Prep bowling: Bulldog bowlers best East, Valley
Jan. 18—OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa High School bowling teams are not yet a work of perfection.
The Bulldogs are, however, getting a little closer each day. The good news is there are still a few more days before Ottumwa will need to be at its best when trips to the state tournament are on the line.
The Ottumwa boys bowling team topped 2,900 for just second time this season, ultimately winning by 110 pins over a late-charging West Des Moines Valley squad on Tuesday during a triangular meet with the Tigers and Iowa Alliance conference rival Des Moines East. The Scarlets were overtaken by Valley in bakers, finishing with a team score of 2,596 allowing Ottumwa to pick up their fifth win over seven conference opponents.
"It still seems like we can't get through a set of baker games without having a hiccup," Ottumwa head boys bowling coach Tom Maher said. "We missed a couple spares in the fourth game and it just kind of snowballs on us. Everybody starts trying to give 120 to 140 percent and that never works well."
Bulldog head girls bowling coach Doug Techel knows exactly what Maher is talking about. The Ottumwa girls posted their third-best score of the season, rolling a 2,777 jumping out to a 400-pin lead after individual play before pulling away in the baker rounds to beat East by 607 pins and Valley by 717.
"I'm happier with the spare shooting than I was last week up at Game Day Lanes (during an Iowa Alliance dual win at Des Moines North) and the 235 baker game that we shot shows what we can do," Techel said. "We just need to continue being aggressive. When we're not aggressive is when we get in trouble. We can't be afraid about making a mistake."
Mackenzie Clubb held on to post the top individual series score of the day for Ottumwa with a 397, posting a team-best 238 opening game for the Bulldogs. Clubb was nearly caught for top individual honors by teammate Olivia Moughler, who followed a 192 opening game with a 204 in game two to finish with a 198 average.
"I'm definitely more comfortable being in the varsity line-up. I'm way more confident," Moughler said. "Everybody has ups and downs. Right now, I feel pretty up there."
While Ottumwa maintained a healthy lead throughout the baker games, the Bulldogs opened with scores of 160 and 163 adding only 39 pins on to the margin over East. Like the boys, trying to make up for open frames has been a tendency that Techel would like to see the girls get away from heading into the later stretch of the regular season.
"It's easy when you have a string of strikes going. Everyone's loose and throwing good, but if someone misses in between there, the next person feels like they need to make up for that miss," Techel said. "We're learning. We're still all juniors and a sophomore bowling on this team."
All six OHS varsity girls finished within 64 pins of each other after individual play. Hannalee Songer added a two-game series total of 375, edging Bulldog teammate Madi Greene by a mere five pins for the team's third-best score, while Katelin Valentine added a 351 series total.
As for the Ottumwa boys, Ryan Johnston led an overall balanced team effort with a 431 two-game series, including an opening game of 223. East junior Dylan Post posted the top individual total of the day, rolling a 449 series total including a meet-best 241 opening game.
"It could have been worse, but it also could have been better," Johnston said. "I'm working on some things right now. I was able to move my eyes and move my feet to the left and adjust to get to where I wanted to be. I wanted to leave spares I could pick up."
Johnston was one of three OHS bowlers to post a 200-plus average during the meet. Logan Shoemaker edged Aiden Hoskins with a 207 average, two total pins ahead of Hoskins, while Tayte Walker posted a 200 average finishing the day with a team-best 221 second game.
"If we clean things up just a little bit, we shoot 3,100," Maher said. "It's not about how we bowl today. It's how we bowl when we get to the state qualifying meet and, hopefully, when we get to the state meet."
Both Ottumwa teams will get a bit of a preview of what that competition and atmosphere will be like this weekend at home. The Bulldogs will host Fairfield, Keokuk, Louisa-Muscatine, Marshalltown, Muscatine, North Scott and Southeast Polk in a baker tournament on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
"We'll see just how good we are or we aren't," Techel said. "All these teams coming in for this tournament are good. There are no slouches. It's going to be like a state tournament."
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
