Comet bowlers ready to roll

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — According to Mija Cotton, one of the highlights of last year’s bowling season was when her Charles City Comet girls team transferred the Class 1A third-place trophy to LeMars after discovering a scoring error that wasn’t picked up at the state tournament.

“It was the right thing to do,” Cotton said.

Perhaps an even better highlight for this season would be winning a state trophy — and getting to keep it.

“We have our whole team coming back this year,” said Cotton, the only returning senior from a young team that finished a revised fourth at state. “We should be very good.”

The Comets girls team returns Class 1A individual champion Macy Ross, who won the title as a sophomore with a two-game series of 460 that included a 258 first game.

Cotton didn’t place individually, but she was the Comets’ second-leading scorer at Plaza Lanes in Des Moines with a 384 series that included a 201 game.

The Comets boys also finished fourth at state as a rash of split leaves put them in a hole early.

“This is pretty much a building year for us,” said senior Drew Mitchell, who was the Comets anchorman last season.

Similar to the tight spirals he threw as a quarterback for the Comet football team which helped him crack the school’s Top 3 in all-time passing yards, Mitchell has a nice right-handed release on his “swing-shot” strike ball.

“This year I’m working more on consistent ball speed,” said Mitchell, who averaged above 200 last season and is currently rolling well amid youth league play at Comet Bowl. “I would like to keep it at around 14 to 15 miles an hour.”

Mitchell says that he’s working on improving his spare shooting.

“Picking up the 10-pin is something I need to do more of,” he said.

Though Mitchell has rolled his share of 600 and 700 series, he has yet to roll a 300 game — or at least a sanctioned one.

“I got one in practice,” he said.

Fellow senior Jacob Greenzweig has also yet to roll his first 300 game, but it isn’t like he’s not familiar with perfection.

Last trapshooting season with the Charles City/Nashua-Plainfield team, Greenzweig record four “50-of-50” perfect rounds.

“But this is entirely different,” said Greenzweig, who is entering his second season of high school bowling. “Last year was a learning year for me.”

The Comet boys and girls teams will begin their varsity season when they host Columbus Catholic next Tuesday (Nov. 22) starting at 4 p.m. at Comet Bowl.