The Austin JV high school bowling team is on a roll.

After topping unbeaten Century, Austin will compete in the state tournament in Apple Valley this Sunday at 9 a.m. Austin (11-3 overall) will be one of 24 teams competing at the state meet.

“It’s a very young team and it says a lot about the talent these kids have. They’re excited and they’ve earned this,” Austin head coach Jim Juenger said. “We want to make a real good showing and I think we have a real good chance to place in the top five or six teams.”

The varsity high school bowling state tournament will take place at Echo Lanes in Austin Saturday at 9 a.m. That tournament will bring 20-24 teams to town.

Austin’s varsity team went 9-5 and missed out on state, but varsity bowler Cole Kroneman had some advice for the JV team in Apple Valley.

“They’ve just got to stay positive and keep their heads up,” he said. “If you do bad, you’ve just go out there and get it next time.”

Tory Peil, a junior on the Austin JV team said that it was a big deal to get past Century.

“It was a pretty big upset for us and we really wanted to beat them to prove that we were better than them,” he said. “We’ve just got to go out there and do what we always do this weekend.”

Bowling for a team presents a new challenge as opposed to individually bowling. Instead of rolling an entire game, bowlers will throw just two frames as the entire game is spread out between all five team members.

“I think it’s easier (than throwing an individual game),” Peil said. “You get to see what other people are doing and learn what your ball actually does by what they do.”

Austin has a young squad with just one senior, Gage Morgan. Peil and Kroneman said they are trying to spread the word about the bowling team at Austin High School to get more bowlers out.

Other members of the Austin JV team include: Nick Downey, a junior, freshmen Daniel Gerlach and Jacob Conner, eighth grader Collin Bailey and seventh grader Elijah Rayman.