Panthers bowl way to state meet

   Hosting one of the Class 1A state qualifying meets Feb. 16, the Monticello boys bowling team shot 3,050 in the baker round to earn a spot in the 2026 state tournament.

   Inside Legacy Lanes, the Panthers averaged 203 in the 15 baker games to top the six-team field and punch their ticket to the team portion of the state tournament for the third time in program history.

   “We started well, 216 and 231, but we were in second until we started the eighth game,” Panther Coach Brian Meyer said. “And that’s where we kind of started going. Before that, you could tell we were pressing a little bit and were a bit nervous. But they got on a roll. All in all, it was a good day. It was exciting.”

   Monticello was the team champion with 3,050, Benton was runner-up at 2,914 and Washington finished third with 2,839. Fairfield finished fourth (2,747), followed by Knoxville (2,244) and Pella Christian (2,240).

   In the individual round, bowlers rolled three games, and the top four series secured spots in the individual competition at the state tournament.

   A pair of Panther bowlers punched their tickets for the individual state tournament, as Quinn Thomas was the district champion with a 743 series and Gavin Hinrichs was third with a set of 661.

   Thomas had the first 10 strikes of game one before ending with a 287. The Panther junior, who was runner-up at last year’s individual state tournament, finished with games of 189 and 267 to claim his ticket to state.

   Hinrichs rolled games of 222, 247 and 192 to finish third in the individual standings.

   Kyle Arduser finished just outside of the top five, rolling a 626 series to finish sixth. Cam Pasker shot 606 to finish ninth as an individual.

   “Gavin, to me, was the big story of the day,” Meyer said. “Gavin’s a first-year bowler but had a great day to qualify for state. Kyle had a good day as well, just a few pins shy of advancing, too.”

   The Panthers competed in the Class 1A State Team Meet on Monday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo. The Class 1A Individual Meet starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24 also at Cadillac Lanes.

   Results from the state competition will appear in the March 4th edition of the Express.

Feb. 16

(Class 1A State Qualifying Meet at Legacy Lanes)

MONTICELLO INDIVIDUAL SCORES

Quinn Thomas 743 (287, 189, 267)

Gavin Hinrichs 661 (222, 247, 192)

Kyle Arduser 626 (232, 189, 205)

Cameron Pasker 606 (246, 190, 170)

Brayden Todd 577 (191, 183, 203)

Jacksen Telleen 561 (217, 174, 170)

MONTICELLO BAKER SCORES

216, 231, 172, 204, 163 = 986

199, 155, 208, 223, 230 = 1,015

244, 225, 176, 241, 163 = 1,049