In their final meets before regionals on Thursday, the Newton boys and girls bowling teams made statements that they're eyeing spots at state.

The Cardinal boys earned their second-highest score of the season and the girls just edged out fast-charging Knoxville as both teams earned victories in their regular-season finales at Excite-A-Bowl in Pella on Saturday.

Starting out with strikes in their first six throws, it was clear the Cardinal boys would have a good day. Senior Dylan Van Sickle led Newton with a season-high first-round of 476, which included two big games of 236 and 240. Sophomore Alex Bare wasn’t far behind him with a 401 (177, 204), senior Jake Karlzen rolled a 388 (208, 180) and sophomore Payton Cox rounded out the Cards with a 335 (173, 162). Junior Ryan Bowen had a non-scoring total of 285 (127, 158).