‘Phenomenal’ freshman helps Campus girls win 6A bowling title

After finishing second at last year’s state tournament, Campus girls bowling coach Kenny Fulkerson delivered hope to his assistant.

“There’s some kids coming that you’re not gonna believe,” Fulkerson said. “It’s gonna be remarkable.”

At the first day of practice this season, assistant Brett Marrs saw Piper Reams. “Wow” was his immediate reaction.

“Oh my god, is she a freshman or a senior?” Marrs said.

“She’s a freshman,” Fulkerson said.

Fulkerson has known Reams “since she was in diapers.” He knew Reams’ dad from high school and helped teach her to bowl since she was 2, Reams said.

“I held it with both my hands, bent over and just pushed it down there,” she said.

The Colts won their third title in four years Thursday with a 93-pin victory over last year’s champ, Garden City. For Campus, it was a bit of retribution, Fulkerson said. Campus won the team titles in 2015 and 2016.

“It feels like it should have been four in a row,” he said. “And I swore that wasn’t happening again, so this feels good.”

Reams led the way. She won the Class 6A individual title with a 600-pin series, including a 244 score in game 2, which was the highest girls score of the day.

The oil pattern on the lanes was challenging. Fulkerson said it was sensitive on the bowlers’ hands and ball speed. Until the pattern wore down, there was little curve available from right to left.

Fulkerson said with the tough pattern, his girls had to be shot-makers. Reams and the Colts were shot-makers.

“I just listened to my coach and made sure I focused,” Reams said.

While Reams led the stampede, several other Colts had major contributions to the team title.

Fellow freshman Dakota Lennen finished 10th with a 525-pin series. She was one of five bowlers to reach 200 pins in a single game.

Senior Jordyn Wattman also had a strong day with a 20th place finish and a 492-pin series. She is one of two seniors on the Campus roster.

Even with Wattman and Erin Renollet’s graduations, Fulkerson said there is a huge crop of young talent behind them. Reams just leads the way.

“I’ve got some underclassmen on (junior varsity) that were just as good,” Fulkerson said. “My girls team this year could have gone 10 deep on varsity. They’re that good.”

It was a season of righting wrongs for the Campus girls. They were quick to note that. With a healthy group set to continue the Colts’ tradition and the reigning 6A individual champion on the roster, Fulkerson said the expectation is clear going forward.

“I knew I was gonna be in heaven with Piper,” he said. “... I intend on winning two, three, four more.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 6:51 PM with the headline "‘Phenomenal’ freshman helps Campus girls win 6A bowling title."