Washington’s Colin Zear stands with the gold medal he earned Saturday at the Southeast Conference bowling meet in Mount Pleasant. Photo by Sally Reighard/Washington Demon bowling.
Washington senior bowler Colin Zear closed his conference career with the highest honor Saturday. The Demon boys’ and girls’ bowling teams competed in the annual Southeast Conference bowling meet at the Iris Bowling Center in Mount Pleasant. The event featured bowlers from Fairfield, Keokuk, and Mount Pleasant battling for 12 all-conference selections and the league title.
The Washington boys bowling team finished fourth in the league standings with a score of 2,745. Fairfield won the conference title by tallying 2,883 points. A pair of Demon bowlers earned spots on this year’s all-conference team. Zear rolled the best two-game score of the tournament at 504, claiming gold medalist and first team all-conference honors. Bailey Curtis represented Washington on the second team all-conference squad. He placed eighth with a score of 366. Washington tallied 1,844 points in the individual rounds and added 901 more in the baker rounds.
The Washington girls’ bowling team also placed fourth in the team standings with 1,857 points. Keokuk won the championship with 2,672 points. Trista Kelly had Washington’s top score at 284, 12 points shy of the all-conference cutoff. The Demons tallied 1,247 points in the individual rounds and an additional 610 in the baker rounds.
Washington opens the postseason today in the Class 1A District 5 tournament at the Rose Bowl in Muscatine. Washington will battle bowlers from Centerville, Central DeWitt, Durant, Fairfield, Louisa-Muscatine, and Sigourney. The top scoring team and individual from each district advances to the state bowling tournament in Des Moines on February 21. At-large spots will also be awarded to the top scoring team and the top five individuals who weren’t district champions. Jessica Londberg was the last to represent Washington at the state bowling meet in 2014. First pins are set to drop at noon.