Newton bowlers down Bondurant-Farrar, lose to Oskaloosa

Austin Kennedy opened his day with five straight strikes and had zero open frames overall in his first individual game against Oskaloosa and Bondurant-Farrar on Saturday.

But not even tying a career-best score was enough to put him in front as Oskaloosa’s Trey VanWyk, who rolled his 16th career 300 game to help the Indians sweep the day during a conference triangular at Cardinal Lanes.

Both Kennedy and Gabbie Humphrey tied their career bests for a single game for their respective Cardinal squads and Humphrey’s career-high series led her to first place on the girls’ side.

“I was just striking a lot. I found the pocket and just stayed with it,” Kennedy said. “I didn’t throw super good. Everything just worked today. It still worked in the second game, but I missed spares. That’s on me.

“I’m hoping we start shooting better as a team. We have districts coming up,”

But Oskaloosa was just a little better as a team. The girls had a 45-pin lead after the individual round and extended the advantage in the Baker games.

The Indians won the girls’ meet with a 2,198, while Newton was second with a 2,097 and Bondurant-Farrar placed third with an 1,866.

On the boys’ side, Oskaloosa (8-0) used a significant advantage in the individual games to claim the victory. The Indians won the meet with a 3,054.

Newton (4-3) was second with a 2,871 and Bondurant-Farrar shot a 2,596 in third.

Kennedy’s 268 in the opener tied his career best for a game and he followed it up with a 182. His 450 series placed him third overall.

“I’ve done pretty well so far this year,” Kennedy said. “I haven’t shot under a 200 average the entire year and last year I struggled to only get it once.”

VanWyk’s career-best 300 was too much for anyone else to overcome and his 523 series was well in front of teammate Marshall Seibert, who was the runner-up with a season-best 484 series. Seibert opened with a season-best 259.

Ethan Valtman was next for the Cardinals in fourth. He opened with a 195 and then rolled a career-best 216 for a career-best 411 series.

Valtman’s 216 included seven strikes and four spares. Kennedy’s 268 featured nine strikes.

Oskaloosa’s Cole VanderWal was fifth with back-to-back 200-plus games.

“It was a lot of fun watching Trey VanWyk roll a 300,” Newton head bowling coach Christie Lester said. “Austin was doing a great job keeping up with him. Our boys are working on keeping the Baker games consistently over 200. Unfortunately, it just didn’t happen today.”

Nathan Hauber finished sixth with a 384 series. He produced single games of 190 and 194, which featured six strikes and three spares.

Gentry Swarts opened with a 162 but finished with a 207, which included four strikes, six spares and zero open frames. His 369 series placed him ninth overall.

Parker Kennedy and Jeremiah Killmer were the final two varsity bowlers for Newton and they posted a 321 and 297 series, respectively.

Parker Kennedy’s individual games were 169 and 152 and Killmer rolled a 167 and a 130.

Bondurant-Farrar (5-4) was led by Andrew Benn’s 377 series.

Newton trailed Oskaloosa 2,117 to 1,935 after the first round. The Indians had a one-pin advantage in the five Baker games.

The Cardinals’ best two Baker games were 199 and 194.

“We need some better Baker games,” Kennedy said. “We have had one set of five Baker games where we averaged 200 overall and that was here in our first meet. I think we need to average a 210 or even 220 to qualify for state. So we’ll need to start throwing a little better to get there.”

Humphrey’s career-best 236 in her opening game featured seven strikes, three spares and zero open frames. She followed it up with a 181 and her 417 series was 22 pins better than Oskaloosa’s Sydney Thompson, who finished second with a 395 series.

“The first game went really well. Everything was working,” Humphrey said. “I had a split and missed a 10 pin in the second game. It was an unlucky shot, and I kind of struggled on the same line I was bowling on in the first game.”

Oskaloosa’s girls (7-1) led Newton 1,475 to 1,430 after the individual round and then extended the margin with a 723 Baker round.

Newton posted a Baker round of 667, while Bondurant-Farrar (2-7) had a 1,228 after the opening round and produced a Baker score of 638.

Aeris Archer was next for Newton (4-3) in fourth. She rolled a series of 275 after single games of 132 and 143.

Mackenna Burns opened with a 154 after throwing three strikes in the 10th frame. She finished with a 107 and her 261 series put her sixth overall.

Kelly Holmes (241 series) was ninth with single games of 105 and 136, Marissa Burns totaled a pair of 118s for a 236 series and Jessamyn Neer (214) finished with single games of 113 and 101.

“The girls continue to work on consistency,” Lester said. “(Humphrey) had an amazing series, and I’m really proud of the work the girls are putting in.”

Oskaloosa’s Ava Ridenour finished third overall with a 342 series and Bondurant-Farrar was led by Bethany Guertin, who produced a season-best 268 series after opening with a season-best 148 game.

“The team is doing OK. We have our good days and our bad days. We are working hard to get better,” Humphrey said. “I need to do better with not leaving the 10 pin and then making sure to pick up the 10 pin if I leave it. One little thing can change everything, and it’s finding out what that one thing is.”