Competitive girls’ bowling regionals expected in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo

From the thousands of pins scattered during the girls' bowling meet between Linn-Mar and Waterloo West, a single pin proclaimed the Lions the winner, 2838-2837.

You can count on Waterloo West looking for revenge during the Class 3A, District 2 regional showdown on Tuesday.

Joining the Lions and Wahawks at Maple Lanes in Waterloo are Cedar Falls (8-2) and Mason City (2-8). The winner of the regional will head to the state tournament in Des Moines, February 20-22. One runner-up team from across the seven districts will be chosen for an at-large bid.

'I'm a little nervous,” said Linn-Mar's Mekena Diercks. 'It was a really close match last time. We only beat them by one, so we'll try not to make it such a nail biter this time.”

Less than one pin separates Diercks and teammate Alexis Tschantz for the team lead. Tschantz sports a 200.5 average, eighth in the state, while Diercks has a 199.7 average, 10th in the state. The pair have helped lead the Lions to an 8-2 record and first place in the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division.

'They've bowled for a lot of years and have worked hard outside of the season,” said Linn-Mar Coach Jeremy Moser. 'They're always in the (Cedar Rapids) Bowling Center. They're always looking for help from me or from any other coach to get even better.”

Iowa City West's girls' team has made quite a turnaround from last season. The Women of Troy finished a dismal 2-9 in 2015-16, but ended this season at 7-4. West improved its match average by more than 300 pins from last season, and reclaimed the Queen Pin from Iowa City High.

A state championship run would tie the turnaround together nicely.

'We tell the girls that they can compete with teams like Cedar Rapids Prairie and Muscatine,” said West head coach Mike Mellecker. 'The girls are capable of scoring high if they just keep focus. They can strike, but they need to convert spares.”

West faces a tough task during its regional matchup at Lancer Lanes on Tuesday. The Women of Troy will have to get past the top-scoring team in the state in Muscatine (2977.9) and the third-highest scoring team in Cedar Rapids Prairie (2861.3).

'We just need to keep the girls calm and focused on their own scores,” said Prairie head coach Don Wilfong. 'Focus on your own game, find the shot, get that taken care of so you have the lead.”

Ashley Sundstrom and Kaitlyn Early have led Prairie (10-1) this season. Sundstrom holds the sixth-best average in the state at 205.4 while Early holds a 194.5 average, good for 17th in the state. After a second-place finish last season, Early is ready for another shot at a state title.

'This is my senior season, and I've been to state all four years,” Early said. 'There is nothing I want more than a first-place finish at state.”