Bowling: Hodag girls break into win column

After two winless seasons, the Rhinelander/Elcho high school girls’ club bowling team finally broke into the win column on Sunday.

The Hodags used a four-game winning streak to defeat the Manawa co-op 6-3 as they split their matches in the fifth and sixth rounds of Wisconsin High School Bowling Club District 9 play at Dale’s Weston Lanes. 

After winning the first game 196-121 against Manawa, the Hodags strung together a consistent four-game stretch between games 3 and 6 of the nine-game series — felling between 168 and 177 pins in all four games. A spare in the 10th frame plus an eight-count on the fill ball for anchor bowler Johanna Dellenbach gave the Hodags a 173-168 win in Game 6 to clinch the dual.

“The look on their faces when they realized they won the match was priceless. Even after winning, they remained focused in the match finished strong,” Hodag girls’ coach Cory Dellenbach said. “It’s our first match win in the last three seasons. It felt good getting it after being so close. I think the girls needed this to show them that they can do it. They are capable of beating any team out on the lanes if they do what they are supposed to do.”

The Hodags had one of their strongest statistical performances of the year against Manawa, averaging 166.2 points per game while filling 67.8% of their frames. 

“It was a full team win,” coach Dellenbach said. “When one struggled, the others stepped up in every game. We need this type of performance every match, and hopefully now they realize that.”

The Hodags fared OK in their opening match against Amherst as well, but a pair of low games in Games 3 and 4 ultimately resulted in a 6-3 loss. Rhinelander dropped the fourth 134-116 and the fifth 119-115. The Hodags averaged 148.9 pins per game and filled 55.6% of their frames against the Falcons. 

“Looking at the scores, Games 4 and 5 were easily winnable if we had a few more marks or extra pins. We lost Game 4 by 18 pins and Game 5 by four pins. It was frustrating seeing that,” coach Dellenbach said. 

Johanna Dellenbach paced the Hodags, filling 26 of her 36 frames on the day with seven strikes. Addison Habeck was close behind going 25 of 36 with 10 strikes. Oliver Doppke finished 19 of 28 with 14 strikes, including a 15-fill, 11-strike performance in the second match against Manawa.

Alexia Corey-Luce was 18 of 30 with nine strikes, Alyssa Habeck went 17 of 30 with eight strikes and Katrina Roof was 6 of 20 with three strikes. 

The Hodags improved to 1-5 with the split. 

Hodag boys suffer close losses

The Rhinelander/Three Lakes boys’ team faded down the stretch in each of its matches Sunday, dropping the final three games in a 5-4 loss to Waupaca and a 6-3 loss to Amherst.

The Hodags started hot against Waupaca, with a 223 in Game 1 and a 225 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the match, and led 4-2 after six games. But Rhinelander dropped the final three games 152-132, 146-137, 158-152 to close out the match. 

The Hodags had high games of 200 and 189 against Amherst and the match was tied 3-3 after six games, but the Hodags finished with games of 145, 130 and 160 to the Falcons’ 192, 191 and 184. 

“They should easily won that match, hands down, but it’s just when we needed to mark and needed to throw them (we didn’t),” coach Mike Bourcier said. “It wasn’t just one of the boys, it was multiple boys would have a problem.”

Dominic Hakala and Oren Alsager each filled 26 of 36 frames on Sunday. Hakala led the way with 17 strikes while Alsager had 14. Blake Klingen was 25 of 36 with 10 strikes, Alex Hall went 23 of 36 with seven strikes and Silas Johnson was 10 of 36 with four strikes. 

Hakala was particularly strong in the Amherst match, going 16 of 18 with 13 strikes.

“Dom got a little food in them between the two matches, because we have an hour break, and he comes out, and he throws a phenomenal ball. The whole time he’s rolling a ball well throwing strikes he’s doing well,” Bourcier noted.

The losses dropped Rhinelander to 2-4 in the Division 2 boys’ standings. 

“We’re just keep going on here, practice this week. We’ll take the holiday break off, and we’ll hit it back again for our next match in January,” Bourcier said.

Middle schoolers fall to Antigo

A shorthanded Rhinelander middle school squad lost to Antigo’s No. 1 squad 5-2 on Sunday. The Hodags called up fifth-grader Logan Johnson to round out the starting five for the match. By using a fifth-grade bowler, the Hodags are no longer eligible for team state tournament contention, per Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin rules.

The Hodags’ top game came in Game 5 with a 154-148 win. They followed that up with a 115-106 win in Game 6. 

Charlotte Preuss and Natalie Dellenbach were the team’s leaders, each filling 9 of 14 frames on the day. Preuss had four strikes and Dellenbach had two. Brighton Walkowski was 8 of 14 with six strikes, Johnson was 4 of 14 with a strike and Xane Kallio was 3 of 14 with a strike.

“We need to work bad on spare pickups and consistent mark hitting. Every one of the bowlers needs to work on this,” coach Dellenbach said. 

The loss dropped the Hodags to 1-2 on the year. 

Up next

The Hodags are idle until Jan. 12 when rounds 7 and 8 of the high school season and round 4 of the middle school campaign will take place. 

The Rhinelander/Three Lakes boys will face Marathon and bowl against the bye while the Rhinelander/Elcho girls will have rematches with Antigo and Merrill/Tomahawk. The Hodag Middle school squad will face Merrill.