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FF bowlers open season with a pair of wins
Published 9:44am Thursday, September 13, 2012The Fergus Falls High School bowling program kicked off its fourth season on Saturday, hosting the first West Central Conference (North) meet of the year at Northern Aire Lanes. Wadena, Detroit Lakes, New York Mills, and Perham all return to the conference, looking to find a way past a Fergus Falls team which has represented the conference at the State Tournament in each of the previous three years.
Graduation took its toll this past spring, as for the first time since the program started, this season finds the team without Zach Thom, Zane Bugbee, and Josh Thunselle.
“Those three were the foundation that this program was built on, and they finished last year as the top three bowlers in our conference,” said conference coordinator/coach Luke Loeffler, “good bowlers and great kids, they will be missed.”
The 2012 Otter Varsity team returns seniors Evan Anderson and Emma Devorak, and brings in new recruit, senior Caleb Deterding. The varsity roster is filled out with last year’s top JV bowlers, sophomores Mary Gettel, Wyatt Swanson, Arnold Bolland, and freshman Hunter Christenson.
The High School bowling program continues to grow, as even with the loss of six players due to graduation, transfer, etc, the addition of ten new bowlers has resulted in the formation of an additional JV team. JV1, the “Iron Five”, will be junior Zack Anderson, freshmen Olivia Anderson and Allison Krensing, and eighth-graders Kylie Jennen and Dan Anderson. JV2 will be a team made up entirely of seventh-graders, Casey Thom, Jacob Halvorson, Levi Danielson, Jaden Blondeau, Luke Newkirk, and Ryan Wilson. Coach Dean Paulson said, “We got real young, real fast this year… the potential is there, and I know they are all up to the challenge.”
The Varsity squad went 2-1 Saturday, beating Detroit Lakes and New York Mills, and dropping a close match to Wadena.
Wyatt Swanson was high fill percentage at 83%, with Arnold Bolland second at 68%. New coach Jody Thom’s JV1 team dominated enroute to a 3-0 sweep. Zack Anderson led with 66%, with sister Olivia Anderson right behind at 63%. The JV2 team of seventh-graders went 1-2 in their matches, getting a win in their very first meet, beating NYM. Casey Thom set the pace at 54%, with Jacob Halvorson second at 46%.
The teams’ next meet is at New York Mills on Saturday, September 15, starting with JV matches at 11:45.
