Carson bowling looking to continue dominance

Many high school athletes seek the flair sports. They look for the chance to make the game-winning touchdown, the strikeout to take home a title or the buzzer-beating shot.

There is long list of sports that give those teenagers a shot at glory in front of their peers. If you look far down that list, perhaps at the bottom, you might see bowling.

It's the same game you may have played with your grandfather on the weekends, but hardly took seriously.

At Carson High, a school that has been in downturn for the flair sports, it has seen dominance in bowling over the last eight years and with it, produced some of its own flair.

It has won 72 consecutive matches and has not lost a match in its eight-year history. The Senators are looking to extend that streak today against Reed for the High Desert Interscholastic Bowling Program championship at the National Bowling Stadium.

"My dad has been bowling (for years)," said Sean Weekley, a sophomore at Carson. "I just love doing it."

Weekley was used to those flair sports before he began bowling just three years ago. He was the starting running back for the Senators' junior varsity team before shattering his knee cap last season.

"They're completely different things," Weekley said of football and bowling. "(Bowling) keeps me calm. I like to have fun and bowl with some friends."

Weekley has brought some of that flair from the football field with him. Last week when the Senators wrapped up their eighth Mountain League title with a 36.5-8.5 victory over Spanish Springs, Weekley rolled three strikes in the 10th frame. After completing the feat, he strutted back to his chair, pulling on his collar with his right hand in celebration.

Carson's success on the lanes can be attributed to the city's junior program. Area children grow up playing the game and Bill Baker, the team's adviser, has been reaping the benefits the last six years he has been with the team.

"Carson City has a really good junior program," Baker said. "It's beneficial that there's only one high school in Carson City. There's not a lot to do in Carson ... I just kind of inherit the good bowlers coming up and just help them out by tweaking their game a little bit.

"Most of these kids that I have, have been bowling since they were 6 or 8 years old."

Baker, 55, has been bowling for more than 45 years and even turned his passion for the game into a profession. He is the bowling manager at the Gold Dust West, where the Carson team practices.

"We're putting in about five hours a week in practice, but then most of the time most of the kids come over and practice (at the Gold Dust West) on Saturday mornings," he said. "So they bowl a minimum four to five days a week."

The added practice time is likely one of the advantages Carson holds over its competition. Many players don't get the same opportunity to bowl as often as the Senators. Many team members play in a junior league during the weekends in addition to their high school season.

Carson doesn't look to be slowing down, even if other teams are beginning to catch up. Baker said that Reed poses the biggest threat to its win streak.

"They have three really good bowlers," Baker said. "But there's six other ones on the team too ... So that's what I really work on in practice is those lower bowlers to keep them going."