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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A battle-tested Kickapoo squad survived a gruelling stepladder gauntlet en route to a first-place finish in Tuesday’s Show Me High School Bowling Championship at Enterprise Lanes.
Jaret Bradley, Oliver O’Neal, Graham Mortimer, Andrew Dedmon and Spencer Robarge propelled the No. 3 Chiefs to a 2-0 victory over No. 1 Glendale in the best-of-three final series.
Kickapoo jumped out to an early lead in the first game with a trio of strikes in the first five frames from O’Neal, Mortimer and Robarge.
While Glendale’s Hailey Collins, Josiah St. John, Chloe Dudley, Xander Dudley and Spencer Jurgensmeyer were able to keep the score close, a pair of miscues in the back half opened the door for Robarge, Kickapoo’s anchor.
The sophomore standout responded with a three-strike blitz in the tenth frame to secure the game-one victory for the Chiefs 227-195.
With Kickapoo head coach and pro bowler Blake DeMore competing in the Las Vegas Masters, assistant coach Jeff Phillips helped guide the Chiefs to the early win.
“That first game was huge,” Phillips said. “Glendale is an awesome team, and they’re a complete team. They were the team that had the top seed going into this, and so we knew we had to bowl a smart game. To get that first game is huge, because then you have a little bit of wiggle room. If you lose the second game and you’re still you know come back and win it on the third.”
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In the second game, it was Glendale jumping out to an early lead with its own trio of strikes in the first five frames from Collins and both Chloe and Xander Dudley.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, Kickapoo found another gear midway through the match with a Yahtzee — five-straight strikes — from Mortimer, Delmon, Robarge, Bradley and O’Neal to regain control.
With each mark on the board, Kickapoo’s energy level raised a bit higher — and an animated, screaming Robarge was at the center of the fury.
Phillips praised his anchor for doing the little things to elevate the entire squad.
“It’s a treat to have him and to coach someone like him,” Phillips said. “He’s just you know, he’s been up to so many things and been through so much, there’s no position that he’s not going to execute a good shot. He might not strike, but he’s not going to throw a bad shot — the other bowlers know that, and they feed off of that. Spencer has done so much, and he gets the other guys in the best position to throw their best shots. He’s worth more than just him bowling strikes at anchor — he helps everybody lift their game.”
While Glendale would rally late, the Chiefs’ five-strike assault left little room for error.
By the time the game reached the final frame, all Robarge needed was a mark to seal the game, match and championship with a 222-201 final score.
The two-handed lefty bowler was quick to credit his teammates’ consistency in clutch situations.
“I know with my team, if I get them going the right way, they’ll start striking,” Robarge said. “And if they’re not striking, they’ll spare. I think that’s the biggest thing that separates us — whenever we need one, we can spare. A lot of other teams — if they don’t strike when they need one — the chances are they’re going to miss that spare.”
Kickapoo defeated Ozark (183-158) and Nixa (180-179) in the stepladder bracket to reach the final series.
For Glendale and head coach Mike Freeman, thoughts turn to the state competition scheduled for May 25 at the Concord Bowl in St. Louis.
Tuesday’s defeat, while disappointing, could also prove to be valuable to the Falcons.
“Most people learn from failure, not from success,” Freeman said. “If you’re constantly winning, you don’t know the value of that when you really don’t. We’re still going to go to state, we’re going to meet 24 different teams and it’s incumbent upon us to realize that it still boils down to spare-shooting and having the mental capacity to calm everything down, and just execute and trust what you know.”
Central (qualifier), Republic, Willard, Parkview and Springfield Catholic also competed in Tuesday’s qualifying rounds.
Show Me High School Bowling 2019 Finals – Stepladder Bracket
First Round
(4) Central – 159
(5) Ozark – 169
Second Round
(3) Kickapoo – 183
(5) Ozark – 158
Third Round
(2) Nixa – 179
(3) Kickapoo – 180
Final Round – Game One
(1) Glendale – 195
(3) Kickapoo – 227
Final round – Game Two
(1) Glendale – 201
(3) Kickapoo – 222
