BY JIM MISUNAS
WICHITA — Great Bend Panther Jordan Black was red hot, stringing strike-after-strike together at the 5A state bowling championship.
For the most part, Black was a one-man machine with an eighth-place medalist finish (594, 201-159-234). Black (640) finished fifth in 5A last year.
The Panthers rallied in Baker games (181-170-172-198) to finish fourth (2,938) behind state champion Topeka Seaman (3,127), Wichita Northwest (3,109) and DeSoto (3,013) to miss a third-place state trophy.
Western Athletic runner-up Black spun seven strikes in his first game, but had three open frames. His final 234 capped a solid day.
“I felt pretty good today,” Black said. “I had a few lucky shots. I had a few mental lapses. The second game I got uncomfortable, and it showed. I expected to do better as a team, but we competed.”
Great Bend coach Mike Perry said the Panthers kept battling.
“Jordan tried to pull us along,” Perry said. “Had a couple guys caught fire, we would’ve relaxed more. We had a good team effort. We tried out best out there. But you can’t force it.”
Other Panthers competing were 25th-place A.J. Roberts, 533 (177-193-163); 29th-place Blake Sheets, 527 (159-178-190); 33rd-place Cordell Stanley, 521 (177-178-190); 41st-place Bryce Moore, 505 (187-173-145); and 82nd-place Dalton Dicks, 420 (121-156-143).
All of the Panthers enjoyed a bright moment. Stanley closed out game 1 with four strikes. Sheets ended game 1 with three strikes and continued with six consecutive marks in game 2. Roberts closed game 2 with three strikes and had five consecutive marks I game 3. Moore opened with seven marks in game 1.
The Panthers posted game scores of 742-705-770, well below their season average.
“It was a tough day. It was difficult today except for the top two scores. We tried to tell jokes and relax, but we got a little tight at times. In Bakers, we never could quite catch that fire we needed.”
The Panthers narrowly missed a state championship last year when Topeka West (3,217) rallied past the Panthers (3,205) in the final two Baker games.
WAC medalist Moore (216.8), WAC runner-up Black (202.4), 5th-place Stanley (194.9), 7th-place Sheets (193.5), 8th-place Roberts (189.2) and Dicks (170.9) dominated the regular season.
5A BOYS STATE
1—Topeka Seaman, 3,127 (804-756-749)—7—Noah Belt605, 9—Koby Hoar 588, 19—Cody Mzhickteno 550, 59—Trent Turkin 481, 62—DJ Birkenbaugh 472, 68—SturgisStreeter 452
2—Wichita Northwest, 3,109 (726-842-806)—1—Gabe Alvarez, 744, 2—Brandon Bonta, 711; 66—Jon Turner456, 81— Layken Clark 423, 92—Ethan Smith 387, 95—Ethan Dingus 374
3—DeSoto, 3,013 (766-770-764)— 4—Sean Cauthron 647, 14—Alex Wright 561, 40—Cole Proctor509, 57—Tyler Lovegren 483, 70—Brayden Baxter
446, 74—Mike Dittemore 438
4—Great Bend, 2,938 (742-705-770)—8—Jordan Black, 594 (201-159-234), 25—A.J. Roberts, 533 (177-193-163), 29—Blake Sheets, 527 (159-178-190), 33—Cordell Stanley, 521 (177-178-190), 41—Bryce Moore, 505 (187-173-145), 82—Dalton Dicks, 420 (121-156-143); Baker games—181-170-172-198
5—Andover Central, 2,899 (683-825-700)
6—KC Piper, 2,899 (778-680-632)
7—Mulvane, 2,826 (756-723-674)
8—Salina South, 2,792 (637-699-715)
9—El Dorado, 2,768 (732-659-735)
10—Topeka West, 2,729 (670-781-630)
11—McPherson, 2,679 (624-696-700)
12—Lansing, 2,673 (715-669-708)
INDIVIDUAL STATE MEDALISTS
1—Gabe Alvarez, Wichita Northwest, 744 (206-285-253)
2— Brandon Barta, Wichita Northwest, 711 (211-222-278)
3— Grayson Graham, Maize, 651 (224-222-205)
4—Sean Cauthon, DeSoto, 647 (166-257-224)
5—Caleb James, Andover Central, 635 (197-245-193)
6—Peyton Montgomery, Eisenhower, 612 (208-229-175)
7—Noah Belt, Topeka Seaman, 605 (138-223244)
8—Jordan Black, Great Bend, 594 (201-159-234)
9—Korb Hoar, Topeka Seaman, 588 (230-202-156)
10—Forrest Parker, El Dorado, 579 (167-183-229)
11—Chris Marcum, Wichita Heights (215-178-178)
12—Dallas Bishop, Goddard, 567 (174201-192)
13—Mackenzie Proteroe, Wichita Heights, 566 (205-171-190)
14—Alex Wright, DeSoto, 561 (210-172-179)
15— Taylor Miller, McPherson, 559 (172-198-189)
16—Griffin Peterson, Salina South, 558 (171-170-217)
17—Sam Calderon, Kapaun-Mt. Carmel, 554 (218-166-170)
18—Kaleb Odums, SM Miege, 553 (195-171-187)
19—Cody Mzhickteno, Topeka Seaman, 550 (237-126-187)
20—Brad Gawith, Salina Central, 550 (159-184-207)
