March 2, 2022 at 3:30 p.m.
Hodag bowlers fare well in D9 singles tournament
Hodag bowlers fare well in D9 singles tournament
Senior Kody Litzen was the overall champion of the three-day tournament, averaging more than 250 pins per game in his four-game series. Rhinelander had three division champions and five bowlers who combined to take home $1,150 of the $5,000 scholarship fund that was set up by the district for the event.
Fill percentages from the district season were used to flight bowlers in to six different divisions. All bowlers bowled four games in their choice of either the Friday night, Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon shift. Alex Hall won the C Division for Rhinelander while Johanna Dellenbach was tops in the D Division. The top three to five finishers in each division earned scholarship dollars, with $300 going to the winner of each flight.
"It was a great showing by everyone," Hodag coach Mike Bourcier said. "We won three of the six divisions, which is great. It helps having it here, but it just goes to show how these kids have been practicing and working hard at it. It's a good, strong building, going into next year seeing all of this."
Litzen, who is gearing up to participate in this weekend's WiHSBC state tournament in the Fox Cities, bowled with some heavy hitters on Sunday afternoon. He went head-to-head with Antigo's Jack Steger and Waupaca's Braden Mallasch for the A Division title. All three were gunning for the 959 series shot by Stevens Point's Deacon Koback in the Friday evening shift.
All three came out strong. Mallasch threw 11 strikes in a row to start as he just missed perfection, opening with a 297 game. Steger shot 269 and Litzen shot 267. Steger eventually worked ahead as he carried a perfect game into the 10th frame of Game 2 before settling for 288. Litzen followed his 267 with a 210 in Game 2 and a 247 in Game 3 to sit 60 pins behind Steger going into the last game.
Litzen delivered with a strong final game, shooting 277 to edge Steger by two pins -1,001 to 999 - for the overall title. Mallasch finished fourth, 10 pins behind Koback.
"Kody came around and just started striking, and striking, and striking," Bourcier said. "Then, in the seventh frame I think it was, he leaves a 7-count and picks it up. From there he strikes out for 277 last game. Kody came through in the end there. He made his shots. He threw great balls. He didn't show any pressure or nothing. He was nice and relaxed, going up there, throwing the ball. That was the highlight."
Hall bowled on Friday night, and his 888 series held up to win the C Division, for bowlers who filled 60 to 68% of their frames during the regular season. Hall bowled the highest game of any bowler in the division - a 246 in Game 2 - and backed it up with a 245 in Game 3 as he edged D.C. Everest's Angela Steinke by 19 pins for the top spot.
"Alex he came out, a rough start to begin with, but settled down and shot 246, 245, 219," Bourcier said. "He shoots over 700 his last three to shoot 888 and win his division. It was phenomenal watching him bowl."
Dellenbach bowled the two top games in Division D - a 224 in Game 3 and a 226 in Game 4 - to shoot 756 and win the flight by 73 pins over Antigo's Emma Beck.
"Johanna comes out in her division, starts out 159, 147, but all of a sudden gets rolling the ball like she did Wednesday night at practice," Bourcier said. "She shot 600 for three games (that night), her first time ever over 600. It carried over."
Blake Klingen, the anchor bowler for Rhinelander's middle school team, closed with games of 220 and 245 to vault into third place in the C Division and win $150 in scholarship money. Dominic Cooper, competing in the E Division shot 617 to finish third and take home $100.
"Blake bowled well and Dominic bowled well. Dominic was leading after Saturday but there were a couple of kids (Sunday) that jumped ahead of him a little bit, but he finished a strong third," Bourcier said.
The Hodags had virtually all of its team compete in the singles competition. Noah Pearson (745) and Bella Walkowski (707) were 10th and 17th, respectively, in the B Division. Payton McCue shot 527 and placed 12th in the D Division. Alyssa Habeck, Natalie Fore and Aiden Johnson were ninth, 11th and 12th in the E division with series of 423, 362 and 316, respectively.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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