Oskaloosa Bowling Enjoying Success

Junior, Taylor Mathes practices for the upcoming conference meet.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – One Oskaloosa sports team has been quietly having a successful season, 10 pins at a time.

The Oskaloosa High School boys team is 12-2 this year and head coach Tony Witt describes the season as “awesome.”

One of only two losses was to Knoxville, by a total of 5 pins and Oskaloosa avenged that loss when Knoxville visited the team at home, winning by 500 pins. The team’s other loss was to Pella and Witt says the team didn’t bowl their best that day, adding, “You can’t bowl your best every time.”

The girls have been even more successful and Witt smiles when talking about the success the team has had this year.

The girls team suffered their only loss in their last meet in Newton. “I think maybe the pressure got to them a little,” says Witt.

Both teams have quietly been building success all year and Witt says the success is due to, “complete team effort. It hasn’t been just one person really standing out. It’s been two or three every meet. Anybody can bowl good. They fall back on each other.”

Witt believes that a mixture of young bowlers and more experienced bowlers has given the team a good dynamic.

Witt talked about boys team freshman, Dylan VanWyk, who is in the top 12 in the state, based upon his average of 217. Sasha Crumes is another standout bowler for the team, averaging 193. “Mixed with Clayton Danner, who’s been on my team for 4 years… His leadership has been awesome.”

Colton Stout is one of the young varsity bowlers for the Indians who enjoys the sport, because it allows him to be with friends as well as enjoy the competition. Success did add a level of pressure and it’s a challenge to fight off those shaky feelings when it’s your turn to bowl.

Stout feels confident heading into the conference tournament this Saturday, “Right now anyway. When I get there, it’s going to be a little bit nerve wracking.”

Stout, whose average is 164 this year, says he tries his hardest to be successful in his game when one of his teammates is having an off game.

Jared Smith, a freshman on the team, says that the experience has been everything he had hoped it would be, “I think the team’s been doing good this year.” Smith sees a state championship in store for the team. The pressure to perform for the team is something Smith feels, “all the time” and he takes a deep breath when he’s set to bowl, in order to calm himself down, “to throw the best shot that I can.”

About their two losses, Smith says the team wasn’t as focused as they could have been and maybe overconfident that they would win.

For the girls, Chelsea Vinton, who was a state qualifier last year, has been a consistent bowler all year, says Witt, “She’s helped some of the young ones too.”

Junior, Taylor Mathes and Senior, Keirsten Gordon were also praised for stepping up and helping the young bowlers on the team.

When it comes to young bowlers on the team, Nikki Parlet got a nod from Coach Witt for her team play and solid game play.

Taylor Mathes says she started bowling when she was 5 years old, “because my parents did it too.” Mathes says that her sister was on the bowling team and she decided to join the team from her example. Mathes believes that success is due, in part, to the closeness of the team, practicing harder, and being more serious this year than in the past, “I think that’s really helped us a lot.” Regarding the team’s sole loss at the end of the season, Mathes says, “I think it was a wake up call.”

Keirsten Gordon says that she enjoys bowling, because it’s something that her mom and dad did when they were together, “It’s kind of a way to stay closer to my dad and actually have something to talk about besides how my day was.” Gordon says the team’s success comes from “pulling together,” “getting along,” and staying positive when heading off for a meet. Gordon spoke of the loss to Newton, saying that the team mostly had a pretty good attitude about the loss and used the lane conditions as something to learn from.

The lanes at Newton proved to be a major player in the girls’ performance, but Mathes says the team feels more confident about the upcoming conference meet at Newton.

The team is preparing for the conference in Newton on Saturday, in which all 7 conference teams will square off to send bowlers to state qualifying in Mount Pleasant on February 14.

The Indians defeated Mount Pleasant earlier in the season.

Quietly building success hasn’t led to many fans behind the lanes for the team over the year and Coach Witt and the bowlers hope that their success will bring out more fans to help cheer the teams on in the future.

Stout agrees, “I’d like to see a little bit more attention.”

Smith says that he believes most people see bowling as a hobby, “I think of it as a sport and we have a lot of good people here and we are capable of producing more than what most people think we do.”

Mathes agrees that, “people sometimes forget that bowling is a sport. They don’t think about it that much, and it kind of hurts a little bit.” Mathes is optimistic that, in the future, more people will be there to support the team.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids,” said Witt, “They’ve been awesome this year. It’s shown in their bowling and their record.”