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- Written by: Jeremy Chawgo - Breese Journal Sports Editor
Trophy time — The Central Community High School bowling team ended their record-breaking season in style with the Third-Place State trophy. The Cougars not only broke several school records, they also made it to the State Tournament for the first time in school history before bringing home the trophy. Pictured in the front row from left are Cooper Martin, Benny Lehman, Jacson Deiters and Brenden Phillips. In the back row is coach Chris Martin, Chasse Wuebbels, Blake Monken, Hudson Dulle, Blake Horstmann and coach Ben Hubler. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO It was unchartered waters for the Central High School bowling team all season long, and they rode that momentum all season to a State Tournament, third-place trophy in O’Fallon over the weekend.
The Cougars etch their name in the record books in the IHSA with several top-10 series and game records.
They began their postseason run on Jan. 18 when they claimed fourth at the Salem Regional where they knocked down 5,912 pins behind Mascoutah, Mt. Vernon and Salem.
Central did the same at the Camelot Bowl in the Collinsville Sectional as they placed fourth with 6,224 pins, behind Harrisburg, Salem and O’Fallon.
They made the quick trip to the State Tournament at the St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon. Bowling has only one classification from all IHSA schools with the event starting on Friday with 12 teams advancing to the finals on Saturday.
The Cougars started in last place on Friday with their score of 867 where they were led by freshman Cooper Martin with a 202.
“That’s the thing about bowling, one bad game doesn’t sink you,” said Central head coach Ben Hubler. “But a second bad game can really hurt you, give our guys credit for regrouping and staying focused.”Cooper Martin The Cougars placed four of their five over 200 in the second game with freshman Jacson Deiters leading the way with a 224 and both Blake Horstmann and Blake Monken knocking down 213 pins.
Martin went back to work in the third game where he paced the Cougars with a 257 followed by a 227 from Deiters as they rolled a 994 and ended the first session at 2,901 which was 22nd out of the 24 qualifiers.
The Cougars came out inspired in the afternoon session with 11 of their 15 games being at least 200 pins.
Horstmann sparked the Cougars in the opening game with a 269, closely followed by Martin with a 253 and Deiters with a 227 for a 1,056 game.
They continued their climb up the standings with a 1,040 in game two where they were paced by senior Benny Lehman with a 246 and Monken with a 207.
Central perched themselves in 10th place after their third-and-final game where they knocked down 991 pins with the aid of a 227 for Lehman.
The first day saw Martin hit a 1,285 followed by a 1,230 from Deiters and a 1,218 from Horstmann.
The Cougars continued to climb up the standings after each game on Saturday with their lowest round being the sixth game with a 998.
“We managed to climb our way back to 10th place on Friday, and I think that really motivated the guys to keep pushing,” added Hubler. “We just steadily climbed all day today and I can’t say enough about how hard this group worked all season to get to this point. Chris (Martin) and I are so proud of this group.”Blake Monken The Cougars started Saturday with a 1,030 with Monken hitting a 256 and Horstmann knocking down 244 pins.
They followed that with their best effort of the day in game two with a 1,037 that was paced by the best score of the weekend, a 279 from Deiters and a 249 from Monken. Martin knocked down 232 pins.
The third game of the morning session saw the Cougars knock down 1,028 pins where they were led by Monken with a 236 and Horstmann with a 215. They were sitting in fifth place entering the afternoon session.
They climbed to fourth place after the fourth game of the day where the Cougars knocked down 1,048 pins with four 200 games, including a 232 from Horstmann and a 224 from Deiters.
The Cougars climbed to third place after their fifth game of the day with a 1,035 with Horstmann knocking down 257 pins and Lehman hitting 219 pins.
They stayed secured in third place with their 998 series in the final game with Deiters hitting a 243 and Lehman hitting a 202.
Central claimed third in all classes with their 12,258 pins, trailing just behind State Champ Harrisburg’s 13,177 and runner-up Machesney Park’s 12,488 pins.
Horstmann paced the Cougars on the weekend with 2,560 pins while Deiters knocked down 2.545 pins followed by 2,432 from Monken, 2,422 from Martin and 2,299 from Lehman.
For the weekend in 60-bowled games, the Cougars averaged 204.3 pins while Harrisburg averaged 219.6 pins and Machesney Park averaged 208.1 pins.