Sartell High School Bowlers Win Class AA State Tournament

SARTELL HIGH SCHOOL WINS AA STATE BOWLING TOURNAMENT

With over 100 high schools represented, Coach Dan Pike says that winning this State title was not easy, but the Sartell High School team, shown above, made it happen. Senior Masen Molitor (pictured above back row 2nd from left), has bowled on the team for 6 years.

Pictured from left to right back row: Alex Pike (Junior), Masen Molitor (Senior), Caleb Kudrna (Junior), and Coach Dan Pike.

Pictured from left to right front row: Kaleb Kuklock (Freshman) and Ryan Kruse (Freshman).

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There were 20 teams bowling at the start of the tournament. There were 14 head to head games for qualifying. The top 8 teams moved on to bracket play, which is 2 game matches, total pin fall. Sartell won the first match against Anoka, winning 383-366, played the Semi Finals against Tartan winning 378-373, and then the Championship game against Farmington winning 384-364.

Interestingly, Sartell is actually a Class A size school, being under 1300 students. Coach Dan said that at the beginning of the season, they chose to move up and play in Class AA, as he knew the kids were good enough to play in a more challenging division.

Coach Dan Pike said, "It is very difficult to win a state title. It took years of practice and a lot of luck. Most of the kids on the team practice 2-3 times a week all year long. Any of the teams at the state tournament were good enough to win the title."

Normally, the bowling league takes place in the fall, but due to Covid, it was pushed back to spring this year. Each team consists of 5 to 8 kids, and the format is called Five Person "Baker Style", which means each player bowls 2 frames each game. "This is what makes it truly a team sport," said Coach Dan.