Hansen, Slings go 1-2; Newton girls take second at conference bowling

The Newton girls bowling team’s lone loss to a Class 2A school came on the road against Bondurant-Farrar on Jan. 6.

The Cardinals had a shot at redemption during the Two Rivers Conference Tournament at Cardinal Lanes on Thursday.

While Newton closed the gap on the Bluejays, Bondurant-Farrar won the team championship by 15 pins.

A pair of Newton bowlers shined during the individual portion of the tournament, too, finishing in the top two positions.

“The girls knew going in that Bondurant-Farrar was the team they had to stay in front of,” Newton head bowling coach Christie Hughes said. “They fought hard but just didn’t pull it off. To be only 15 pins off …”

The format for the conference tournament and postseason has changed this season.

The eight schools in attendance on Thursday rolled 15 Baker games to figure out the conference team champion. Then three 10-frame games decided the individual standings.

Bondurant-Farrar won the girls team title with a score of 2,358. Newton was the runner-up with a score of 2,343.

Norwalk (2,055) was a distant third followed by Oskaloosa (2,003), Knoxville (1,971), Sigourney-Keota (1,966), Pella Christian (1,912) and Pella (1,625).

Bailey Hansen won the individual conference championship with a three-game series of 564. With a personal-best 223 in the third game, Genessa Slings rallied to take the runner-up spot with a 535 series.

“Bailey was on pace for first after the second game of individuals,” Hughes said. “She struggled a little midway in the third game, but we made a quick ball change and that was all she needed to finish it.”

It was a tough day for the Newton boys. The Cardinals were eighth in the eight-team field with a score of 2,314. Bondurant-Farrar (2,866) also won the boys’ team title followed by Oskaloosa (2,760) and Sigourney-Keota (2,514).

The rest of the field included Pella (2,474), Knoxville (2,453), Norwalk (2,438) and Pella Christian (2,370).

The top Cardinal finisher in the boys individual competition was David Holmes, who ended up 12th.

“The boys really struggled to find a mark and be consistent,” Hughes said. “David Holmes had a great last game once he dialed it in.

“Their Baker games were probably the most consistent they’ve been all year but just didn’t hit the numbers they really needed.”

Bondurant-Farrar’s girls defeated Newton by 68 pins on its home lanes a little more than a month ago. Newton’s next chance to better the Bluejays could come at the 2A state meet later this month if both teams qualify on Monday or Tuesday.

Hansen won the individual title because she got off to a hot start. She began her three-game series with a season-best 208 and then rolled a 189. She finished with a 167 but was still 29 pins in front of Slings.

Slings needed a big rally after a slow start. She opened with a 126 and was still behind a handful of bowlers after a 186 second game. Her career-best 223 in the final game was too much for the others to overcome though.

“Genessa struggled with her first game of individuals but had a great comeback once we made a couple of adjustments,” Hughes said.

Slings was 17 pins in front of Bondurant-Farrar’s Maeci Williamson, who brought home the third and final individual medal. Sigourney-Keota’s Hannah Alderson (517) was fourth followed by Knoxville’s Paige Ludington (500). Ludington and Williamson were in a tie for second after two games.

Two other Cardinals were in the top 10. Beka Weithers finished seventh with a 473 series. She rolled individual games of 165, 159 and 149. Libbie Keith was ninth with a 463 series. Keith rolled single games of 155, 150 and 158.

Kaitlyn Gifford (427) finished 16th with single games of 126, 145 and 156. Nevaeh Bown (411) was three pins away from the top 20 after rolling single games of 142, 144 and 125.

Holmes rolled a career-best 223 in the final game of his three-game series. That moved him into 12th in the final standings. He opened the individual portion of the tournament with single games of 154 and 181.

Oskaloosa’s Trey Van Wyk won the individual title with a 686 series after single games of 214, 236 and 236.

Pella Christian’s Austin Moorman (604) was the runner-up and Norwalk’s Jaxon Swift (598) took third.

Logan Bown was next for the Cardinals. His 500 series was five pins away from the top 20. He rolled single games of 173, 158 and 169.

Austin Kennedy was third for Newton with a 449 series and single games of 137, 149 and 163. Owen Guldberg had a 438 series with single games of 148, 159 and 131.

Sebastian King (433) had single games of 135, 175 and 123 and Dallas King (419) rolled single games of 139, 149 and 131.

The JV conference tournament took place Wednesday at Cardinal Lanes. That event featured 10 Baker games and three individual games.

Norwalk won the girls JV team title with a 1,228. Newton was fifth with a 1,054 and Abbie Stevens finished ninth in the individual race with a 380 series.

In the boys’ competition, Newton’s JV finished fourth with a 1,341 series. Bondurant-Farrar won the JV team title with a 1,531.

The top individual JV male finishers for Newton were Tyler Padgett and Tamion Adams, who were 10th and 11th, respectively. Padgett registered a 488 series and Adams tallied a 481.

Oskaloosa’s Autumn DeRonde and Drake Roorda won the individual JV titles. DeRonde had a 450 series and Roorda rolled a 678 with three 200-plus games.

The varsity teams will compete in their state qualifying meets at Gameday Lanes inside Merle Hay Mall starting at 10 a.m. on Monday in Des Moines.

“We’ll take Friday to practice on the oil pattern that Gameday Lanes plans to put down for the state qualifying meet,” Hughes said. “Hopefully we can put up some good numbers at the meet.”

Notes: Prior to Thursday’s conference tournament, the conference coaches announced the all-conference teams for the regular season. All six Newton girls varsity bowlers were recognized. Hansen and Keith were first-team selections, Slings and Weithers both earned second-team honors and Gifford and Nevaeh Bown were honorable mention selections. For the boys, Logan Bown and Sebastian King earned honorable mention recognition.