This past Saturday, 130 bowlers from the central and southern conferences of Indiana Middle School Bowling came together at Classic Lanes in Bloomington.
With the sun shining and the hopes of the bowlers just as bright, the bowlers, coaches and families lined up waiting to get in.
The middle school bowlers in grades 5 to 8 bowled four games with no handicap in singles competition. The bowlers bowl within their own gender except for the teams. The teams are made up of four bowlers from the same school that bowled the top four scores in last week’s regional competition.
Once the door opened, the bowlers reported in to get their lane assignments as the parents waited to find out where they were going to be seated. Then the mad dash to claim seats, get drinks and food began as the bowlers and families got settled in.
Everyone was loose and having fun, making new friends and talking about what they hoped to do. Some of these bowlers are first-time bowlers, using house shoes and house bowling balls. While others are equipped with three ball rollers and specific shoes.
As the coaches meeting was called for, the bowlers knew the start time was drawing near. They began to get ready, and the nerves set in.
Once practice began, you could see the nerves from all levels of players — gutter balls, splits and single-pin hits for the first ball thrown by all levels of bowlers. Once practice concluded and they got a few minutes to get settled, the competition began.
Seymour was well represented during the event by Cohl Moore, Oliver Lanam, Dakota Cooper and Keith Sinkhorn.
When the competition ended, the scores had to be tallied. Hopes were still alive for some bowlers, while others knew they will not move on. If there’s a tie, it means bowlers will have to bowl what is called a ninth and 10th frame roll-off. For singles, it is just the two bowlers that tied. For the team, only one bowler will bowl.
The Seymour boys were rolled into that situation for a chance to move on to Lafayette. They tied with Clark Pleasant with a total pinfall of 2,379. The bowlers began to think about the spares missed, the one pin that did not fall — any one of those would have prevented this from happening.
After sitting for about a half-hour, the nerves came back, the breathing got deeper and the pressure was on.
Unfortunately for Seymour, they did not win the team roll-off. But the following bowlers will be moving on in singles competition at the state competition May 21 at Mike Aulby’s Arrowhead Bowl in Lafayette:
Eighth grade: Cohl Moore, fifth place
Seventh grade: Oliver Lanam, tied for second place
Fifth grade: Tora Simmons, first place