November 2, 2022 at 1:45 p.m.
Plenty of changes for Rhinelander bowling entering season
Plenty of changes for Rhinelander bowling entering season
There has been a coaching transition as well as a change to how District 9 of the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club conducts its competition. Even the number of teams the Hodags have are different as the program gets set to head to Dale's Weston Lanes for the season opener on Sunday.
"It's going to be an exciting year, kind of different," longtime coach Mike Bourcier said.
The biggest change starts with Bourcier. He and assistant Kevin Litzen are taking a step back this year. They still plan to help out the team at practice, and may be around on select match days, but are turning over the head coaching duties to some new faces that have children actively involved in the program.
Mark Bednarz and Jennie Klingen will be heading up the boys' team. Cory Dellenbach will head up the middle school squad as well as a high school girls' team that has re-launched this year thanks to a spike in participation.
"I've been doing this for more than 10 years here. I want the program to keep succeeding," Bourcier said. "We've got some new coaches to help take it on. Cory will help take on some of the roles there. Mark has helped us in the past. He's helped varsity. New blood is always good."
"It's going to be interesting. It's going to be something new," Dellenbach added. "We're still all learning how to be coaches. Mike and Kevin are helping with that quite a bit. It's a new experience for all of us."
The Hodag boys' team will still compete in Division 1 of the WiHSBC. Though the majority of the players are from Rhinelander, their two eldest bowlers - Cody Bednarz and Noah Pearson - hail from Three Lakes and Tomahawk, respectively.
That squad graduated two-time individual state qualifier Kody Litzen off a team that went 7-3 and finished third in the D9 Division 1 standings. Bednarz is the top returning bowler from the squad. The senior filled 77.8% of his frames last year and is looking to regain the form he had his sophomore season when he finished second individual in D9 with a 88.7% fill rate and qualified for the individual state tournament.
Pearson, a junior, filled 73.9% of his frames last year in his first year on the squad. Sophomore Alex Hall also returns after posting a 67.9% fill rate last year. The Hodags have two freshmen - Blake Klingen (68.9% fill) and Dominic Hakala (40.9% fill) - moving up from the middle school program. Freshman Ricky Camacho, a newcomer to the program, rounds out the squad.
"I have a little more expectation for the boys. We've got some good bowlers on the boys' team there. We'll see where it goes there," Bourcier said.
The girls' team is unique in that it is comprised entirely of sophomores - four from Rhinelander and one from Elcho. Johanna Dellenbach is the only one with previous team experience as she filled 59.0% of her frames on last year's boys/co-ed team.
"Johanna's going to be the team leader," Bourcier said. "She's improved so greatly even from last year to this year. She's gone from an average entry bowler and she's turning out to be a top bowler. The more she works at it, the better she'll get at it and I see her going a ways here if she wants to stay with it."
Johanna Dellenbach recruited three of her friends - Katrina Roof, Emma Mankus and Emily Koniar - to give the sport a chance. Additionally the team adds sophomore Addison Habeck from Elcho. While she's new to the team, Cory Dellenbach noted that she bowled over the summer in Hodag Lanes' adult-youth league and is the older sister of returning middle school bowler, Alyssa Habeck.
Because of all the inexperience, expect the season to be one of growth and learning for the girls' team.
"I think that's what this year's going to be about, building that team aspect with all five of the girls," Cory Dellenbach said.
Having a separate girls' team has its advantages, though. Five bowlers compete per game in the league's Baker format. Having two teams opposed to one, large co-ed team means more playing time for everyone.
"They're all going to be playing," Bourcier said. "They're going to be getting their 18 frames in. These kids are going to get more reps, more action on the weekend meets. It's going to keep them more involved."
Barring any last-minute recruitment, the Hodag middle school team will be ineligible to compete for a state meet. Alyssa Habeck, Nathan Lavender and Aiden Johnson all return from last year's team and Eli Miller joins the squad as a sixth-grader. Fifth grader Natalie Dellenbach will be the team's fifth bowler, and the WiHSBC prohibits middle school teams with fifth graders on the roster from being eligible for team state qualification.
While high school teams will still bowl 10 head-to-head matches in District 9 play this year, where and how those matches are conducted will be different. All matches will be contested in five double duals on Sundays at Dale's Weston Lanes, with all programs from the district in attendance.
The move was made to simplify logistics for coaches. That's especially important for a program like Rhinelander which could have had D1 boys, D2 girls and middle school competitions at three separate locations on the same day under the old format.
Furthermore, with fill percentages determining which individuals qualify for the WiHSBC state meet, having everyone bowl on the same lanes at the same time helps to level the playing field.
"Now we've only got to travel five times instead of nine times or 10 times," Bourcier said, hinting that the new schedule format may make him more of a fixture on match days this year than he originally anticipated. "Yeah, it's to Weston, but the good thing is the Weston Lanes are similar to our lanes. Our kids feel right at home at Weston. Weston just seems like they've bowled so many tournaments and so many competition there I think, in general Weston is still like a home house."
After Sunday's opener, the teams won't compete again until Dec. 18. Competitions Jan. 8, Jan. 22 and Feb. 5 round out the schedule. The league will use Feb. 12 as a make-up date, if necessary. The middle school program will bowl single dual meets on the dates listed above as well as Jan. 29 and March 19.
The District 9 singles scholarship tournament will be held Feb. 17-19 at a location yet to be determined. Dale's Weston Lanes will also host the WiHSBC state meet March 3-5. The middle school state meet will take place May 6 in Green Bay.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.