WICHITA, Kan.—
Even through the hype of Northwest’s senior night on Monday, really only one thing mattered for the boys’ team: finishing on top of Bishop Carroll in order to compete with Southeast this weekend for the City title.Instead, Northwest took the second place and finished 89 pins behind Bishop Carroll to finish off their season 6-2 in City and 6-6 overall. Kapaun Mt. Caramel ended up third with 2339 pins.
“I really wanted to win, so that was disappointing,” said head coach Jodi Floyd.
After the first series, Northwest trailed 863-856. The third series remained tight as well, but with Northwest still behind 892-883. The 73-pin loss, however, in the second series was what lost it for the Grizzly boys.
“I don’t think it was loss of focus,” said senior Dalton Fraizer, who is the only bowler who has competed at the state level for the Northwest teams. “I just think Bishop Carroll bowled really well that second game.”
The Northwest girls took third against their Catholic school rivals with a total score of 2071. In all, the Northwest squad will be graduating five seniors.
“It’s always hard I think,” Floyd said. “Most of those kids have bowled all four years, so it’s really hard to lose them.”
Since arriving at the Northwest lanes, Frazier has seen many ups and downs within the past four years.
“It’s more bittersweet,” Frazier said of his senior night. “When I was a freshman, we had all those seniors that had gone to State before. Then it fell off sophomore year, junior year wasn’t that great either, now this year it’s picked up quite a bit.”
This season has certainly ended on different terms after having several top finishes in tournaments. The boys’ team took fourth to kick off the season on Jan. 7 at the Bishop Carroll tournament and then third this last weekend at the Redskin Match Play tournament. But perhaps the biggest highlight of the season, at least for Floyd, was the Great Plains tournament on Jan. 28; the boys took ninth and the girls 20th.
“That was probably the most exciting because it was grueling,” Floyd said, “and they had to keep fighting. I was very pleased. Out of 24 teams, that’s pretty good.”
Finishing on top at City this Saturday may not be in the cards for Grizzlies. While Bishop Carroll and Southeast battle for the first place title, Northwest and North will be going to head-to-head for third and fourth place.
“Mathematically, we would have to bowl outstanding,” Floyd said.
For Regionals, it could be a different story. Frazier, along with senior Austin Awtrey and junior Chase Myers, have all bowled a 700 series. In order for the team to finish in the top three and move on to State, these three boys, along with the entire team, would all have to compete their toughest yet. For the girls, Floyd says sophomore Hayley Hawkins and senior Emily Henning may be in the running for making it to State. Hawkins finished with a 613 and Henning with a 511 Monday night.
“We just need to pick up our spares and find our lines. It’ll be tough, but I think we can do it,” Frazier said.
With teams like Southeast, Derby and Campus—teams that Northwest has had their only losses to besides Bishop Carroll—Regionals won’t be easy for the Grizzly boys.
“This year I think we have the talent,” Floyd said, “but they’ve got to be on.”
Before Northwest can really start thinking about that top three finish at Regionals though, they will first be traveling to North Rock lanes on Saturday morning for the City tournament to compete with North for that third place finish.
