Great Bend Post Sports
Expectations remain high for the Lady Panther bowling team following last year's Class 5-1A state championship. Saturday, the Great Bend High School bowlers opened the new season with Baker's action at Bishop Carroll. The Lady Panthers knocked down 2,163 pins over 12 games to beat Wichita Northwest by 63 pins for the title. The Panther boys finished with 2,029 pins for 21st out of 36 varsity and JV squads.
Bowling for the Lady Panther varsity squad were Kaylin Wahlmeier, Zoey Mayberry, Emilee Nelson, Paige Heine, Brooklynn Mayberry, and Rionna Rodriguez. The girls rolled a 335 in block one (two games) to trail Bishop Carroll's junior varsity squad by five pins. Great Bend had the highest two blocks of the day with a 416 and 427 in the final block to move ahead of Northwest for good in team standings.
Bowling for the Panther boys were Daegan Miller, Quinten Miller, Brantley Vsetecka, Keaton Wahlmeier, and Josh Manning. Great Bend came out of the gates with blocks of 375, 385, and 365 to stay competitive but dropped after blocks of 291 and 271. Junction City was the lone team to have all six blocks over 400 pins for a team score of 2,680 pins. Wichita Heights shot a 2,497 for second.
The Panthers were scheduled to host Liberal on Monday, Jan. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Walnut Bowl. That has been moved to Wednesday, Jan. 10. The squads head to Dodge City on Thursday.