Newton boys finish third at Two Rivers Conference meet

OSKALOOSA — Jeremiah Killmer tied for 10th, Nathan Hauber used a career-best single game to finish in the top 20 and the Newton boys bowling team finished third in the team standings at the Two Rivers Conference meet on Friday.

The Cardinals produced eight 200-plus Baker games and scored a 2,973 in third at Statesmen Lanes. Oskaloosa was the team champion with 3,143 pins and Sigourney/Keota took second with 3,010.

Newton edged Ballard (2,945) by 28 pins and the rest of the standings featured ADM (2,874), Gilbert (2,806), Pella (2,689), Norwalk (2,650), Bondurant-Farrar (2,618), Pella Christian (2,251) and Knoxville (2,221).

The conference meet was originally scheduled for Feb. 15 but was postponed due to inclement weather.

Killmer’s 641 three-game series was good enough for a 10th-place tie and Hauler’s 595 was 19th.

It took a 715 to win the individual conference title. Oskaloosa’s Trey VanWyk and ADM’s Cole Darling shared the conference championship. VanWyk opened with a 234 and finished with a 267. Darling opened with a 237 and rolled a 265 in the second game.

Killmer’s series included single games of 187, 246 and 208 and Hauber started with a 185 and finished with a 173 but rolled a career-best 237 in Game 2.

Gentry Swarts (572), Austin Kennedy (569), Ethan Valtman (523) and Parker Kennedy (462) completed the varsity lineup.

Swarts rolled single games of 203, 178 and 191, Austin Kennedy posted games of 206, 181 and 182 and Valtman had individual games of 148, 201 and 174. Parker Kennedy rolled a 148, 146 and 168.

The Newton coaching staff used combinations of all six bowlers throughout the 15 Baker games, but rotated the five-person lineup and the order seven different times.

The Cardinals opened with a 227 and finished with a 203. They also had games of 217, 230, 219, 212 and 232.

Oskaloosa posted 10 200-plus games. The Indians opened with a 215 and finished with a 245. They went above 200 in six straight games during the back half of the Baker round.

Sigourney/Keota produced nine 200-plus games. The Savages had six straight 200-plus games in the middle of the competition.

Ballard rolled a 234 in Game 4 and had a 264 in the 14th game, but it wasn’t enough to rally past the Cardinals.