Newton’s VanderSchel rolls a 300 in 2A district action

OTTUMWA — Carter VanderSchel had a good day on the bowling lanes at Champion Bowl in Ottumwa. It came during Wednesday’s Class 2A state qualifier for the Newton High junior.

VanderSchel was sitting third on the Cardinal boys’ team following a 181 score for the first game. Then it happened — strike after strike after strike.

VanderSchel rolled a perfect 300 game to finish with a 481 series. That was good enough for runner-up honors for him.

“It was awesome getting to witness him bowl so well,” Newton head coach Christie Hughes said. “We’re so happy with how well both the girls’ and boys’ teams performed today. They both had their highest team scores of the season.”

VanderSchel was five pins behind 2A District 4 champion Kody Sapp of Keokuk at 486. Sapp led his team to a district championship as the Newton boys finished fourth.

Newton’s Cardinal girls finished second to Keukuk in the District 4 girls division. Keokuk won with a 2,633 and the Cardinals had a 2,518.

Senior Keely Birkenholtz threw a 363 (211-152) to lead the Cardinals and finish third overall. Newton had all six of its bowlers finish in the top 20 for the girls’ division.

Sophomore Abby Price was fifth at 359 (205-154), senior Alicia Miller was sixth at 356 (145-211) and sophomore Tanya Hernandez tied for eighth at 347 (155-192).

Sophomore Jenna Miller tied for 14th at 326 (166-160). Senior Taylor Johnson took 19th at 293 (131-162).

Newton’s girls trailed Keokuk by 36 pins heading into the Baker Games. Oskaloosa was a distant third at 1,504 after the individual game rotation.

The Cardinals posted a 767 Baker Games total but Keokuk had an 846 to win by 115 pins.

Oskaloosa was third at 2,303 followed by Des Moines North at 2,242, Burlington at 1,495 and Pella at 981. Pella only had three girl bowlers.

Ottumwa’s boys had the lead over Keokuk and Oskaloosa going into the Baker Games — 2,108, 2,083 and 2,019. Newton was fourth at 1,989.

Keokuk’s boys powered up a 1,016 Baker Games total to claim the District 4 title with a final total of 3,099. Ottumwa was second at 3,049 and Oskaloosa was third at 2,928.

The Cardinal boys were fourth with a 909 Baker Games total. They rolled the highest individual Baker Games score of 233. Their other Baker Games scores were 161, 179, 177 and 159.

Newton had a 2,898 final score. Pella was fifth at 2,707. Burlington took sixth at 2,636.

Following VanderSchel for the Newton boys was junior Alex Frymoyer with a 430 (228-202) to take sixth overall. Sophomore Thomas Hodnett was 20th at 379 (169-210).

Junior Eli Engle rolled a 361 (180-181) and junior Nate Keith had a 338 (115-223). Senior Cutter Benac had a 326 (187-139).

The five district champion teams and individuals — girls and boys — qualify for the Class 2A state tournament. There will be three at-large teams for each division advancing to the state tournament on Feb. 19 at Waterloo

Individually, the top five highest pin totals behind the district champions advance. There are several state qualifying tournaments on Thursday because of weather postponements so the final list of qualifiers will be delayed until after those are complete.

“We’ll see how the next couple of days play out and hopefully we’ll see a couple of the bowlers advance to state finals. Until then, we’ll keep practicing,” Hughes said.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com