High school bowlers split D9 matches

The Rhinelander/Three Lakes boys’ and Rhinelander/Elcho girls’ high school bowling teams split their matches during the fourth round of Wisconsin High School Bowling Club District 9 action Sunday in Weston.

The Hodag boys beat Marathon 7-2 in their first match of the day, but struggled to hit the target score in the second match bowling against the bye as it lost 5-4. The Hodag girls dropped their opener 8-1 to Antigo but then rallied to knock off last year’s WiHSBC state champs Merrill/Tomahawk 5-4 in the night cap.

Boys’ squad

The Hodag boys came out firing on all cylinders in the opener against Marathon, averaging 181.7 pins per game and filling 80% of their frames in a convincing win over the Red Raiders. Rhinelander opened with games of 196, 195 and 203 as jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the match. After dropping Game 4 206-172, the Hodags responded with a 179-178 win in Game 5 and a 202-161 win in Game 6 to clinch the dual in the best-of-nine Baker series. 

“We came out that first match against Marathon and the kids were doing great,” coach Mike Bourcier said. “You can tell by the scores and everything that came out. We’re playing fairly close to where we did all our practicing on. They had good looks and everything. They were throwing strikes, picking up most of their spares and having a good time.”

Things were much more difficult when the Hodags had to bowl against themselves in the second match. The team averaged 161.9 pins in that match and only filled 67% of its frames while trying to beat a yet-to-be-determined target score. That score was determined by the league average score from Sunday’s second shift, which ended up just under 171 pins. The Hodags had to get within 10 pins of that average to win each individual game.

“We told the kids to project to shoot about 175,” Bourcier said, trying to guess at the target score for the match. “Sometimes it’s harder when you’re bowling yourselves to try to stay pumped up against someone else you get that little more drive. I do understand that and that’s why we had to do it internally and it just didn’t work.”

Rhinelander beat the 161 target score in Games 1, 3, 5 and 8 — posting a high of 209 in Game 3, but had scores of 144, 131, 119 and 156 in Games 2, 4, 6 and 7. The Hodags then lost the rubber game by nine pins, posting a 152 in the finale. 

“It was just like that you could see a decline in them and they were getting frustrated because the balls weren’t hooking and the way they were the first shift and or they didn’t get a good carry,” Bourcier said.

Senior Alex Hall led the Hodags, filling 29 of his 36 frames with six strikes on the day, Blake Klingen went 28 of 36 with 16 strikes, Oren Alsager was 26 of 36 with 13 strikes, Dominic Hakala was 25 of 34 with 14 strikes, Jackson Fuss was 17 of 24 with nine strikes and Silas Johnson was 7 of 14 with four strikes.

Girls squad

Much like their boys’ counterparts, the Hodag girls had vastly different results in their two matches — though the girls started slow and finished strong. Rhinelander/Elcho averaged only 121.9 pins per game and filled 41% of its frames in an opening loss to Antigo, but bounced back with a 150.2 average and a 61% fill rate in the victory over Merrill/Tomahawk.

“It was a rollercoaster today for the girls team. That’s the best way I can describe it with some steep ups and downs,” coach Cory Dellenbach said. 

The day ended on a high note for the Hodags, who won the rubber game 184-175 against Merrill/Tomahawk to earn their second win on the season. That came after the Merrill co-op had won Games 7 and 8 to force a decisive Game 9. The Hodags filled all but one frame in the last game, and posted their highest score of the day, to secure the nine-pin victory.

“The girls have lost many matches this way and it was nice to see them come out on the other end this time,” coach Dellenbach said. “I think they needed one like this. This is our second match win now and the girls can see that we can do it if they do what they are supposed to do.”

That was juxtaposed against the morning match in which the team’s high game was only a 151 and the squad failed to break 100 on two occasions. 

Addison Habeck led the Hodag squad on Sunday, filling 25 of her 36 frames with a team-high 10 strikes. She was followed by Johanna Dellenbach, who was 23 of 34 with eight strikes. 

“Addison impressed me. She bowled very well and when we needed her to, she stepped up as a leader that kept the team chugging along,” coach Dellenbach said. “Johanna had to step away for a game and while we lost that game, Addison kept the team’s spirits up and took on that 5 and 10 spot and thrived in it. I am very proud of how she did.”

Alyssa Habeck was 21 of 32 with nine strikes, Oliver Doppke was 12 of 28 with four strikes, Alexia Corey-Luse went 10 of 22 with three strikes, Katrina Roof was six of 24 and Joselyn Sorensen was 0 for 4 on the day. 

Middle School squad

The Rhinelander middle school squad was swept 7-0 by Merrill on Sunday. Though the Hodags averaged 119.9 pins per game with a 41% fill rate, they couldn’t keep cup with a Merrill squad that averaged 156 pins per game. 

“The biggest takeaway here is that spares need to happen,” coach Dellenbach said. “We had 40 opens on the day. That’s not good at all. That’s 40 spares that were missed and a lot of them were easy one- and two-pin spare attempts (10 missed of those). The kids really need to focus on making good shots and when they don’t get them, then picking up spares needs to be a priority.”

Natalie Dellenbach led the way, going 11 of 14 with a pair of strikes, Logan Johnson was 6 of 14 with three strikes, Charlotte Preuss was 6 of 14 with a strike, Brighton Walkowski was 4 of 14 with a strike and Zane Kallio was 3 of 14 with a strike.

Honoring the seniors

As the Hodags do not have a home match this season, they took time to honor the four seniors on their squad — Hall, Johanna Dellenbach, Addison Habeck and Roof. 

“Johanna and Alex grew up together in bowling from bumper league, middle school and now high school. It’s going to be sad not seeing them out there together anymore,” coach Dellenbach recalled. “Addison and Katrina have both been with the program for three years and have grown so much. I am pleased to say that Addison, Johanna and Katrina will all be continuing with their bowling ‘careers’ next year all at UW-Green Bay. It’ll be exciting seeing them all stick together.”

The home stretch

It appears unlikely that the high school squads will have either team or individual representation at the WiHSBC state meet this year. The Hodag boys sit at 3-5 in the D2 standings while the Hodag girls are 2-6. Historically only the top two teams in District 9 play have advanced to the WiHSBC state meet. 

Individually, Hakala was Rhinelander’s top-ranked bowler on the boys’ side but sat 23rd in the standings with a 62.29 Baker Equivalency Rating as of information entered into the league’s database on Wednesday. 

On the girls’ side, Johanna Dellenbach was eighth with a 58.83 BER. Historically only the top nine boys and top four girls from District 9 have moved on to state, and Bourcier noted he expects the cutline to fall in a similar range this year. 

Both squads have only two more matches in the regular season — which will take place Sunday, Feb. 2 at 5-Star Lanes in Plover.