By NATHAN SWAFFAR
Topsports.news
WICHITA – Washburn Rural hadn’t seen an individual boys state bowling champion since Blake Massey rolled his way to a title back in 2018.
Washburn Rural senior Cody Spangler captured the Class 6A individual state championship by five pins with a 756 three-game series Wednesday in Wichita. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
That was until Wednesday.
With a three-game series of 756, Junior Blues senior Cody Spangler took home the Class 6A boys individual bowling title on Wednesday at Wichita’s Bowlero Northrock.
Spangler needed every bit of his score as he edged out Blue Valley North’s Eli Nathan by only five pins.
“It’s kind of surreal, I wasn’t expecting to do this,” Spangler said following his victory. “I’m kind of speechless right now.”
Spangler, who finished eighth at regionals, started his series off with a strong 245 in his first game. He rolled a slightly lower score of 223 in the second game.
The frustration was visible on Spangler, but he knew he needed to rebound in his final game.
“I was like, ‘I know I need to focus for my team, I still got a game to go and I just need to lock in,’ ” Spangler said. “I have a line and I really needed to keep the mentality of, I’ve got to get my team a score.' ”
Not only did Spangler come through for the Junior Blues, but his final game was the difference in the individual title race.
As the frames flew by, the pins continued to vacate an empty spot at the end of the lane as Spangler threw strike after strike.
After 10 straight strikes, the perfect game was in sight, but the streak came to an end on his 11th throw. But with a 288, it was just enough to squeeze by Nathan to claim the title.
With a 300 score in his career already, the choice between the perfect game and the state title was pretty easy for Spangler.
“I’m going to have to go with the state title,” Spangler said. “I’ve already got the 300 on my resume, you can’t get a lot of [state titles].”
“He’s worked hard,” Rural coach Jo Ricard said. “As a sophomore, he was down here by himself and did very well. He had some struggles last year and he’s come back, put it together again and held his own. Just to see him stay focused in on what he needs to do, to come through with what he got, that’s a big deal.”
Spangler’s effort spearheaded Rural’s second straight fifth-place team finish with 3,412 total pins, trailing behind fourth-place Olathe South (3,524), third-place Maize (3,623), second-place Derby (3,652) and team title winner Wichita Northwest (3,890).
Washburn Rural senior Zachary Hancock shot a 652 series to finish 21st in Wednesday's Class 6A state bowling tournament. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
Elsewhere in the individual standings, Rural senior Zachary Hancock came up just short of a medal in 21st place with a 652.
Junior Brecken Garrett (619) and senior Jackson Keller (611) also posted top-35 finishes.
Washburn Rural junior Megan Glinka finished second in the Class 6A state bowling tournament Wednesday with a 726 series, leading the Junior Blues to a second-place team finish. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
Glinka, Washburn Rural girls post runnerup finishes
It looked as if the Junior Blues might claim both the boys and girls Class 6A individual titles as the afternoon progressed. But for Rural, and especially junior Megan Glinka, the tiniest of margins was the difference.
Glinka’s 726 individual score came up just a pin shy of tying Mill Valley’s Layla Gonzalez at the top of the leaderboard, giving her the silver medal.
But Ginka’s strong individual performance went a long way toward the Junior Blues’ second-place team finish with a 3,318 total. Campus took home the team crown with a score of 3,420.
And like Spangler a few hours before, Glinka came up just shy of a perfect game.
After she rolled a 204 in her first game, she went on a roll in her second. As the strikes accumulated, it looked like the perfect game was inevitable, but in a similar fashion to Spangler again, she came up just short at the very end, finishing with a 288.
She finished it out with a 234 in the last game and looked to be well in contention for the title. However, that single pin made the difference as Gonzalez’s 727 was just enough to take home the crown.
“It’s about finding that pocket spot, that target where you need to be and just drilling it in there,” Ricard said of Ginka’s performance. “She’s grown and matured with that from year to year. That’s good for us even leading into next year, thinking ahead a little bit.”
As a team Rural had a strong showing in the Baker round, scoring above 200 in three of the four games, including a competition-high 257 in the third game.
“Part of it is that you get them striking and then the momentum starts to build and starts to carry from kid to the next,” Ricard said. “We do a lot of spare work in practice, but when we know we’re coming into stuff with Baker, we’ll spend some time with Baker and talk about the importance of that as well.”
Senior Camrynn Ahrens finished 14th in Wednesday's Class 6A state bowling tournament with a 582 series, helping Washburn Rural finish second as a team. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela/Special to TSN]
Stella Gordon bowled a 568 series to finish 18th in Wednesday's Class 6A state tournament for second place Washburn Rural. [Photo by Selena Rivas Favela]
The Junior Blues also saw strong individual showings from seniors Camrynn Ahrens (582) and Stella Gordon (568), who finished in 14th and 18th, respectively. Seniors Ellen Austin (522) and Kenzie Lawson (507) each finished top-35 as well.
