Fort Dodge takes Iowa 2A boys bowling team title, Council Bluffs Lewis Central earns 2A girls crown

The Dodgers won as the No. 6 seed

By Ryan Timmerman | Photos by Matthew Putney 

WATERLOO -- While the top seeds reigned supreme in the Class 1A individual competition on the second day of the Iowa state bowling tournament, underdogs took the 2A team awards.

The 2A boys tournament, held at Cadillac Lanes on Tuesday in Waterloo, went to Fort Dodge, which went into the bracket-style, head-to-head tournament seeded sixth after finishing the 15 Baker games in the preliminary round with a score of 2929. Fort Dodge went through third seed Independence, second-seeded Clinton en route to defeating the No. 6 Decorah three game to two in a best-of-five, winner-take-all tournament.

Likewise, the No. 6 seed took the girls’ team title. That feat was accomplished by Lewis Central, who beat top-seeded Keokuk 3-2.

Council Bluffs Saint Albrert’s Adam Denny sailed to an individual championship, his second straight title. The senior bowled a 769 three-game series to score the top seed in the knockout bracket tournament at Maple Lanes in Waterloo, where he went on to beat Ashton Giza of Clarke and teammate Cole Pekny in the finals.

In the girls’ individual tournament, top-seeded Kali Johnson of Forest City cruised to her state championship. The senior was the top individual scorer after the three-game series, where she scored a 636, topping Saint Albert freshman Bailey Secrest by five pins.

Johnson beat Camanche sophomore Abbi Nylin in the finals, 249-158.

Denny took the championship round by beating Pekny, 267-189. Giza finished in third place with a 247-212 win over Louis Shontz in the consolation matchup.

Decorah went up 2-0 on the Dodger boys in the championship, but Fort Dodge rallied to win three straight games by scores of 179-170, 212-210 and 188-130 to capture a state title.

The Fort Dodge boys needed all five games to get by Independence in the semifinals, but crushed Clinton in a three-game sweep. The Dodgers capped off the 2019-20 season with a state title as well. It’s the program’s third boys state bowling title.

In order for the Lewis Central girls to capture a championship, it took the Titans the maximum 15 games over the three-round tournament to lay claim to the gold ball.

The Newton girls beat Western Dubuque in five games for third place. Molly Bramble of Louisa-Muscatine was third place as an individual on the girls side. She beat Claire Girkin of Charles City 235-186 in the consolation game.

In the boys’ consolation matchup of Mississippi Athletic Conference teams, Clinton beat North Scott in four games.