Program-best score is good for fourth at State

     Monticello bowled by far its best score of the season, and in fact the best in the four-year history of the Panther program, at the State Class 1A Boys Bowling Tournament Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Cadillac XBC in Waterloo.

     It was good for fourth place.

     The Panthers’ total, 3293, would have been good enough to win the state Class 1A championship at the 2020 state meet. They also had the highest score of any team in the tournament during the five game Baker (team bowling) round. And, their finish represented a jump of three spots from last year’s seventh place finish at State.

     “Getting a career best score, at a state tournament, is a big, big deal,” Monticello coach Brian Meyer said. “Unfortunately, there were three teams that had higher scores. The bar got raised a lot.”

     Louisa-Muscatine won the state title with a total score of 3414, followed by Camanche with 3351, Charles City with 3308, and Monticello with 3293 among the eight teams that competed. The top three teams receive trophies, so the Panthers missed a trophy spot by 15 pins.

     “How can you complain about shooting your career best at the state event?” asked Meyer. “It’s just that darn piece of hardware would have been nice for the kids to go back and visit in the trophy case.”

     The Panthers didn’t have any medal winners (top-10 finishers), but had strong performances down the line. Easton Lee led the way with a 442 two-game series, followed by Caleb Gillmore with 439, Logan Farmer with 405, Jacob Farmer with 401, and Levi Temple with 400. Alex Fagan had a 352 total.

     “For the first time in school history, we took five scores at 400 or more (only five count in the individual scoring),” the coach said. “Again, at the state tournament, when you want them to shine the most, they performed.”

     The Baker round was particularly impressive. With the emotional Panthers shouting, jumping and celebrating with every strike, they outscored the other seven teams in that category, while totaling 1206, an average of 241.2 per game. The low Monticello Baker game was 193.

     “It used to be our best game in Baker was 193,” Meyer said. “That’s a whale of a Baker score. They have a lot to be proud of.”

     Five seniors were part of the state tournament lineup (Gary Pasker served as an alternate at State), and Meyer said he felt bittersweet about losing them from the program.

     “The tough part for me is I lose Levi, the team leader; and Caleb, who has been the best player on the team since he was a sophomore,” Meyer said. “Jacob Farmer’s got a great heart. Alex Fagan worked hard and did what we needed him to do. And Gary’s been a major contributor to the program.

     “The high side of next year is that Easton and Logan are both back with us, and Brendan Pasker should be a contributor as well.”

     The coach praised the work ethic of a team that made it to State two years in a row, in just the third and fourth years of program history.

     “I’m so impressed with this group of kids, as hard as they work,” he said. “They stayed positive and supported each other.”

Feb. 24

State Class 1A Tourn.

(at Cadillac XBC,

Waterloo)

FINAL TEAM SCORES

     1, Louisa-Muscatine 3414; 2, Camanche 3351; 3, Charles City 3308; 4, Monticello 3293; 5, Clarinda 2987; 6, Shenandoah 2949; 7, Vinton-Shellsburg 2884; 8, Forest City 2639.

Individual Round Score

     1, Louisa-Muscatine 2355; 2, Charles City 2181; 3, Camanche 2158; 4, Monticello 2087; 5, Shenandoah 1970; 6 (tie) Clarinda 1944 and Vinton-Shellsburg 1944; 8, Forest City 1737.

Baker Round Score

(five games of team bowling)

     1, Monticello 1206; 2, Camanche 1193; 3, Charles City 1127; 4, Louisa-Muscatine 1059; 5, Clarinda 1043l 6, Shenandoah 979; 7, Vinton-Shellsburg 940; 8, Forest City 902.

Monticello Results

     Easton Lee 231-211–442, Caleb Gillmore 235-204–439, Logan Farmer 157-248–405, Jacob Farmer 201-200–401, Levi Temple 189-211–400, Alex Fagan 183-169–352.