BYRON — This past weekend again provided mixed results for the Austin High bowling team with the varsity getting a split of its two matches against Byron and Rochester Century.
The Austin High junior varsity won both of its matches in Saturday's competition at the Byron Lanes to claim an undefeated regular season and first-place finish in the Southeast Minnesota West Division standings.
The varsity started off the day against Byron/Kasson-Mantorville. The match took all five games to determine the outcome. Losing the first game of the match 203-193, the Packers quickly recovered to take the next two games by scores of 268-201 and 191-138.
Austin couldn't hang on to the early momentum and lost the final two games of the match. The wins of 231-168 and 194-187 gave B/K-M the match victory.
Leading the Austin effort in the opening match were: Kody Phillips (19-for-19 in fill opportunities); Matt Breitbarth (9-for-10); and Cole Kroneman (9-for-10). Also contributing were Chance Felten (7-for-10), Lauren Schubert (4-for-6) and Collin Bailey (2-for-4).
ADVERTISEMENT
"Despite the match loss, the team had a match total score of 1,007 pins," Austin coach Jim Juenger said. "That is the first time they've broken the 1000-pin barrier for match total score this season."
The second varsity match pitted the Austin Packers against the Rochester Century Panthers. Matches between these two teams always seem to go down to the wire and this was no exception.
Century won the first two games of the match in convincing style, 217-170 and 191-159. The Packers, not to be outdone, took the next three games 209-168, 166-146, and 208-202 to claim the match title.
"The outcome was not determined until the last frame in the third game," coach Juenger said. "A strike, thrown by anchor Kody Phillips, sealed the victory."
Phillips led the Austin effort with a perfect 15-for-15 performance in fill opportunities. Next in line were: Breitbarth (8-for-10), Kroneman (7-for-10); Schubert (4-for-6); Bailey (3-for-4); and Felten (6-for 10).
On the junior varsity side, the younger Packers continued to show why they have been at the top of the conference standings right from the beginning of the season.
Competing against the Rochester Mayo and Byron/Kasson-Mantorville junior varsity teams, Austin won 9 of 10 games in the two matches to claim both match victories. This resulted in a perfect 10-0 regular season record, and first-place in the conference standings.
In the first match against Mayo, the junior Packers quickly determined the outcome by winning the first four games. The final scores were 204-161, 201-135, 200-148, 192-131, 159-168.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Our scores in the four games did not vary by more than 12 pins, a sign of very consistent bowling," the coach said. "Although Mayo won the last game, the outcome was undecided until the last frame."
Austin was led by Elijah Rayman and Dan Gerlach, both having perfect performances. Rayman went 15-for-15 in fill opportunities, while Gerlach followed with an 8-for-8 effort. Lucas Hegna also contributed a 7-for-10 showing in the match.
The second junior varsity match had Austin competing against Byron/Kasson-Mantorville. The junior Packers left little doubt as to the outcome, winning all five games in the match by scores of 170-126, 152-124, 217-117, 170-145, 188-128.
Rayman led Austin with a 14-for-14 performance. Close behind were: Lucas Hegna (7-for-8); Logan Hegna (5-for-6); and Jacob Conner (6-for-8, 75-percent).
Austin’s varsity team returns to action a week from Saturday, Oct. 30, at Hayfield. This will bring a close to the regular season varsity schedule.
Both the varsity and junior varsity teams will participate in their respective conference tournaments on Nov. 6 at Recreation Lanes in Rochester. The conference tournament determines which teams will move on to the Minnesota State high school bowling tournament in December.
