Le Mars bowling teams lose in quarterfinal round of 2A state tourney

WATERLOO — The Le Mars Community boys and girls bowling teams finished their season in the quarterfinal round of the Class 2A state tournament on Tuesday at Cadillac Lanes.

The Le Mars boys finished with the fourth best total through the preliminary set of 15 Baker games which determined seeding for the bracket portion of the competition. Le Mars finished with a 3,044 total which was three behind Independence. North Scott (3,206) and Clinton (3,201) took the top two seeds.

Le Mars started with games in the 170s and 180s before reaching a 204 in their fifth game. Two games later the team had their best preliminary round of 244, the first of three games in a row above 200. The team closed out with scores in the 230s in three of their final four games.

The team paired up against No. 5 seed Decorah who finished with a 3,009 total in the preliminary round. Decorah took a 1-0 lead by winning 226-207. The Bulldogs tied the score with a 233-231 second game. Decorah clinched the quarterfinal round win by taking the next two games by scores of 205-179 and 185-180.

Decorah went on to beat top-seeded North Scott 3-1 in the semifinals before losing 3-2 to Fort Dodge in the championship match. Fort Dodge rallied from a 2-0 deficit to get the win, their third overall title.

The Le Mars girls earned the No. 3 seed after their preliminary set of Baker games.

The team paired up against the No. 6 seed Lewis Central. The two teams competed against each other last year, also in the 3-vs-6 matchup, with Lewis Central winning 3-1 en route to claiming the state championship.

It was a similar situation on Tuesday when the two teams met again after Le Mars outscored the Titans 3,203-2,725 at the state qualifying meet at Sweet 16 Lanes the week before.

Le Mars took a 2-0 lead before Lewis Central squeaked by in the next two, winning by four and one, to force a fifth and final game. The Bulldogs ended their season with a 182-179 loss in the fifth game.

Lewis Central defended their title by winning their other two contests by 3-2 scores. The team beat No. 7 seed Western Dubuque in the semifinal round. The team then took down top-seeded Keokuk by a 3-2 score in the championship series.

The Class 2A individual tournament scheduled for Wednesday was postponed due to weather.