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300! Ferneau’s perfect game sets pace for MHS bowlers

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Marshalltown High School senior bowler Demitri Ferneau, center, gets a congratulatory hug from Dylan Cooper after Ferneau bowled a 300 game during Thursday’s dual meet against Fort Dodge at Wayward Social.

After a disappointing loss Tuesday night to Urbandale, Marshalltown head bowling coach DJ Wilder had frank remarks for his boys’ team.

“I told the guys, ‘You guys needed that, you needed to realize you can’t just walk in the door and win,'” DJ said. “Coming into today, you go out and you shoot 2,360 in the first two games, that’s just what the doctor ordered.”

Thursday afternoon’s home matchup with Fort Dodge proved to be the perfect antidote for the frustrated Bobcats.

Senior Demitri Ferneau led the way with his first ever competitive perfect game, rolling a 279-300–579 series and inspiring a huge reaction from the crowd — and from his enthused teammates. DJ expressed his pride in Ferneau for his performance and said he needed the boost after some struggles in recent practices.

Ferneau said his nerves were high towards the end of the perfect game, but halfway down the lane on his 10th and final throw, his arms went into the air. He was calling his shot.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING - Marshalltown High School senior Sydney Dannen celebrates a strike during her second game of Thursday’s meet against Fort Dodge at Wayward Social.

“I know I’ve been chasing it for a while, but I haven’t gotten to the point to get it,” Ferneau said. “I threw one in practice my sophomore year, but it didn’t feel the same. I knew I wanted to get one that actually counted in high school.”

It wasn’t just Ferneau who excelled in the two-game series on Thursday — all six varsity boys’ bowlers cracked 400 pins for the Bobcats.

Damon Borton and Dru Wilder rolled 470s — Borton with 191-279 and Dru with 246-224. In Borton’s second game he missed only one pin in the 10 frames. Aaron Ratte rolled a 249-183–432, Dylan Cooper added a 226-190–416 and Xander Pickett had a 182-224–406.

It’s the first time all season that all six Bobcats reached 400 in the same meet.

The Bobcats scored 973 in the Baker games, rolling a 228 in game one and not breaking 200 in the final four games.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

DJ said it was up to him to figure out why sometimes the Bobcats tail off after the first Baker game.

“I don’t know, that’s where I as a coach have to figure that out,” DJ said. “To this point, we’re seeing a big dip between our first and second games. On average, we’re seeing problems transitioning from one lane to the next, but then we get it back. So those are the things I look at, and I have to try to figure out when we have such a big lead after the first round, how do we carry the momentum into the next one and have a really big score?”

Marshalltown’s girls’ team fell to a defeat against the Dodgers, 2,629-1,998. It was an up-and-down day for the Bobcats, with senior Sydney Dannen leading the way at 144-214–358. Madison Pickett was second with 171-139–310, Autumn Thompson scored 137-158–295 and the younger trio was led by Devin Peterson’s 116-92–208. Katelyn Schwartz had 108-97–205 and Sydney May scored 99-91–190.

DJ said it’s been a difficult season for the Bobcat girls thanks in part to the learning process for the team’s three newcomers — but he’s been impressed with the level of teamwork between the veterans of the team and the rookies.

“I’m really happy to see the camaraderie that they’re starting to build with the younger half of the team,” DJ said. “They’re not going to go and shoot lights-out every time because they’re fresh, three of the six girls are fresh this year. I want to see them continue to get better, I want to see them work till the last fram.”

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

Up next for MHS bowling is a Thursday afternoon meet against Des Moines Hoover. The team’s seniors will be recognized at the dual.

T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

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