By James Deviley
Contributing Writer
ASHWAUBENON – The annual Wisconsin High School State Bowling Competition was held in Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley over the weekend of March 2.
Over the course of three days, there were action-packed five-person team events, singles competitions and mixed doubles events.
Ultimately, a number of teams were able to get the trophy for first place. However, many teams were left with the expectation that they would be able to succeed in the next season.
There were 25 girls teams and 52 co-ed teams competing in the team division.
Each bowled 15 games, with the finals going to the top five teams in each division. Waukesha North finished second in the Girls Division two team competition in 2024.
Merril was the 2024 Division Two Girls’ team event State winner.
A team of students from Sun-Prairie East, Sun-Prairie West and Marshall Cambridge emerged as the runners-up in the 2024 Division One Ladies team event. Sheboygan was the State champion for the Division One Girls’ team event in 2024.
Antigo and Baraboo competed for the State Championship in the Boys Division Two field, but Baraboo emerged victorious and took home the first-place trophy for the 2024 season.
Bay Port and Sheboygan engaged in a fierce duel in the Boys Division One Championship.
Bay Port Head Coach Jerry Polerek said, “I have all the confidence in the world with these kids. In these last two games we just made too many mistakes in the first game to come back”.
Levi Gabrielse, a sophomore on the Bay Port squad, stated that they were, “A little disappointed, we got off to a rough start. It took us till the second game to really lock in and that was too late. The oil also played a lot differently than Friday night. We were all standing left and trying to spin it more and I don’t think that it was the play but stuck with it.” Sheboygan won the Division One crowns for both girls and boys after the back-and-forth encounter.
Regarding the singles bouts, Zach Olson of Neenah and David Kolback of Stevens Point engaged in a fierce competition to win the 2024 Boys State Championship. Ultimately, out of all 107 teens, David Kolback emerged as the most talented.
Maggie Porter of Cambridge and Holly Orgamen of Wittenberg Birnamwood squared off in the 2024 girls State Champion competition. Holly maintained her advantage throughout the two games and emerged victorious.