Iowa City High’s Carson Reid motivated to reach state bowling tournament

IOWA CITY — A little travel doesn’t scare Carson Reid — nor does high-level competition.

During bowling season, Reid, a junior, regularly makes the trek along Highway 1 from Solon High School to Colonial Lanes in Iowa City for practice.

With Solon not having a high school bowling program, Reid dons City High garb during the winter sports season.

“It’s definitely a little bit of a hassle just because you have to make that 30-minute drive just to go to practice, but it's really been a nice experience, getting to meet all the kids that go there and bowl,” Reid said. “The Solon swim team went to City High, so we went there as well.”

Fortunately for Reid, he’s not the lone Spartan turned Little Hawk during bowling season.

“One of my friends, Trendon Walker, he goes as well,” Reid said. “It definitely helps having Trendon there. He broke his foot (a few months ago), but made it back for the first week, so he's kind of getting back into the swing of things.”

Together, the Solon boys are City High’s top two bowlers and just a half-pin separates their individual per-game averages.

“I really think there's sky's the limit for those guys as long as they can keep focused and keep working,” City High Coach Dan Christensen said.

For Reid, the regular jaunts to Iowa City are only a part of his bowling-related adventures.

Next month, Reid will head to Las Vegas for Team USA trials.

“I am really excited,” Reid said. “It's going to be nice to see some friends that I've seen around the state or the country that I haven't seen in a while, and also compete against real professional bowlers.”

Between this year and last, Reid made tournament appearances in Louisiana, Indiana and Illinois, along with various centers in Iowa — and had plenty of success along the way.

In July, Reid squared off against some of the top competition in the country at the Storm Youth Championships in Indianapolis. He finished 32nd out of 145 in the 18-under boys’ class overall, and sixth in the short pattern.

He then took first place in the Dave Christensen Memorial Tournament in Des Moines in September.

Other prominent finishes included tops in the Nebraska Youth Open, fourth in the Greater Iowa Scholarship Bowling Tour, third at the Midwest Youth Main Event and 34th in the Ebonite Winter Classic.

“Talk about a kid that really bowls and practices,” Christensen said. “He works at it. I mean, when he wants something, he makes his mind up and keeps working on it until he can reach that level.

“He's a great kid, he really is. I think the world of him.”

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As for the high school circuit — Reid narrowly missed qualifying for the state tournament last year after making it as a freshman.

“I had high expectations going in,” Reid said. “I started well and then that last game, the lanes started to dry out and I had to make moves. I just didn't make them in time.”

While he’s hungry to get to Waterloo for state, his bowling aspirations are wide-ranging.

“It's definitely a motivation,” Reid said. “I'd say there are other things that motivate me too, outside of the high school level — like Junior Gold is one of the big national tournaments. And the Storm Youth Championships.

“I like to do some like adult tournaments on sports track conditions as well, so it's just facing tougher and tougher competition.”