January 12, 2022 at 2:22 p.m.
Hodag bowlers score home win over Wausau/Mosinee
Hodag bowlers score home win over Wausau/Mosinee
The Hodags averaged 173.6 pins per game at home on Sunday and fended off the Wausau/Mosinee co-op 6-3 in a Wisconsin High School Bowling Club District 9 match at Nick's Hodag Lanes.
The Hodags filled only 71.1% of their frames on Sunday, up a tick from their 67.8 fill percentage Dec. 19 against Wisconsin Rapids, but still below their season average. Close victories in Games 8 and 9 on Sunday were enough to secure the win.
"We missed two days of practice each week (due to the Christmas and New Year's holidays)," coach Mike Bourcier said. "I don't know if that showed a little bit, but they've been practicing on the shot all last week and there was a fairly good look for most of them but, I don't know what it is, if it was the home meet or what, but they come out right off the bat and started missing easy spares."
Leading 4-3, the Hodags strung together six straight marks in Game 8, including a strike from Cody Bednarz in the ninth frame and a spare and strike from Kody Litzen in the 10th, to edge Wausau 174-169 and clinch the match.
Bednarz worked off a Bella Walkowski strike in the ninth frame of Game 9 with a strike in the 10th, and then converted a single-pin spare attempt on his final bonus ball of the frame to give Rhinelander a 187-185 win in the capper.
The Hodags started sluggishly on Sunday, dropping the first game 156-146. Rhinelander added a 178-125 win in Game 2 and then survived another 146 game in Game 3 to win by 11 pins and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Both teams responded with their best game of the match. Consecutive strikes from Litzen, Noah Pearson, Johanna Dellenbach and Alex Hall from frames 5-8 helped Rhinelander win 221-197.
"We started making little adjustments with them and tried to get them lined up. That was a good game. That was the game we were looking for," Bourcier said.
Wausau took Game 5 174-171. Rhinelander answered with a 179-134 win in Game 6 before Wausau took Game 7, 169-158.
Litzen, who Bourcier said bowled through some wrist discomfort, and Alex Hall each filled 13 of their 16 frames on Sunday, leading the Hodags.
"(Litzen) didn't throw balls on Friday night. He didn't throw Saturday morning and he came out Sunday," Bourcier. "We had him do a few warmups and he was like, 'It aches, but is doesn't hurt.' He wasn't having that sharp pain. He went at it and I think that helped us some with the striking, but he was still having a hard time carrying. Kody's three opens were all splits. It wasn't that he was throwing bad or missing anything spare-able."
Litzen finished with seven strikes on the day while Hall had a team-high eight strikes.
"Alex did phenomenal, only had three opens," Bourcier said. "For him and his percentages he did really well."
Bednarz was 14 of 18 with eight strikes, Walkowski was nine of 19 with five strikes, Payton McCue went 6 of 10, Pearson was 5 of 10 and Dellenbach was 2 of 4.
Rhinelander improved to 4-2 with the win, but is still chasing Stevens Point (6-0) and D.C. Everest (5-1) in the district's Division 1 standings.
"We've got to win out," Bourcier said. "I think Everest and SPASH won again so the only way we're going to jump on them is we're going to have to beat them and them have Everest beat SPASH. One at a time, that's what they say. We'll worry about what we do next week and time will tell."
D.C. Everest and Stevens Point are slated to face each other this Sunday as the league's D1 teams bowl at 5 Star Lanes in Plover. Rhinelander will face Marshfield/Auburndale (2-4).
Middle schoolers fall to D.C. Everest
The Hodag middle school team averaged 130 pins per game in a 6 1/2-2 1/2 loss to D.C. Everest's No. 2 team at Sunday Hodag Lanes.
The Evergreens took the first four games before the Hodags got on the board with a 129-120 win in Game 5. The teams bowled to a 122-122 tie in Game 6. Rhinelander added a 130-111 win in Game 8.
"It was fun. We were at home, so it was a good thing," Bourcier said. "It showed a little bit. We lost the match, but we won a couple (games) and ties the one. Game 1 we could have easily won, Game 2 we could have. Game 4 we could have won. All games were close enough to get wins."
Natalie Fore, the lone fifth-grader on the team, went 7 of 14 on the day with four strikes and had a string of six marks in a row at one point.
"She comes out and had those three strikes in a row, picked up a spare, throws another strike," Bourcier. "Everyone was just cheering, the rest of the team was, for her there. She's just a ball of fun and bubbly. She's kind of the cheerleader of the team."
Blake Klingen led the way, going 11 of 14 with three strikes, Nate Lavender was 6 of 16, Dominic Cooper was 5 of 16, Aiden Johnson went 4 of 14 and Alyssa Habeck was 3 of 14.
The middle school squad will be in Antigo this Sunday and will bowl Merrill No. 1.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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