Highland?s Wood rolls to state bowling title

It was a day when everything just seemed to go right.

Bowling as a member of Iowa City West, Highland junior Patrick Wood just had everything feel right during the Class 3A state tournament in February.

?It was a goal for me,? Wood said. ?I knew I had a good chance coming into the season, but I had to qualify and do my thing. I knew I had it in me. Every ball coming off my hand just felt perfect. It came down to the final shots.?

Those final shots helped claim a narrow victory in the Class 3A individual bowling tournament, as Wood left Des Moines as a state champion.

Wood?s mark of 491 was a product of two consistent games; however, after notching a 243 in the first game, he found himself sitting in ninth place, behind Cedar Falls? Avery Bauer, who rolled a 265.

?There was a kid on my lane who was about 20 pins over me after the first game,? Wood said. ?I told myself that I just had to focus on my game and not worry about everyone else. We ended up coming through.?

In the second game of the individual tournament, Wood improved by five pins, notching a 248 to put together his final score.

Of the eight athletes in front of him, all saw their second-game scores drop by at least 31 pins, as Wood edged out Johnston senior Drew Hicks by six pins for the state title.

With a Class 3A title, Wood is looking to return next year, and keep improving upon his average. The number he would like to hit is 230 per game next season.

?Being a junior, next year I want to focus on improving so I?m getting higher scores,? Wood said. ?I want to get to a 230 average. Granted, I?m not going to roll a 250 every game, because sometimes pins won?t carry the way they should, but that?s how it works.?

How will he hit that mark? Wood said there is one key to getting to those high scores consistently.

?Sparing,? Wood said. ?I need to focus on the action of my ball to make sure it?s hitting the pocket correctly. It needs to be moving when it hits the pocket so it explodes. At practice on Mondays the first thing we do is spare shooting. You aren?t going to get strikes all the time, and the pros say that spares will win your games. You need to know how to move.?

As a member of the Iowa City West bowling team, Wood travels up to official practices with the Trojans twice a week after school, but he said he?s in the bowling alley nearly every day of the week.

?(Practice) is after school, and we have STAT at the end of the day, so I leave a little early,? Wood said. ?We only practice twice a week, but in season (August to May), I try to spend five or four days per week at the bowling alley. I don?t just bowl two or three games, I try to do six games. I spend a lot of time on it.?

Wood also noted that he meshed with his Iowa City West teammates quickly, and doesn?t see it as any different from a Highland athletics team.

?It?s not too different,? Wood said. ?The bowling team up there is no different than any other team down here. I wouldn?t say there?s much more competition difference, but looking at 3A to 1A, there?s some better options.?

Wood added that he often bowls in tournaments with college bowlers and in special events where the lanes are oiled differently, to provide a challenge.

His next goals are to return to state next season, but after that, Wood said he?s been approached by multiple people about potentially bowling competitively beyond high school.

?After winning state, I?ve actually talked to a lot of colleges (about bowling after high school),? Wood said. ?A lot of them have opened my mind, but the best one was a guy from Mount Mercy. He told me not to go to school for the bowling, but go for the education. That?s a big thing for me.?

?Bowling is going to be with me for the rest of my life. It?s one of those sports that you can do until you are 80 years old.?