Austin/Southland bowlers are rolling among the state’s best

Published 9:00 pm Friday, November 7, 2008

The Austin/Southland bowling team has had three straight seventh place finishes at the state meet, and they hope that streak ends this season.

That’s because they would like to do better and would love to top the team’s best finish ever, which was in 1998, when it took third.

So far, the team is one of three undefeated squads in the state and things are looking good. A/S’s match record is 14-0 overall and 8-0 in the conference, and it’s record in games is 56-14.

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The state meet can be a hectic place as 24 teams and over 200 people fill the lanes, making it a stressful place.

“We’ve gotten better this year and I’ve gotten used to (the state meet) over the years and it’s nothing that we don’t expect,” said last year’s Southeast Western Conference MVP Chris Koppa. “A lot of really good bowlers from around the state graduated from last year. More than half of top 100 were seniors last season.”

This season Koppa has slipped to No. 2 in the SECW standings as his teammate, Matt Breitbarth, a sophomore from Southland High School, is currently ranked No. 1 after not reaching the top-five last season.

“I stepped up a lot last from last year,” Breitbarth said. “I got a new bowling ball so that always helps and every weekend I bowl for league.”

Since the team has five bowlers who each bowl two frames of every game, Koppa, an Austin senior, is happy to have Breitbarth on his side.

“It’s a friendly rivalry,” Koppa said. “We pick on each other all of the time and it’s fun.”

After going undefeated last season, A/S head coach Russ Osier thought he might have trouble this season as the team had one open slot. Breitbarth and Koppa were varsity returnees, as well as Drew Osier and Gabe Morgan.

Osier turned to Austin seventh grader Kody Phillips, who is ranked ninth in the conference.

“He stepped up for us and really filled a missing link,” Osier said.

Phillips has held his own while bowling with a team of experienced vets.

“They raise me a little. Just watching them bowl makes me want to do better and play that much more,” he said. “If a get a strike and they all strike out. I’ll need a strike on my next one and that gets frustrating. I want to do good but I feel nervous and shaky up there.”

A/S has all five of it’s bowlers in the top-nine of the conference as Morgan is ranked fourth, and Osier is ranked fifth. Russ Osier hopes to get all five into the top eight by the end of the season, because that would put all of them on the All-Conference team.

Breitbarth said that gives the whole team motivation.

“We push each other to try and get them higher from where they are,” he said. “But you don’t want to go below them.”

Having five solid bowlers is what has made the A/S bowling team a state contender over the past three years.

“It’s hard to hide an average bowler with the team format,” Russ Osier said. “You need five good bowlers to keep your momentum going.”

For the bowlers, it has been a good experience for them to be so competitive.

“People are starting to notice us a little more,” Koppa said. “This is kind of a standout sport in this town. We rise to the occasion and that’s what separates us from some of the other school sports. It’s nice to be recognized for something.”

A/S will play in the SECW meet in Rochester Nov. 15.

TOP 5 IN STATE

Austin/Southland has the state’s fourth best average score in the state with 190.8, is tied for the second best game winning percentage at 80 percent and is tied for the to match winning percentage at 100 percent.

FILL PERCENTAGE

(The number of time a bowler gets either a strike or a spare)

Matt Breitbarth 85.40 percent (first in SECW, 19th in state)

Chris Koppa 84.08 percent (second in SECW, 29th in state)

Gabe Morgan 80.28 percent (fourth, in SECW, 79th in state)

Drew Osier 79.31 percent (fifth, in SECW, 92nd in state)

Kody Phillips 77.27 percent (ninth in SECW)