by the pandemic. Coach Bourcier said dual meets with a true home and away team used to be the norm a couple of decades ago, and are now the norm again.
"It's going to be quiet because we only have two teams, so you're not going to have all the hooting and hollering and yelling but, then again, it's going to be a little different. I'm going to enjoy it a little more I feel," he said. "Now, every match counts for both individual and (team standings). Winner gets a point, the loser gets zero and, after our 12 matches, whoever has the most points goes to state."
The regular season begins Sunday and concludes Feb. 21, with a few weekends off in between for the holidays.
The WiHSBC has not yet determined how many state qualifying spots will be available for the 13 Division 2 co-ed teams in District 9. Last year, the top three teams advanced and Rhinelander's boys' team, with back-to-back wins on the final day of regular season play, leaped into the third and final qualifying spot with a 7-2-1 league mark.
Coach Bourcier said the two teams that finished ahead of Rhinelander in the league standings - Amherst and Iola-Scandinavia - figure to be strong again this year. Iola-Scandinavia returns reigning individual state champ Robert Vater. Bourcier figured Antigo will be in for a rebound season after going 1-7-1 last year.
"It's going to be an interesting year," he said. "I feel confident about it, that we should do well. I know my four seniors they're raring and ready to go. They want to make a statement and they're excited with the way we have the team lined up this year."
Because of the dual meet format which keeps the number of bowlers in a center down, spectators will be allowed to watch the matches - which will typically be Sunday noon starts. Regardless of what rules are in place at individual centers, Bourcier said the WiHSBC is requiring all of its players and coaches to wear masks during competition this season.
In a change this season, Rhinelander's club middle school program will not begin play until after the high school season concludes. This year's WiHSBC state tournament is scheduled for March 5-7 at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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