Ross strikes individual gold at bowling state; Comet girls finish third, boys fourth

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

DES MOINES — Bowlers have to deal with this all the time.

You’re on a roll, locked in a rhythm, and anxious for the next frame to add to your string of strikes.

Then there’s a machinery breakdown delay.

Charles City sophomore Macy Ross was burying rack after rack at the Class 1A Iowa High School State Bowling Tournament, Monday at Plaza Lanes. She had just rolled a 258 in the first game, and was hoping to follow up with a similar score in the second to increase her and her team’s chances for a state title.

Then the pinsetter shut down — for about five minutes

“Yeah, it bothered me a little,” Ross said, “but when things like that happen, I’ve got to stay out of my head and try not to think too much about it.”

Ross shot a 202 in the second game, giving her a two-game series of 460, which was more than enough for the Girls Singles state title.

“I knew after the first game I had a good chance,” said Ross, who placed sixth in Girls Singles at the Substate tournament last Tuesday in Forest City.

From last year when she was a district champion as a freshman, Ross has made some adjustments to her game, including a more driving axis-angled spin to her first ball.

“I also slowed down my feet and I’m not hopping along the approach,” Ross said. “I still need to work on my consistency and my ball speed.”

Ross said that her ball has been clocked at around 15 miles per hour.

“I’d like to get it around 17 or 18,” she said.

Though Ross bested runner-up Tyra Villalobos of Knoxville by 23 pins, a little tough luck prevented her from scoring even higher.

In the ninth frame of the second game, Ross’s first ball sent the headpin whizzing by the 7-pin before it bounded off the wall and was sent spinning back onto the deck. Nonetheless, the 7-pin stood defiantly untouched before Ross picked it up and later struck in the 10th.

Of course, it didn’t matter when it came to claiming the Girls Singles title, but it could have placed the Comets a little higher in girls team standings as they took third with a grand total pinfiall of 2,728, less than a mark behind runner-up West Delaware (2,734).

Camanche (2,785) won the girls team title.

“I felt good about them after the good practice we had before coming down here,” Charles City assistant coach Tyler Mitchell said. “The girls shot well as a team, and this is a great experience for them.

“All of them will be back next year.”

The Comets’ state lineup included one junior: Mija Cotton; four sophomores: Ross, Aryah Nelson, Baili Girkin and Kaitlyn Sickman; and one freshman:

Madison Ross, Macy’s sister.

The Comet boys team, which came to Plaza Lanes with the second highest team average among the Class 1A qualifiers, placed fourth with a grand total pinfall of 2,859.

“The bowling gods weren’t with us today,” Comets head coach Doug Bohlen said of team, which finished well behind state champion Vinton-Shellsburg (3,141), LeMars (3,062) and high team average-leader Maquoketa (3,035).

“I think we got assigned to a pair of tough lanes,” Bohling said. “The left side (lane 27), we were locked. But the right side (lane 28) it seemed as if the oil traveled down to the pins.

“We were leaving a lot of 8-10 splits on the right side as the ball wasn’t driving through like on the left. The other team (Fairfield) bowling with us on that pair was having trouble with the right, too. The right lane killed us.”

Brady Girkin was the high individual man for Charles City with a two-game series of 407. Tyler Brockney was the next best Comet with 390.

In the five-game Baker round, Charles City boys only had one game above 200 (219 in the fourth).

“We were good a picking up our spares today,” Bohlen said, “but we just couldn’t string any strikes together.”

Iowa High State Bowling Tournament

Girls Class 1A

FEB. 22, AT PLAZA LANES, DES MOINES

Team Results — 1. Camanche 2,785, 2. West Delaware 2,734, 3. Charles City 2,728, 4. LeMars 2,723, 5. Red Oak 2,648, 6. Knoxville 2,622, 7. Fairfield 2,442.

Singles Results — 1. Macy Ross (CC) 258-202 460, 2. Tyra Villalobos (K) 212-225 437, 3. Alexa Gilleland (RO) 200-235 435, 4. Miranda Asline (WD) 215-211 426, 5. LaAnn Helgevold (Clarke) 225-200 425, 6. Alyssa Bunge (Vinton-Shellsburg) 187-231 418, 7. Mackenzie McCarty (K) 224-191 415, 8. Abby Whiddon (L) 237-175 412, 9. Shaely Nowels (RO) 134-277 411, 10. Jordan Smith (C) 209-202 411.

Charles City Scores — Ross 258-220 460, Mija Cotton 201-183 384, Aryah Nelson 186-155 341, Baili Girkin 149-181 330, Kaitlyn Sickman 126-177 303, Madison Ross 123-169 292.

Boys Class 1A

Team Results — 1. Vinton-Shellsburg 3,141, 2. LeMars 3,062, 3. Maquoketa 3,035, 4. Charles City 2,859, 5. Knoxville 2,836, 6. Shenandoah 2,744, 7. Fairfield 2,668.

Singles Results — 1. Nick Stein (VS) 246-267 513, 2. Wil Eick (Oelwein) 213-244 457, 3. Matt Hystad (L) 206-244 450, 4. Zach Lanning (M) 181-266 477, 5. Chase Hiser (S) 226-212 438, 6. Eric Swan (F) 222-213 435, 7. Luke Brame (M) 199-234 433, 8. Tanner Mason (K) 216-202 418, 9. Cory Shafer (K) 228-188 416, 10. Noah Holder (L) 156-259 415, 10. Kyle Zenk (L) 177-238 415.

Charles City Scores — Brady Girkin 188-219 407, Tyler Brockney 197-193 390, Hunter Koebrick 208-181 389, Kaleb Ross 192-169 361, Drew Mitchell 169-191 360, Hunter Brockney 162-140 302.