Smith, Young to state bowling

WATERLOO — Two of the area’s top girls bowlers will be among the best of the best next week when the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union’s 2026 state bowling meet takes place at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo.

Although no area teams will be competing for a girls’ title, Mt. Pleasant’s Shyann Smith and Sigourney-Keota’s Sophia Young each made the state meet as individuals during Monday’s regional qualifying round.

Smith and the Panthers battled at the Plaza Bowl in Clinton, where the team took fourth place overall, scoring 2,403. Mt. Pleasant was seven pins behind third-place Davenport North (2,410) but over 100 away from qualifying, as Clinton (2,990) and Newton (2,553) took home the two team spots.

Smith had the sixth-best score at the Clinton site, and the third-best score out of bowlers who failed to qualify in the team ranks. She bowled a 568, which qualified her 20th out of 24 for the Class 2A Individual meet, which is held on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

Meanwhile, Young and the Cobras were in West Burlington, competing alongside Fairfield. The Trojans and Cobras both failed to knock off heavily-favored Louisa-Muscatine, which grabbed the only team qualifying spot with a 2,707.

Young bowled a 576, which was the third-best score of anyone at the West Burlington qualifying site, and the best score of anybody who wasn’t bowling for Louisa-Muscatine.

Young will get her shot at gold on Tuesday, Feb. 10, when the Class 1A individual tournament takes place.

Both Young and Smith will be aiming to get into the Top-8 during the first round. The quarterfinalists will play out the rest of the tournament bracket style to decide a winner.