The Clarke bowling teams easily won the first Kenny Brammer Invitational here on Jan. 7, defeating teams from Central Decatur, Lamoni and Mormon Trail.
The boys team scored 2513, beating second-place Central Decatur by more than 400 pins. The girls team rolled a 2162, beating second place Lamoni by more than 400 pins.
Both Clarke teams finished with three medalists — Samantha Roemer (first), Shyanne DeVore (second) and Courtney Clark (fourth) on the girls side, and Jacob Redman (first), Nathan Compton and Damon Helgevold (tied for third) on the boys side.
Central Decatur’s Nathan Harrah finished second in the boys division, while Kilee Petty finished third for the Central Decatur girls.
“I felt the first annual Kenny Brammer Invitational was a huge success,” head coach Dale Helgevold said. “This meet was named after the individual, Kenny Brammer, who was instrumental in getting the high school bowling programs started in the four schools that were represented here. Without Kenny, these programs probably wouldn’t exist. The competition was great as were the fans and atmosphere of the whole day.”
Redman paced the boys, rolling games of 200 and 179 to finish with a 379 mark for the day. Compton and Helgevold each rolled a two-game series of 353. Skylar Johnson finished with a mark of 331, while Matt Beminio scored a 296 and Adam Smith finished with a 275.
Samantha Roemer ran away with the girls competition, rolling games of 192 and 198 for a two-game of 390, 98 pins better than DeVore’s 292, who finished second. Clark finished with a 270, while Sierra Penick rolled a two-game of 255 and Sarah Roemer finished with a 204.
The Central Decatur boys finished second, led by Nathan Harrah’s 365 series. Bryce Thomas finished with a mark of 287, while David Huppert rolled a 265. Chance Spidle finished at 257 and Sam White rolled a 199.
On the girls side, Central Decatur was led by Petty’s 285 series, while Cappie Robbins rolled a 240. Sierra McElfish finished with a 223 and Amber Yale was close behind at 222. April Smith finished at 206 and Brittany Cunningham rolled a 161.
Panther Tournament
Clarke finished third in the girls and fifth in the boys divisions at the Panther Tournament in Creston on Saturday, while Central Decatur finished second in the boys and fourth in the girls.
Bryce Thomas and Nathan Harrah finished fifth and sixth overall individually, rolling two-game series of 395 and 341, respectively.
Kilee Petty finished sixth on the girls side, rolling a 311.
Clarke was led on the girls side by Courtney Clark with a two-game of 278, while Bailey Browne finished close behind with a 277. Shyanne DeVore rolled a 249 and Sierra Penick contributed a 242. Elly Eddy rolled a 241 and Alexxa Blair rolled a 235.
On the boys side, Cody Kjellsen led the way rolling a 334, just finishing ahead of Damon Helgevold’s 333. Skylar Johnson rolled a 324, while Geo Smith finished at 230. Martin Zaragoza rolled a 225 and Caleb Grimm finished with a 212.
“We had to overcome some adversity today,” Helgevold said. “The largest was the fact we had to bring up a number of junior varsity bowlers to fill some gaps in the lineup. Those gaps were caused by a busy school schedule, but we did what we had to do and everyone performed great, and we pulled together as a team and did well. I am proud of all the bowlers we have out this year.”
Clarke is back in action on Monday, hosting Mormon Trail at 4 p.m.
For Central Decatur, Petty led the way rolling a 311. Amber Yelle finished with a 269 and April Smith rolled a 261. Brittany Cunningham finished at 230, while Cappie Robbins rolled 178 and Kaitlyn Yoder finished with a 150.
On the boys side, Thomas rolled a 395 to lead the team, and Harrah finished with a 341. Chance Spidle rolled 324, while David Huppert finished with a 282 and Sam White contributed a 227.