One would not be incorrect in saying the East Mountain High School bowling team is on quite a roll.
The team recently won its 13th Class 1A-3A state title beating runner-up Sandia Prep in the championship game. The Timberwolves won their sixth consecutive blue trophy over the past seven years, as there was no competition during the Covid lockouts.
“We had some ups and downs this year, but we pulled together and worked as a team,” said coach Clayton Severs. “We had some small victories, Volcano Vista, del Norte. We were able to compete with some of the 4A and 5A kids. Those were definitely the ups.”
As for the downs, well, those were corrected by championship weekend.
“We definitely struggled working as a team,” Severs said. “That was the biggest down. At the beginning of the season, we were struggling, but toward the end, we were able to pull it together. The biggest thing is the lacked team spirit. But they worked really, really hard, especially after winter break and started to pull it together.”
Despite losing a couple of seniors from last season’s team, the Timberwolves returned many of their bowlers who were successful in the past.
But gaining the right chemistry was another matter.
“We were able to fill in the spots this year, but they needed to pull it together to win,” Severs said. “Bowling is not just a skill, a lot of it is mentality. If you approach it as not working as team, it’s hard. I think they realized a lot of their mental strengths and weaknesses and finally began to strive for those mental strengths to pull it together to win.”
Junior Cole Hitchcock was one of those newcomers to the team, but he already was an avid bowler, picking it up after the flu lockdowns were over.
“We had a little phase, right after Covid, where we went bowling a lot,” he said. “I got my own ball, shoes. And then I saw the bowling team and I said I was going to join. It turned out to be a lot of fun. It was a really good environment. Everybody was really positive and wanted to help each other get better at what they do, especially during the end of the season. It all came together and we really started working and helping each other to be better bowlers.”
It was a learning process for Hitchcock and the other bowlers, he said.
“We started off pretty slow,” Hitchcock said. “Everyone was doing their own thing, but we all put it together at the end. That was a lot of fun. It was the most energetic and most positive team I’ve ever been on.’
High school team bowling, which is a co-ed competition, utilizes what’s called the Baker format, with each team consisting of five bowlers. Each competitor throws a frame, followed by a teammate, until each one had a turn, then the order repeats for a full, 10-frame game.
So teamwork is essential to success, Severs said.
“They began to uplift each other,” he said. “A lot of the kids they might have a throw a bad frame and it gets in their head. Other students, one bad frame, or one gutter ball, they had to learn to it was not going to ruin the whole day. The kids were able to uplift each other. I was really proud of them for being able to lift each other up.”
Hitchcock said competing in the state tournament was the perfect way to wrap up the season, especially while winning a championship.
“I had a whole bunch of friends and family there,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. It was a really good experience for the first time and coming in and doing as well as I did.”