Rolling for gold
HARTINGTON — Hartington has once again put together a state title-calibre bowling team.
Quietly and confidently, Michael Emanuel has built up quite the high school bowling program.
In nearly a decade in charge of the co-op team of Cedar Catholic and Hartington/Newcastle, the local team captured a 2012 boys team title and this season it appears they could be the favorites when the newest edition heads to Norfolk Feb. 16 for postseason.
It’s been a pretty good nine-year run for Emanuel.
“My family has been part of the bowling alley in this community since 1971,” he said. “My grandfather bought the bowling alley and my mom ran it when I was in grade school.
“About 10-11 years ago, boys started coming in and bowling and having fun. One day they were watching a replay of the state tournament finals on TV and they were talking and said, ‘that looks fun, I think we should do that.’”
So, they did.
The boys started the next season and then Emanuel’s daughter, Amber, got involved and he agreed to coach the new girls’ team the following year.
“The 2012 boys team had a really good class of seniors and bowlers for a community our size,” Emanuel said. “My girls one year had a chance to make it to the finals but missed a spare to get there. This year’s boys team is probably as good as that state championship team.”
Emanuel said the boys don’t bowl a very high average but have a lot of team members who score well, which makes them a deeper team.
The girls are battling with an all-freshmen roster as they ply their craft with practices at Broadway Lanes.
Cedar Catholic athletic director Chad Cattau has enjoyed watching the bowling team’s efforts and the payoff that can come from it.
“The bowling team puts in a lot of time and effort each week in order to get better,” Cattau said. “These kids are very dedicated to their craft and they work extremely hard all the time. I know many of them spend a lot of time outside of practices trying to get better. It’s a difficult sport to master so what these kids are able to accomplish each meet is exciting.”
Cattau credited the bowling coaches for getting the program going, and making it strong.
“Their coaches have done a great job of making improvements and putting in the time for each of the kids,” he said.
The season started in November and is now heading into the home stretch with hopes of bringing back some Class C/D hardware from the state tournament.
The Baker system, where a team takes turns each frame, will only benefit their depth.
“If the boys bowl decent at all, I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t win,” Emanuel said. “The girls have improved since the first week. They went from not breaking 100 to some scoring in the 130s and 140s. We are really happy with the improvement.”
This year’s team includes coaches Emanuel, Nate Holan and Jeff Bruening, and coordinator Pam Howell.
Competing for the boys team this year are: Wyatt Wiebelhaus, Charlie Dendinger, Colin Potts, Aiden Gratzfeld, Jeremiah Polak and Jack Stevens.
The girls team consists of: Rebekah and Faith Pinkleman, Merideth McGregor and Grace Kleinschmit.