Prairie tournament popular among area bowlers

CEDAR RAPIDS - Silence hovered around Lane 3 at Lancer Lanes for a brief moment.

In a game during the pool play round, the Cedar Rapids Prairie girls' bowling team collected four consecutive strikes heading into the 10th frame.

Prairie senior Rylee Blood approached the lane with a pair of strikes already in the final frame. The majority of the standing room only crowd remained silent as the ball twisted down the lane and scattered all 10 pins to cap a 267 game for the Hawks in the Prairie Invitational Saturday.

'I think that the atmosphere of the baker tournament is great because everyone bowling is working as a team and cheering each other on,” Blood said.

Such is the atmosphere of the Prairie Invitational. Bowlers from Metro high schools along with teams from Louisa-Muscatine, Durant and West Delaware filled 16 of the 24 lanes at Lancer. A packed crowd, many standing on chairs for a better view, help bring the excitement for the competitors.

'The atmosphere is pretty exciting,” said City High senior Shyniece Cirillo. 'It's pretty loud, but I think that helps keep us calm and helps us bowl better.”

West Delaware took home the crown, with Louisa-Muscatine in second. Cedar Rapids Prairie finished third and City High fourth. Last year's Prairie Invitational sparked a turnaround in the Little Hawks' season.

'This tournament is one of my favorites,” said City High head coach Andrew Gonner. 'It was a huge stepping stone for us last year and we won three of our next four meets.”

The boys will take their turn at the Prairie Invitational this Saturday. Three teams remain undefeated in the Mississippi Valley, with Linn-Mar sporting a 4-0 record. Jefferson is 3-0 and Iowa City West is 2-0.

'We're just grinding out really close wins,” said first-year Linn-Mar head coach Robert Wyant. 'I don't think we've necessarily bowled up to our full potential, but we've had a lot of different guys contribute so far.”

The Lions are among the top teams in the state despite not having an individual bowler in the top 30 in the state in game average. Leading the Lions is Jacob Wheaton with a 196.3 average.

'We're not relying on just one or two people to bowl really well,” Wyant said. 'Every player is contributing at some point.”

While Linn-Mar is the defending Prairie Invitational champion, the Lions will face a tough field Saturday. Jefferson posts a top-15 team baker game average at 191.8. The J-Hawks' Hunter Sturtz is ninth in the state with a 225.3 average.

The boys' tournament will kick off at 1 p.m. at Lancer Lanes.

IN THE LANE

l In his first game of the season on Nov. 24, Iowa City West junior Patrick Wood rolled a 295, the only boys' game to break 290 this season. In 2014-15, there were five perfect games.

l Vinton-Shellsburg senior Cole Garwood is fifth in the state with a 229.8 average and a 459.7 series average. The Vikings are 2-1 in the Wamac, and are seventh in the state with a 3,058.3 team match average.

l West Delaware's Hope Mozingo ranks second in the state with an average of 220.3. On Friday, the senior posted a career-high game of 299.