Sidney's high school bowlers balance mental, physical challenges of sport

There comes a time in every sport when - despite all the hard work and sacrifice that went before - a moment of truth arrives.

In football close games are often settled in the final two minutes making the previous 46 minutes seem almost irrelevant by comparison. In golf a whole day can come down to the final hole, the final putt. A basketball game or even a championship can be decided with not a second left on the clock - when a ball still in the air can define an entire season of struggle. In baseball nine innings of brilliance can be erased in an instant by a slight flinch of the nerves.

As it is with any other sport bowling often comes down to the time when hours and hours of practice reach a defining moment. The fourth quarter, the ninth inning, the 18th hole or the 10th frame. Go time. Embrace it. Enjoy it. The you're so nervous and can barely breathe and loving every minute of it time.

The Nebraska High School Bowling Federation (NHSBF) was created in 2002 to establish bowling as a varsity sport recognized by the NSAA. Additionally the NHSBF governs the six districts that were formed all around the state. Since 2002 the Sidney bowlers have competed against many of the same competitors that the local santioned NSAA sports do - Alliance, Ogallala, Scottsbluff/Gering and Chase County. How well the sanctioning effort has succeeded so far is a little fuzzy.

"Every year in Lincoln they say the same thing. 'We're getting closer to being recognized,'" said girls team coach Chris Holtz who has been involved with the Sidney program since the beginning.

Though how far along NSAA sactioning has progressed is unclear, there is no doubt about how hard the talented groups of bowlers have worked. Sidney has two teams - one girls and one boys - each with five varsity bowlers. The girls are the defending district champions while the boys were district runner ups in 2013.

"Some people don't think bowling is even a sport," said girls team Co-Captain Kylie Ellwanger. "But it takes all the major muscle groups and it's a very mental game. You have to be able to be calm under pressure."

The NHSBF season began in early December with six meets being held through the end of the regular season on Jan. 18. With an odd number of teams (5) in the Panhandle Powerhouse Distict 6, each team is given a bye week. Last Saturday Sidney hosted a quad meet at Cedar Lanes. The guests included Ogallala, Scottsbluff/Gering and Chase County.

While the boys team split its two matches and the girls dropped a pair, the regular season ultimately comes down to districts later this month. Winning at districts can earn an individual bowler or team a trip to the states in Lincoln. There are also wild-card chances based on wins throughout the regular season.

"Every year I've been on the team we've had a team or individuals go to states," said Co-Captain Natausha Holtz.

Ellwanger and Holtz are both seniors at Sidney High School and have been on the team since they were freshmen. The others that make up the girls varisty squad are Mylisa Pennington, Zoey Mines and Jeniffer Cochran.

The boys team is led by Captain Michael Sukup another SHS senior. Sukup's supporting cast includes Spencer Ellwanger, Tyler Miller, Chance Harmon, Dillon Grabowski and Scott Bagnell. The boys are coached by Jeff Ellwanger.

Not surprisingly, they all seem to improve as the season has progressed. Though Kylie Ellwanger and Holtz have a season average approaching 130, they far exceeded their averages in games on Saturday at Cedar Lanes. Ellwanger rolled a 156 against Ogallala while Holtz game of 171 was the best of all competitors in a match against Scottsbluff/Gering.

The seasonal improvement is much the same story with the boys. While Sukup and Spencer Ellwanger hold seasonal averages in the 130s, both far exceeded that on Saturday. In the boys second game against Scottsbluff/Gering Sukup bowled the highest score of 197. Ellwanger rolled a 183 and 176 against Sidney's panhandle rivals.

While Holtz and Kylie Ellwanger are now the veteran leaders of their team it wasn't always like that. They started out as freshmen competing with and against older and more accomplished bowlers.

"It was a little scary at first because I didn't know anybody and they were really good bowlers," Ellwanger said. "But after the first meet things began to settle down and fall into place. Even though there were some really good bowlers on that team I saw that they were human, too."

Besides her father's influence, Ellwanger found her way into the sport of bowling through her best friend - Natausha Holtz.

Holtz has been involved with bowling since the third or fourth grade when she participated in junior leagues. Since her father Chris has been involved with Cedar Lanes for 17 years, Holtz spent a lot of time around bowling as a little girl.

"It's a great 'get to know you' kind of sport," said Holtz. "It can also be a great stress reliever."

While recreational bowling can be great for stress, competitive bowling can sometimes bring on the stress - if only for brief moments.

"It's a mental game as well as a physical one," Ellwanger said. "With some new girls on the team who are just picking it up, it's part of our job to keep the team relaxed and in a good frame of mind. It can be frustrating but you'll do your best when you're relaxed."

Holtz had similar thoughts on her roll as a captain.

"If you're not positive you can't bowl well," she said.

The Sidney bowlers will try to repeat the success of last year later this month when they compete in the district tournament. The time an site will not be determined until the Monday before the tournament which is scheduled for Jan. 25. Sidney will compete in its last regular season match on Jan. 18, in a dual at Ogallala.