By: Andrew Kinn ('13)
Corn dogs. ‘90s music. And, of course, bowling. These were just some of the sights, sounds, and smells that accompanied the 2013 O’Malley Bowling event hosted on Friday, February 15th. With the Class of 2013 leading the O’Malley Cup by a score of 4-1, the first-year class came into the event looking to get back on track, figuring they held an ace up their sleeve with Preston “Phenom” McClellan, who would neither confirm nor deny that he took bowling lessons in high school from noted bowling aficionado and OU alumni Louie Iglesias ('95).
Both classes came out blazing in the tense atmosphere that always accompanies an O’Malley event. Martin Graham, Mark Rhoa, and Jeff Vedder led the way for the Class of 2013, each posting a score over 140, led by Martin’s 163. David Neumann’s injured hamstring was not yet healed and kept flaring up, causing him to struggle and bringing down the average pin count for the second-years. John Bollinger was extremely accurate, hitting the same, single pin with almost every roll. These two were more than balanced out by Abby Peterson’s stellar rolling. Looking at the Class of 2014, “Phenom” McClellan led the way with a 167, but it was a somewhat disappointing score for an Iglesias-trained bowler (speculation is that McClellan’s forgetting to wear a stylish bowling shirt that Iglesias typically sports contributed to this score). Carey Goodman stepped up for the first-years, with a score of over 150, and Andrew Kinn rolled a 147, scoring over 60 points higher than his career average of 82. Other top performers in the first game for the Class of 2014 included Nate Engelhart, Lucas Topolie, and Shauna Smith.
After round one, the second-years led the first-years by an average of six pins. The first-years, however, knew this was not much ground to make up, and they believed their fortunes were about to turn around in game two when O’Malley Commissioner Packy Moran stepped up to the podium and announced, “With the 1st pick in the 2013 O’Malley Bowling Supplemental Draft, the Class of 2014 selects Mr. Jim Kahler”. The first-years celebrated as Mr. Kahler had bowled over 200 in a warm-up during the first round. The Class of 2013, however, immediately protested, claiming territorial rights to Mr. Kahler. The contentious argument led to the dissolution of the O’Malley Bowling Supplemental Draft, and round two began with no draft or free agent additions.
Despite that setback, confidence among the first-years was still high. Dave Preston surfaced, replacing the zombie that bowled for him in round one, and bowled over 120. “Phenom” McClellan bowled a 175. Carey Goodman continued her torrid bowling, and Ethan Saporito stepped up along with Trey Frazier and Matt Gottfried to post great scores in the second game. These efforts were buoyed by the fact that Martin Graham and Mark Rhoa fell off after round one, posting much lower scores in the second game. The Class of 2013 did see the lane led by Madelyn Robinson and Libby Ebelhar increase their scores as well as Mike Dirmann roll a 162. John Bollinger finally got away from hitting the same pin over and over to bounce back and roll a phenomenal second game. When it was all over, the Class of 2014 held their breath, sure they had closed the gap. Would it be enough? As the final scores were announced, the gap had indeed been closed, but only to an average of three pins, and the Class of 2013 scored another victory to take a commanding 5-1 lead in the O’Malley Cup.
As the first-years where heading home, a number were overheard remarking that “We have them right where we want them!” Only time will tell if that is the case, but with O’Malley Trivia up next, it is certain that Sports Ad community is waiting with bated breath to hear about Mike Dirmann choking for the second year in a row to hand an O’Malley victory, and momentum, to the Class of 2014.
