Waukon’s Cody Huinker tops his dad with 300 game

Cody Huinker finally one-upped his dad.

The Waukon senior bowled his first 300 at Decorah’s Kingpin Entertainment Center last month in an away meet against the Vikings.

“It’s definitely one that I’ll remember forever,” Huinker said. “Everybody else stopped bowling. Fans were around for both schools. It was nice to see that both fans were supporting it as it was such a big accomplishment for me.

“It was quiet until the ball was on the lane. The people would start to cheer a little bit, the anticipation of it. And then it struck, and I was pretty happy and everyone else around was, too. It was amazing.”

Huinker’s previous high was a 298 he shot last spring, outside of the high school season. While impressive, his 298 fell a pin short of his father Cory’s top score.

“He’s had a 299,” Huinker said. “So, to have him now by the one pin is pretty cool.

“He’s helped me improve all throughout my years of bowling, so he was really proud. I’ve been close so many times, so to see it play out and be a 300, he was overjoyed.”

What was different about this particular evening that led to his magical game? For Huinker, it was a combination of familiarity and a feeling.

“The advantage in bowling is we can go to the bowling alley (in Decorah) and play the night before,” Huinker said. “I went over on Thursday (Dec. 1) and I bowled a 279. So, I was feeling it over there I guess you could say.”

Huinker currently ranks 10th across all Iowa high school classes in pins per game (228.5). He’s the pins leader for a Waukon boys’ team that’s off to a 3-1 start.

As a junior last season, he advanced to bracket play in the state tournament as an individual. This year, he’s hoping his team joins him.

“We’ve just got to focus on being the best team we can be working our way to that substate meet,” Huinker said.

He’s also hoping to have better luck himself at state this time around.

“Last year I did make state and I qualified six out of the first three games of preliminary play, so I made the bracketed match play,” Huinker said. “I lost the first round. I got beat 246-279, which is a pretty unlucky matchup, but I feel like I left it out there.”

As for what he’ll do now to try and top his perfect game …

“It wasn’t the best two-game series that I put up that night (516), so I’ll look to add onto that,” Huinker said. “Hopefully I have a higher series yet to come this year.”