BY KEVIN PRICE

kprice@gbtribune.com

The Great Bend High School bowling team swept its first competition this season, though it wasn’t the competition they were expecting to start the season with.
The Panthers hosted a bowling match on Thursday night against Salina Sacred Heart and Holcomb.
The Great Bend boys combined for a team score of 2,197, good enough to knock off both second-place Holcomb, which totaled 1,891 and Sacred Heart, which combined for 1,830.
The Lady Panthers bowled a 1,913 to beat Holcomb, which finished with 1606. Sacred Heart only had one girl compete, Chearin Lee. She bowled a 301 for the series.
The match was originally removed from the team’s schedule, but found its way back on the schedule less than a week before the match.
The Panthers had originally planned to open the season with a match in Dodge City on Monday, but due to the weather, that match has been rescheduled to a Jan. 27.
Great Bend head coach Mike Perry said that he didn’t think starting the season late will hurt his team.
“I think everybody was antsy and ready to get going,” Mike Perry said. “You know how the first game of the season is. Since we have a few extra matches this season, it didn’t really hurt us.
“(Thursday), our junior varsity bowled against their varsity. Not because we’re better than they are, but because we have those extra matches.”
Kansas State High School Activities Association rules state that a bowling team’s six varsity players can only compete in 10 matches before regionals. Since the Panthers have more matches on their schedule, they have to sit the varsity this season.
Perry said that he thought that watching the junior varsity helped the varsity team.
“It was great for our young kids because they got to go out there and compete,” Perry said. “The top six or seven bowlers on the team haven’t ever bowled yet, but I think it helped them.
“We had them watching and helping some of the younger kids out, and I think they started to realize that, hey, we tend to bowl too fast sometimes and maybe we should to slow down.”
Mark Lang led the Panthers with a 613 series. Nick Rose bowled the best game for Great Bend, scoring 216.
The girls were led by Maddie Roach, who recorded a 524 series and the top game with 210.
“Our junior varsity went out there and bowled varsity numbers,” Perry said. “Lang and Roach, they both bowled varsity numbers and they will be looking to move up if they keep it up.”
Great Bend is back in action when it hosts Garden City and McPherson on Tuesday.

Great Bend bowling match
THURSDAY
At Walnut Bowl
VARSITY
BOYS
Team Results
1. Great Bend, 2,197; 2. Holcomb, 1,891; Sacred Heart 1,830.
Great Bend results
Mark Lang: 194, 211, 208 — 613; Trent Munsch: 191, 141, 194 — 526; Nick Rose: 145, 216, 138 — 499; Alec Witt: 172, 156, 144 — 472; Tylan Kurth: 171, 137, 146 — 454; Cameron Jackson 114, 182, 156 — 452.
GIRLS
Team Results
1. Great Bend, 1,913; 2. Holcomb, 1,606; 3. Sacred Heart, 301.
Great Bend results
Maddie Roach: 147, 167, 210 — 524; Erin Bowers: 166, 154, 159 — 479; Jessic Sterba: 153, 158, 125 — 436; Courtney Seever: 161, 122, 131 — 414; Nicole Blankenship 132, 139, 141 — 412; Tanisha Unruh: 134, 118, 158 — 410.
JUNIOR VARSITY
BOYS
Great Bend results
Nick Porter: 95, 131, 129 — 355; Kevin Coleman: 138, 116, 86 — 340.
GIRLS
Great Bend results
Alex Eye: 136, 120, 132 — 388; Chelsea Leuenberger: 111, 96 98 — 305; Marissa O’Connor: 86, 113, 103 — 302.