Bowling finishes 2015-2016 strong; Looking forward to 2016-2017

Here are just a few of the lanes the bowlers were bowling on during the ITS Tournament. Photo by Damon Helgevold

By Damon Helgevold

The 2015-2016 bowling season has come and gone leaving behind broken school records and seniors saying final good byes.

Expectations were set and they were blown way out of the water for the year. Teo early season tournament victories set the tone for the rest of the year. Hard work and a total team effort gave the Warriors a season to remember.

“Winning two tournaments, and almost a third, was a huge accomplishment for us this year,” said junior Nick Heimerman.“The team bonded well over them and boosted our confidence against higher ranked teams.”

For fellow teammates nothing beats winning and watching the younger bowlers grow.

“I was extremely proud of how the freshman matured as such a high rate,” said senior Caleb Bain. “We found our footing early and won two tournaments and all year we fought extremely hard.”

For him and the other seniors, Matt Truman and Tony Manna III, the season ended sooner than they wanted. As Bain mentioned, it may have ended sooner than planned, but it was the best year in school history.

The bowling team finished the successful season with two victories at the Stout State Open in Menominee, Wisconsin and the Jayhawk Classic in Lawrence, Kansas. The season continued with a second place finish at the V-Hawk Open in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and the year ended with the first ever trip to the Intercollegiate Team Sectionals in Addison, Illinois.

That tournament closed a chapter in the lives of the seniors on the Waldorf bowling team as they will not throw another ball in collegiate competition. This group has set the standard high to what it means to be a Warrior Bowler.

“I really do feel like without me the program wouldn’t be in as good of a shape as it is,” Bain said. “My four years I spent my time building the team relations and helping keep players here.”

As the seniors leave a new captain, Heimerman, takes over. He has big plans for the team as captain.

“I plan on making sure we keep great team chemistr,” said Heimerman. “Going up and shooting a decent shot is not hard when you have your team behind you for support.”

Even with senior bowlers leaving, there will be many bowlers who will return next season and they include sophomore Michael Templin and freshmen Kyle Swiderski, Tanner Schmitz, Roger Harford, Tyler Doss and Damon Helgevold.

Freshman Kyle Swiderski looks forward to not only future growth but helping to lead Waldorf bowling into another big year in the 2016-2017 season.

“I’m looking forward to being more of a backbone to the team next year,” Swiderski said. “Of course I want to improve my average, win tournaments and go to sectionals, but i also want to help out the new guys. We lose a lot of knowledge and skill with this senior class. I hope to do what they did and teach the next class the finer points.”