The Marshalltown bowling teams sent their seniors out with wins on Thursday at Wayward Social.

The Bobcat boys didn’t meet their goals for the day, but it was still a victory for five seniors who have spent a majority of their high school bowling careers in the winning column. Marshalltown mashed Des Moines North 3,191-2,465 behind well-grouped scoring.

The Bobcats’ counting individual scores came from seniors Porter Niedermann (244-198–442), Gage Grieves (269-169–438), Jayden Beichley (221-214–435) and Aiden Cowan (215-197–412) and junior Cayden Slifer (243-177–420). Senior Carter McCready contributed a 174-198–372 that would have led Des Moines North (3-5) on this night.

The 269 game for Grieves marked his career high, while Slifer’s 243 game and 420 series were season highs for the Bobcats (8-1).

Marshalltown opened Baker play with a 258 but followed it up with a 179, eventually averaging a 208.8 in five rounds to finish off the Polar Bears with ease.

“Tonight was a good learning experience for our group,” head coach Nate Clark posted on the team’s Facebook page. “Our goal going into the tournament was 3,350. We had some regression today, and that was intentional on my part. I wanted the kids to be put in situations where they had to move, adjust, and problem-solve on their own without immediate input from a coach or parent.”

Without much of a challenge from North — the score was 2,147-1,593 going into the Baker rounds — Clark put his bowlers’ performances in their own hands.

“The goal was communication, awareness, and confidence in their decisions,” he wrote. “Even with that challenge, we still shot 3,191 — a number that beats most teams on a given night. That matters, but it’s not the standard we’re chasing.”

Clark called upon improvements in converting spares, execution in Baker games and communication for his team to take the next step as the season winds down.

“Growth isn’t always linear, and days like this are part of the process,” he continued. “We’ll learn from it, clean up the details, and keep pushing forward.

“Back to work.”

The Bobcat girls rolled their season-high score in a 2,051-1,788 win over North, led by senior Bailey Damman’s career-high 231 game and match-high 355 series.

Damman rolled 124-231–355 for the high score of the dual, just missing her career-high series by two pins.

Camillya Thomas returned to the lineup with a 134-157–291, while fellow seniors Ariana Villagomez (121-120–241) and newcomer Silvana Steenvoorden (114-110–224) also contributed to the individual scoring. Aubrey Webber (136-108–244) also counted toward the team tally, while fellow junior Ray Massa (103-118–221) just missed out.

The Bobcats (3-7) outscored the Polar Bears (2-7) by 182 pins in Baker play to pull away for the win.

Marshalltown is back in action Saturday with a trip to the Rose Bowl in Muscatine for the Louisa-Muscatine Invitational starting at 2 p.m.