March 2, 2023 at 8:43 a.m.
Bednarz gears up for state bowling tourney
Bednarz gears up for state bowling tourney
He is the Three Lakes in the Rhinelander/Three Lakes/Tomahawk high school boys' club bowling team - the only one from his high school competing in the sport. He is also the lone senior this year for either the Hodag boys' or girls' teams.
It seems fitting, then, that Bednarz will be a party of one tonight as the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club state tournament gets underway in Weston.
Bednarz, despite a shaky final day in league play last month, was the only member of the team to qualify and is back in the singles portion of the state tournament. He qualified as a sophomore but missed out last year as a junior.
"I feel determined that I'm actually going to do good this year and come back for this one," Bednarz told the River News Tuesday as he practiced at Nick's Hodag Lanes. "Just bowl good, don't think about it too much, just throw the ball. That's all you do. That's all I think, just throw the ball. Don't think about your score. Don't think about other people, just you do you."
Bednarz qualified for the individual portion of the state tournament by finishing among the top 10 boys' bowlers in season-long fill percentage in District 9 of the WiHSBC - a district that spans the Northwoods and several central Wisconsin schools.
Bednarz finished eighth in the final standings, recording a strike or spare in 87.64% of the frames he bowled during the District 9 season. He was fifth entering the final two matches of league play, but struggled, filling only 15 of his first 23 frames in the final meet of the season. He bounced back by filling his final 13 frames and then had to wait it out for a few days until all teams had entered their final statistics to see if he had done enough.
"It's just waiting and all that anticipation and whatnot," he said. "It's just like, 'Am I going to make it?' I didn't know. I was in the top five at one point. I went down quite a bit but I made it though."
Kevin Litzen, one of the assistant coaches for the program, credited Bednarz for settling himself when everything was going wrong on the final day.
"It gets to that last meet, and it's in their head. They know they're there and they just overthink it," he explained. "When they come down to it they finally realize, 'OK, hey, I got to buckle down' and they get it done which is good, especially senior year.
"His mental game is really good. Nothing really seems to bother him. He does get flustered at times, but just a little talk with him, and he's right back on it."
"I was just overthinking it, just over-reacting," Bednarz added. "Then I just decided to calm down (and) focus, a complete restart."
Those are lessons Bednarz said he will carry into the state tournament. The field of nearly 100 bowlers will bowl a three-game traditional series tonight. The top 25% and ties will advance to tomorrow night's semifinal round and bowl three more games. From there, the five bowlers with the highest cumulative scores through the preliminaries and semifinals will advance to a stepladder final on Sunday morning. The fifth seed bowling the fourth seed, with the winner advancing to take on the third seed and so on before one advances to take on the top seed in the championship match.
Bednarz shot a 530 series when he made it to state two years ago, finishing 68th in a field of 97 bowlers. He said having been to state before will help prepare him for tonight's return trip.
"It helps a lot, especially when you've been bowling for quite a few years, you get used to it after a while," he said. "There's so much going on, distractions, some 40-year-old mom screaming in the background."
"He's been at the competition level before and normally he does really well, whether it's state or the Pepsi (junior) tournament. He usually doesn't let the whole thing bother him," Litzen added.
Bednarz said it means a lot to him to be the only bowler from Three Lakes. He said a Three Lakes alum, Tommy Strauss, inspired him on his path. Strauss graduated in 2016, finishing ninth at state his senior year, before going to bowl collegiately for Midland University in Fremont, Neb.
"He was a lot more serious than me but look where he is now, he's in Nebraska in college right now. He's doing great. I'm like 'I want to be that guy, striking all the time,'" Bednarz said.
As for this weekend, Bednarz will have his dad, Mark, on the ground offering advice, but - like a caddie to a golfer - it will ultimately be up to Cody Bednarz to make the adjustments and execute the shots.
"I want to try to keep it to myself, helping myself, just trying to work, if I need to do this or that. I'll ask my dad, of course, but I'll be more in control, more stable," he said.
Bednarz said he hasn't thought much about how he will feel once the weekend ends. Regardless of how he bowls in the individual portion of the state tournament, he plans to compete in the open Storm doubles tournament on Sunday held in conjunction with the event. He did say, however, things will feel different.
"I'm going to miss it," he said. "This is a big part for me. Everything really, the people, the (sound of the) pins, of course. I'll miss it. I'll still bowl in the future, but just bowling here in general, high school bowling it was fun, and I don't regret it."
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.