Lady Bobcats take fourth at Class 2A state

The Bobcats rolled lines of 137, 184, 169, 173 and 163 for the decision. Newton rolled 178, 168, 164, 194 and 166. The teams were knotted at two games each when they rolled the final and those three pins that split them in the last game determined the winners.

Following their qualifying 15-game baker scores, the teams were bracketed according to those totals. The Bobcats were seventh overall and faced Central DeWitt (No. 2) in their first series, one they won in four games, with totals of 184, 203, 178 and 205.

In the quarterfinals, they were up against the eventual champion, Lewis Central (No. 6) and fell 3-2, with games of 156, 176, 150, 170 and 180. The final and deciding game was a slim single pin less than Lewis Central, who went on to take out the No. 1 team Keokuk 3-2 in the finals. Keokuk had knocked off Decorah (3-0) and Newton (3-2) before falling to Lewis Central, who had defeated No. 3 LeMars (3-2) before taking WD.

To reach their spots in the bracket round, the teams rolled 15 baker games. WD’s scores were 192, 167, 170, 196, 161, 172, 172, 179, 148, 189, 168, 140, 156, 153 and 125 for a 2,646 total. Keokuk earned the No. 1 seed with a 2,902, followed by DeWItt 2,834, LeMars 2,813, Newton 2,758, Denison-Schleswig 2,694, Lewis Central 2,651, WD and Decorah 2,465.

In action at Maple Lanes, Feb. 24, Baylee Neyen, who had qualified as one of 32 individuals for the tourney, ended in a tie for 10th place, just nine pins out of the final eight-bowler bracket round. She rolled lines of 165, 188 and 192 for a 545 total, knotted with Beka Weithers, of Newton. Kadence Hyde, of Waterloo East, rolled the top qualifying score of 680 (237, 227, 218) and went on to claim the title following the bracket rounds, topping in her last match DeWitt’s Jena Edwards (216-204).

The top eight bowlers were Hyde (680); Alesha Oden, of Lewis Central (665); Kate Reed, of Lewis Central (646); Brianna Musgrave, of Denison-Schleswig (644); Rachel Moore, of Keokuk (608); Natalie Vanderloo, of LeMars (577); DeWitt’s Edwards (555); and Rebecca Breuning, of Decorah (554).

According to coach Larry Knipper, “The lane conditions were a little different from Cadillac on Tuesday and Baylee started out a little slower the first game because of that. But she adjusted to the conditions and bowled better her next two games. It’s really tough to say she didn’t do well when she actually ended above her season average for the day. I know she is disappointed to have missed the quarterfinals, and only by nine pins makes it tougher yet.”