Coach Steve Conner had a feeling.
“All season I’ve had a feeling about this team,” he said. “The bakers format plays to their strength.”
The Seward boys’ bowling team proved their coach’s feeling right Feb. 6 when it won the school’s first boys’ state title in more than 20 years.
“You never plan for it to happen,” Conner said.
The Jays entered the state tournament seeded second behind Wayne. Conner said that was good for the team because it allowed them to settle in.
“You can get the jitters out of your system against someone you feel you should beat,” he said. “You can get momentum.”
The bakers format has each bowler throw two frames in a game. The team that wins three of five games moves on.
Seward started out against Hartington-Newcastle and won 3-1. Conner said losing that game was good for the team because it reminded them that it doesn’t matter who they’re playing.
“You have to look at each as someone who can beat you,” he said. “When it happens, they don’t panic. They just seem to find a way to come back.”
Conner said the Bluejays were battle tested coming into the Class B state tournament. Most of the regular-season schedule was against Class A teams – only six of Seward’s opponents were in Class B.
“That helped prepare us,” Conner said.
Seward bowled Elkhorn North in the second round and won 3-2. The Storm worried Conner, he said. With Elkhorn being essentially an Omaha school, ENHS bowled mostly Class A schools, too.
“You wonder if you’ll be able to hang with them,” he said.
With the score tied 2-2, the fifth game was do or die.
“The boys looked at me, and they had a look of confidence,” Conner said. “It was nice to see that look in their eyes. Body language says a lot, and they were ready to go.”
The win put Seward in the semifinals against Northwest, which had upset top-seeded Wayne in the previous round. SHS defeated GINW twice in the regular season, but they were a scary team, the coach said.
“It’s hard to beat someone three times the same year,” he said. “It was unspoken – if we win, we go to the championship game.”
About midway through the fourth game, with Seward up 2-1, Conner did the math and realized “this is happening.”
Everyone still had one shot left, and everyone stayed focused, he said. The 3-1 win meant Seward would bowl for the title.
“It started to sink in. We made the championship. Wow! That just happened,” Conner said.
The Jays were done with the preliminary rounds by 10:40 a.m., and the finals didn’t start until 7:30 p.m. Conner and the bowlers went to lunch and came back to Seward to spend the afternoon relaxing and getting ready for the championship match.
“It was so long, we could go relax,” Conner said. “We had seven hours to kill.”
The final was No. 1 and defending champion Wayne against No. 2 Seward.
“It’s what you hope for,” Conner said.
Seward swept the Blue Devils 3-0 to win the title.
The championship match had a different feel from the preliminary rounds, however. Because it is televised, TV cameras and more lights were set up. More reporters and photographers were in attendance, as well.
“The championship game is something else,” Conner said. “I’m nervous for them and for myself.
“Throwing thousands of shots is what helped them to do it. Do the process. Do what you do.”
He said the bowlers were able to focus on their routine for each shot, keeping it the same every time.
“The only shot that matters is the next one,” Conner said. “They threw really good next shots.”
Landen Ford is the team’s lead-off bowler, and he got things started with a strike. In fact, Conner said, five of his six shots in the three games were strikes. The other was a spare.
“That sets the tone and the team feeds off that,” he said. “He’s so consistent. It gave me goosebumps.”
Game one was 190-138, close but not down to the last shot, Conner said. Game two was a little closer at 171-168, and game three was 191-158.
Conner said bowlers get focused on throwing strikes, but spares win games. If you throw spares for 10 frames, you score in the 190s, he said.
“You don’t have to be great. Just don’t suck,” he said.
The Jays seemed to be almost on cruise control against Wayne, he said. They were methodical and took care of business.
“They know it is a big scene,” he said. “But they were able to put that aside – this is what I do.”
In the third game, the Jays knew by frame eight that the title was in the bag. Kids turned to Conner with a look that asked have we won?
“I said it means what you think it means,” he said.
Senior Carl Taylor, bowling fifth, threw a strike in the 10th frame. On his next ball, he left three pins. Conner turned to junior Jack Schulz, who hadn’t bowled yet, to give him a chance to throw.
“Jack said let Carl have his moment,” Conner said.
The last throw didn’t matter, and Taylor didn’t care where it went, the coach said.
“We were so businesslike, I didn’t know how we’d react,” Conner said. “I didn’t expect tears.
“You don’t realize what it means to the kids.”
Seward finished as state runner-up the first year bowling was an NSAA-sanctioned sport. This year’s senior class was the first Conner had coached all four years.
“I really wanted this one,” he said with a smile.
Post-match was a blur of photos and interviews, he said. The team stayed at Sun Valley Lanes a long time before finally packing up and heading home.
“We got in the suburban and cranked up Queen’s ‘We Are the Champions,’” Conner said. “We had our moment. We listened to our playlist and it set in – this is the last time.”
When they got back to Seward, the team huddled and broke the huddle like it always does. The boys gathered their equipment and went their separate ways.
“I can’t thank the kids enough. They did this,” Conner said. “The kids were rock stars.”
Conner said he was amazed at how many people in Seward cared about how the team did. On social media, he said, Seward High is now labeled as a “bowling school.”
“I hope the younger kids pick up on the excitement,” he said. “It was fun to see the community get excited.”
