Rhinelander bowlers win Weston Winter Classic

A team comprised of members of the Rhinelander Area Youth Bowling Club won the Weston Winter Classic bowling tournament on Sunday, Dec. 28, going undefeated in bracket play to win the championship over 16 other boys and co-ed bowling squads from throughout the state.

The squad was comprised of a mix of players from Rhinelander’s varsity, JV and middle school squads. Rhinelander seniors Blake Klingen and Dom Hakala, Three Lakes junior Oren Alsager, Elcho junior Alyssa Habeck, Rhinelander freshman Eli Miller and Rhinelander eighth grader Natalie Dellenbach competed for the Hodags. Coaches Kevin Litzen and Cory Dellenbach skippered the squad. 

The Hodags won this year’s tournament after falling to Antigo in the championship game in the 2024 edition.

“We were in the championship last year as well undefeated, but ended up losing both to take second. Three of those players were back on the team this year and didn’t want that to happen again. The kids battled, they had fun, they learned and they got it done,” coach Dellenbach said.

The Hodags were the sixth seed going into the bracket stage, after four regular games of bowling in the preliminary stage. 

In bracket play, teams went head-to-head baker style with it being total pins as the determining factor. It was double elimination. The Hodags started by facing No. 3 seed Beaver Dam and came away with the 619-554 win after falling behind 226-209 in the first game.

Rhinelander then faced No. 7 seed DC Everest and walked away with the 540-492 win. 

In the third round, Rhinelander took on No. 8 seed Wittenberg and came away with the 549-502 win to advance to the championship. Wittenberg made its way through to consolation finals to earn a rematch with Rhinelander in the championship.

With Rhinelander still undefeated, Wittenberg would need to win two matches to take the championship, while Rhinelander would just have to win one with Wittenberg loss to Rhinelander earlier. 

Wittenberg came out strong, taking the early 168-119 lead after the first game. Rhinelander battled back in the second putting up a 197 and held Wittenberg to 147, giving Rhinelander the 316-315 edge.

After a bit of a slow start in the third game, Rhinelander charged back to take the 192-175 win, giving the Hodags the overall 508-490 victory and the tournament championship.

“The parents and coaches were on edge. It didn’t seem like the kids were, just the adults. I guess they just wanted to make it interesting,” coach Dellenbach quipped.

Klingen led the Hodags in bracket play with filling 56 out of 64 frames with 24 strikes. Alsager went 53 of 64 with 25 strikes. Miller went 41 of 55 with 24 strikes, Natalie Dellenbach was 35 of 52 with 14 strikes, Hakala was 30 of 42 with 13 strikes and Habeck went 28 of 42 with nine strikes.

“Today showed that spares mattered today, and based on what I see, they covered the spares really well. It shows the kids that they are all capable of making the spares to win matches,” Litzen said.

The Hodags totaled 3,477 pins over four games in the qualifying rounds to advance. Teams could only use five bowlers per round, meaning someone had to sit out each of the four round. If someone was struggling, teams could swap them out with the person sitting, but that person removed could not return that game. The score counted for the person that started the game. 

Rhinelander had 887 pins the first game, led by Natalie Dellenbach tossing up a 198 game. In the second game, the Hodags tallied 871 pins, led by Miller with a 201 game. Rhinelander had an 863 in the third game, paced by Miller again with an 188. Rhinelander scored 856 in the fourth and final game of pool play, led by Alsager’s 209.

Before bracket play began in the afternoon, the all-tournament teams were announced. 

Natalie Dellenbach was the closes to making it, she was in the top five until her final game (a 135) and she dropped to eighth place out of 34 girls with a total score of 660. Habeck was 24th with a 461.

On the boys side, Alsager was the closest, taking 14th out of 98 bowlers with a 742. Blake Klingen had a 737 for 16th.

Junior Gold qualifier

At a Junior Bowling Scholarship Tour Tournament held at Dale’s Weston Lanes on Saturday, Dec. 27, Natalie Dellenbach qualified for the 2026 Junior Gold National Championships that will be held in July in Minneapolis. This will be her second Junior Gold appearance. She’ll be competing in U14. Dellenbach qualified with a 525 series.

Dellenbach is the second bowler from the Rhinelander program to qualify for that this year, joining Alsager. 

Up next

The next meet for the three teams will be Sunday, Jan. 4 at Dale’s Weston Lanes. Varsity and JV will bowl at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and middle school at 3 p.m.