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Big Day At the Lanes For Gentry

Pioneers Rack Up The Hardware

Rogers (KFSM) -  We pay lots of attention to the big sports, your footballs, your basketballs. But on Tuesday, bowling took center stage at Fast Lane Entertainment, for the 4A State Championship.

At its core, bowling is like any high school sport; once you've picked your ball and bowled your frames, the competition fades away and you begin learning, about yourself, your friends, and life.

"One life lesson is like, if you don't do your best on the first round, or first set, then you have another chance to redeem yourself," muses Cody Weseman, an Ozark senior.

When posed the same question, his fellow bowlers have similar sentiments.

"Whatever happens happens, just take it one frame at a time."
"Even if things are bad, there's a chance to get better."
"It's you against you, but you're also competing as a team so you're helping each other out."

And over heard at a lane: "Even a messy strike is still a strike."

But life lessons are for life and today is a tournament, so compete they must, in front of a screaming, standing-room only crowd.

"This is not a joke," intones Weseman. "We're here to win."

It was Gentry doing most of the winning. The girls took home the 4A state championship, while the boys finished in third. The Pioneers also had the top individual male and female bowlers

"We've been state runner ups for the last two years, so we've been really trying for this. It's been our dream, we finally accomplished it," said Gentry junior Carissa Goessens, who finished third as an individual.

For Madison Stanfill, the top individual girl, it's a sense of relief.

"Now, finally winning, it's finally awesome."

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