By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Seaman bowling coach Bob Benoit has said all season that if his team is just within 100 pins entering the four Baker format games it has a chance.
The Vikings proved that in Friday's biggest meet of the season, rallying from a 98-pin deficit at the start of Baker to claim the Class 5A-1A state championship by a 3,483-3,472 margin over Goddard Eisenhower. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, which was in command after the three American Tenpin games, slipped to third with a 3,462 total.
"When it came to Baker, 'Oh my gosh,' '' Benoit said. "They're just so good at Baker. All I ask of them is, 'Give me two shots each, just give me two great shots in a game. That's all I want from you.' And that's how they approached it.''
"I don't know how to really react,'' Seaman senior Jack Easum said. "We didn't think it was going to happen, but once we heard the names, we're still kind of on cloud nine.
"As a team it was so fun just to see everyone smiling knowing it will probably be one of our top-five memories forever as a team. We'll all bowl league together and we'll remember this.''
Seaman topped 200 in all four Baker games and clinched the state title with a 256 final game, which included eight straight strikes from the second frame through the ninth frame.
The Vikings started Baker with a 213, followed by a 208 and rolled a 225 in the third game.
Seaman failed to mark (strike or spare) in just two frames over the four Baker games.
"They were filling frames and that's what it takes,'' Benoit said. "It's about filling the frames and keeping the momentum going. They did phenomenal.''
Seaman trailed Kapaun by 104 pins after two of the four Baker games and still trailed by 48 pins starting the final game.
Seaman was solid in the American Tenpin games that started Friday's competition, with three Vikings earning individual medals.
Junior Ethan Burns placed 10th with a 668 three-game series while junior Zander White was 17th with a 643 and Easum 19th with a 634.
Burns was in second place individually and just two pins out of first entering the final game of American Tenpin, but slipped to a 183 game after opening with 257 and 228 games.
"After I was done with that third game I was the lowest of the lows,'' Burns said. "I didn't shoot that bad, but I could have taken first if I had just finished the game.
"But Bob (Benoit) really pumped us up before that first Baker game and we just went out there and performed.''
Freshman Alexander Prescott rouned out Seaman's top four with a 600 while sophomore Riley Parkhurst added a 568 and senior Draven Townsend a 485.
Topeka West sophomore Cole Rodriguez earned a state medal with a 12th-place individual finish, shooting a 659 series, with a high game of 241.
Shawnee Heights finished 11th in the team standings with a 2,935 total, led by senior Aidan VanMetre with a 575 and senior Kaleb Rohrke with a 555.
Washington County senior Cody Metz won the individual title with a 713 series while Kapaun Mt. Carmel's Patrick Bloomer was second with a 710.
CLASS 5A-1A STATE BOWLING BOYS Team scores
Seaman 3,483, Eisenhower 3,472, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 3,462, Leavenworth 3,332, Bishop Carroll 3,315, Wichita Trinity Academy 3,247, Buhler 3,246, De Soto 3,244, Salina South 3,027, Piper 2,949, Shawnee Heights 2,935, Turner 2,835.
Individual results
1. Cody Metz, Washington County, 713; 2. Patrick Bloomer, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 710; 3. Braden Longenecker, Wichita Trinity Academy, 700; 4. Kyler Stockstill, Eisenhower, 692; 5. Trent Sheridan, Buhler, 690; 6. Devon Bruning, Leavenworth, 685; 7. Lawton Simons, Bishop Carroll, 684; 8. Michael Hoover, Leavenworth, 681; 9. Parker Douglass, Eisenhower, 668; 10. Ethan Burns, Seaman, 668; 11. Elijah Bryant, Wichita Central Christian, 663; 12. Cole Rodriguez, Topeka West, 659; 13. Andrew Merrell, Eisenhower, 659; 14. Cole Munley, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 658; 15. Samuel Calderson, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 646; 16. Keegen Gebhardt, Salina Central, 644; 17. Zander White, Seaman, 643; 18. Benjamin Wemhoff, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 635; 19. Jack Easum, Seaman, 634; 20. Cody Fox, Bishop Carroll, 623.
Other Seaman -- Alexander Prescott 600, Riley Parkhurst, 568, Draven Towsend 485.
Shawnee Heights -- Aidan VanMetre 575, Kaleb Rohrke 555, Josh Egly 518, Jonathan Delecruz 502, Evan McGilton 494, Chris Kious 434,
