Vinton-Shellsburg shines at state bowling tournament

It was a banner week for Vinton-Shellsburg bowlers at the state tournament, with both individual and team triumphs in Waterloo.

For senior Tori Richart, the competition marked a storybook ending to a highly-decorated high school bowling career.

Richart captured the Class 1A individual state championship Monday, capping her third consecutive year competing at state.

“I took some superstitious precautions, getting all my lucky stuff ready to go beforehand,” Richart said.

Among her rituals: wearing her “lucky bacon and eggs” socks for individual meets and drinking two Bubbl’rs when she bowls — Twisted Elix’r and Triple Berry Breez’r, in that order.

“Then I just listened to music to get in the right headspace,” Richart said.

The routine paid off.

Richart defeated Independence’s Carlie Hanson, 204-170, in the finals, avenging the semifinal loss of her teammate, Kylee Kirchner, last year’s individual state champion. Hanson had edged Kirchner, 202-193, in the previous round.

“As I was walking to the last match, Kylee walking past me and whispered, ‘Go kick some butt, Tori,” Richart said. “I was really motivated at that point. That’s when I knew I had to beat her.”

Vinton-Shellsburg Coach Amber Pattee said Richart’s focus and energy set her apart.

“I felt like Tori had this focus and positivity about her that I could just see,” Pattee said. “Tori throws the ball differently. She’s not the typical power shot from the right side.

“It goes to show that you have to be yourself, do what’s comfortable for you, and you can come out on top.”

Boys’ championship

Tori wasn’t the only Richart having fun at state for Vinton-Shellsburg.

Younger brother and freshman, Tate Richart, placed sixth individually and helped lead the Vikings to a Class 1A team championship Wednesday.

“I am really proud of him and happy for all of them,” Tori Richart said. “It’s such a good team and they’re all really good friends, so I knew they had a good shot at it.”

The Vikings earned the No. 2 seed in bracket play after rolling a 3,306 in the 15 pre-bracket Bake games.

“They came out of the gates blazing,” Pattee said. “They’ve worked hard at just being a team and it really started coming together at state qualifying. Our scores reflected that.”

After blanking Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, 3-0, in the semifinals, Vinton-Shellsburg defeated Camanche, 3-1, in the championship match.

“There were some tweaks here and there, but really, they took ownership of their own destiny,” Pattee said. “Individually, they’re all great bowlers — three of them made it to state individually (Tate Richart, Byron Christianson and Jakob Becker). It was just about them putting it all together as a team and figuring out the lineup for our Baker games.”

Cal Lessig, Jack Geiger, Cylas Kettler and Axel Rodman also were key contributors to the Vikings’ title run.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the trophy and I love that we won,” Pattee said. “But I’m more proud of them because they’re good kids. That’s what’s really important to me.”