The suspense in the room with all the players getting the ball ready, balancing the ball, eyeing the lane as the balls leaves the bowler’s hands.  Ready, swing…and STRIKE!

The Alleykats traveled from Willis to Fort Worth to compete at the Texas State High School Bowling Competition on March 24. The team were named state champions. 

“It definitely was not easy preparing for state, it took a lot of time with my team as well as individually,” freshman Ryan Jackson said. “Me and my team had to put extra effort in outside of practice, due to us losing one of our important players. But that didn’t phase us and we didn’t give up immediately.”

It took a lot of long hard working days and dedication for these bowling athletes to get first place at state.

“The team was formed in October 2023,” bowling sponsor Gary Granger said. “We held tryouts, and 15 players were picked as varsity and junior varsity. From day one, our goal was to win district, regionals and state. We practiced twice a week, and in December we started district play. We ended district play in February as District Champs, 6-0. In March, we competed in regionals and finished 1st and then headed for State. On March 23rd, we won and were crowned State Champions

All of the team had such a good time at state and got to make a lot of memories with their teammates. 

“My favorite memory was probably when I was put into pick up a 7 pin someone had left,” junior Hayden Irvine said. “They were a left hander so picking them up was a more difficult task then it would be a right hander.”

All of this hard work and dedication turned out to be good for all of the team considering that they will now be going to nationals this summer.

“It definitely felt amazing winning state,especially due to the fact that we had the odds stacked against us,” Jackson said. “The team had been doing great all year, and knew that we were on fire. So, we surely were to have a chance at winning state. Although, when we had lost one of our players it hurt us tremendously. But, I knew that would make me have to step up and become a leader. It was a hard task, but we all came out with a great win in the end.”