By Christie Iosbaker
Correspondent
Sigourney-Keota bowling’s head coach Austin Bruns saw a flurry of success as his teams wrapped up their regular season, conference play and sub-state competitions over the past couple of weeks.
The girls’ team then competed at the sub-state tournament at Champion Bowl in Ottumwa on Feb. 17. The SK girls had a strong showing and placed third in the team competition with a pin count of 2,219. Sophomore Sophie Young punched her ticket to state in the individual event with her 575 three-game series and senior Jayden Montgomery joined her for state qualifying with a 567 three-game series.
Both Sophie and Jayden will compete during the girls’ state tournament on Feb. 24 beginning at 9:00 a.m. at Cadillac XBC Lanes in Waterloo. This will be Jayden’s second appearance at the state competition after first qualifying as a sophomore two years ago.
The SK boys met their sub-state competitors on Feb. 18 in Ottumwa, ahead of the postponed conference meet that was delayed until Feb. 21 due to weather concerns. The SK boys placed third at the sub-state meet. Senior Landyn Greiner punched his ticket to state with a 637 series and will compete at the state tournament beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Feb. 24 at Cadillac XBC Lanes in Waterloo. After also qualifying for state in his sophomore year, this will be Landyn’s second trip.
With eleven teams making up the conference, the boys Two Rivers Conference meet was then held on Feb. 21 at Statesman Lanes in Oskaloosa. The SK boys bowled well during the fifteen Baker game team competition with an average score of just over 200 per game and total pins of 3,010. SK was leading the team score after twelve of the fifteen Baker games when the Oskaloosa team exploded in the last three Baker games to edge SK and claim rights to first place. SK was named the meet runner up and earned a plaque for the high school trophy case.
There was excitement during the individual portion of the boys’ meet. Up against the top bowlers in the state, including Oskaloosa’s Trey Van Wyk, the number one bowler in the state in pin-count, the competition was fierce for the approximately 60 individual bowlers. During the last of the three individual games, SK sophomore Owen Clark was quietly on his way to a perfect 300 game as the crowd began to notice. Owen eventually had thrown eleven strikes in a row and needed one more in the final frame for the 300. With his nerves on edge, he approached and threw his final ball. It resulted in a 2-pin split to finish the game with a 298. After the crowd briefly moaned over the 8-count, they resounded with cheers for Owen’s near perfect game. That game brought Owen’s individual three-game pin count to 681 which earned him a third-place individual medal.
Landyn Greiner received conference honors as he was named to the All-Conference second team and both Wells and Owen Clark received All-Conference Honorable Mentions.
On February 14th, the girls’ team headed to Statesman Lanes in Oskaloosa to compete in their Two Rivers bowling conference meet alongside ten other teams. The SK team completed the meet with a fifteen Baker game score of 2,337 which placed them second in the conference. Jayden Montgomery placed second in the individual event with a 594 three-game series. Sophie Young placed 6th with a 526. Jayden Montgomery, Sophie Young, and Kaylie Montgomery received All-Conference First Team honors while Addison Richardson was named to the All-Conference Second Team.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams claimed wins on Feb. 8 when they hosted Bondurant-Farrar at Keokuk County Bowl in Sigourney. SK’s girls completed their regular season with an undefeated record when they claimed a win with a team score of 2,099. Jayden Montgomery had the girls’ high score of 215 with a two-game total of 374. Addison Richardson followed with a 279 with added pins from Kaylie Montgomery (273), Gracie Gillam (221), and Calli McCoid (211). The SK boys team rolled past Bondurant-Farrar with a total pin count of 2,682 to 2,634. Wells Clark had the boys’ high score of 216 with a series total of 378 while Landyn Greiner claimed the high two-game series with a 384. Also adding to the pin count were Aidan Greiner (360), Owen Clark (350), Liam VanVoltenburg (329) and Mison Milam (327).
