By Mark Schnabel
Newton Kansan
Newton-Hesston boys finish third, girls fifth in AV-CTL II final standings
WICHITA — A bit of history was made for the Newton-Hesston boys’ bowling team Thursday at Let’s Roll Seneca in Wichita.
Sophomore Mario Murillo rolled a perfect game. It is the first for a Hesston bowler. If it has happened in the past for the team, it would have been before 2015, the earliest the Kansas High School Bowling website has been keeping such information.
It came in the third game of the tournament. Murillo finished fifth with a 693 series.
“Deep breaths and make good shots,” Murillo said. “I was trying to concentrate on making one shot at a time. Being my first one, I just tried to control my breathing and trying to make a good shot.
“It feels incredible. Being the first from Hesston, it’s amazing. I feel like that’s putting our name out there. I’m hoping they’ll be looking at my name and knowing I’m here to compete.”
It’s the ninth perfect game in the state for the boys this season.
In addition to Murillo’s perfect game, the Newton-Hesston boys rolled a near-perfect Baker game of 265. Just a nine in the sixth frame and another nine on the final ball of the 10th frame prevented a perfect score.
“That was crazy,” Murillo said. “For the first time bowling this year, we did pretty good. We could have done better. We’re looking pretty good going into regionals.”
Murillo and teammate Tanner McAllister were state qualifiers in Class 4-3-2-1A last year with McAllister claiming a medal.
“My main goal is to medal at state,” Murillo said. “If I keep performing at a high level, which I have the last couple of weeks, I feel like I can.”
Entering the league meet, McAllister is ranked 14th the state all classes in average at 222 and Murillo is ranked 19th at 219. Among Class 4-3-2-1A bowlers, McAllister is second and Murillo is third.
Newton-Hesston finished fifth in the tournament at 3,232 and tied for third in the league with regular-season dual meet results factored in.
“We struggled today early, but once we got a line, we used a lot more free hooks,” Newton-Hesston coach Jamie Brockman said. “They figured it out fast.”
Andover Central won the tournament at 3,637 (three team games and four Baker games). Goddard Eisenhower was second at 3,398, followed by Andover at 3,309 and Goddard at 3,297.
In the final standings, Andover Central took first and Eisenhower was second. Newton-Hesston, Goddard and Andover tied for third.
Dayden Cunningham of Andover Central was top medalist at 743.
McAllister was named first-team all-league, while Murillo was named second team and Tyler Burke was named honorable mention.
In the girls’ competition, Eisenhower won at 2,837, followed by Andover at 2,139, Salina Central at 2,024, Newton at 1,972 and Goddard at 1,928.
In the final standings, Eisenhower was first, followed by Andover, Salina Central, Goddard and Newton.
Faith Pelz of Eisenhower was top medalist at 647.
Newton claimed three medals — Karla Lopez-Correa in seventh at 411, Adriana Jaso in eighth at 408 and Lorelei Griffs in 10th at 398.
Lopez-Correa was named honorable mention all-league.
“The girls bowled a lot better today,” Brockman said. “Two of the girls got their season high. Three of the girls got their high game today.”
The Newton bowlers will compete in the Class 5A regionals Thursday at the Alley in Hutchinson. The girls roll at 9:40 a.m., followed by the boys at 1:10 p.m.
The top three teams and top six bowlers not on the top three teams will advance to state.
The Hesston bowlers will compete at the Class 4-3-2-1A Regionals at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Alley in Hutchinson.
Since there are fewer than four Hesston bowlers, the top six individuals not on the top two teams advance to state.
“Monday and Tuesday, we’ll work on a lot of one-on-one stuff,” Brockman said. “We struggled there before. We’ll concentrate on ball and ball surfaces, so we’ll be a little better prepared for it.”
Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League
Division II Championships
Thursday
Let’s Roll Seneca
Girls
Team scores — Goddard Eisenhower 2,837, Andover 2,139, Salina Central 2,024, Newton 1,972, Goddard 1,928.
Final team standings — 1. Eisenhower, 2. Andover, 3. Salina Central, 4. Goddard, 5. Newton. (Andover Central had fewer than four bowlers).
Top 5 individuals — 1, Pelz, Faith GE 647; 2. Newell, Kaitlyn GE 522; 3. Betschart, Jordyn GE 519; 4. Lee, Kyndal And. 475; 5. Brunswig, Aubrey GE 473.
Boys
Team scores — Andover Central 3,637, Goddard Eisenhower 3,398, Andover 3,309, Goddard 3,297, Newton 3,232, Salina Central 2,826.
Final team standings — 1. Andover Central, 2. Eisenhower, 3. (tie) Newton, Goddard, Andover, 6. Salina Central.
Top 5 individuals — 1. Cunningham, Dayden AC 743; 2. Duty, Jamie GE 740; 3. Light, Landon And. 737; 4. Nguyen, Ryan Gdd. 720; 5. Murillo, Mario New. 693.
