Throughout the current high school bowling season, Franklin and Greenwood Christian have been about the only teams capable of standing in each other’s way.
The Grizzly Cubs took two of three regular-season meetings to win the Indy South Conference’s West Division championship, winning the inaugural Johnson County title as well.
After Franklin followed with a convincing sectional victory, GCA battled back last weekend and edged the Grizzly Cubs at the New Castle Regional.
“We have been battling Franklin all season,” Greenwood Christian head coach Brad Walters said. “They are our friendly and respected rival, to say the least.”
The rivalry will continue for at least a few more days, as both are part of the field for this weekend’s Richmond Semistate. The Grizzly Cubs and Cougars will attempt to become the first Johnson County teams to reach the state finals since Center Grove finished eighth in 2015.
Franklin has hit its stride this season under the tutelage of coach Mark Armstrong and assistant Dan Reed. Junior Jon Ekis led the way last weekend, becoming the lone Grizzly Cub to advance to the semistate as an individual, but he’s been but one cog in a balanced lineup this winter.
Junior Duncan Fritz was the team’s top individual scorer during the regular season with a total of 2,701, but four of his teammates — seniors Aaron Hollis, Tyler Miller and Devin Willham as well as sophomore Caleb Kentros — were all above 2,400.
Reed credits the senior trio for helping push Franklin into the state’s upper echelon this season.
“They’ve really worked hard to improve, and I’ll help anybody who wants to improve,” Reed said. “They’re really good.”
Reed added that the biggest steps forward this season have come in finishing off frames. The Grizzly Cubs have shored up their spare shooting, and it’s made a massive difference.
“In years past, we would have a lot of open frames, and that would keep us from moving on,” he said. “Last year, it was just a couple of pins; a couple of pins would’ve really made a difference.”
GCA, meanwhile, saved its best for the regional. Heading into the last of 12 Baker games (where five bowlers on each team roll two frames apiece), the Cougars had a 51-pin lead on the Grizzly Cubs. A rough start allowed Franklin to get back into the match, but GCA boys coach Mike Murrell helped the Cougars calm down and hang on for a narrow victory, 2,275 to 2,254.
Isaac Murrell and Luke Walters have been the mainstays for Greenwood Christian all year long.
“They’ve been our steadies, the ones we can always count on,” Brad Walters said.
But it has been the emergence of GCA’s supporting cast, led by Colton Crick, Matt Heldman and Austin Powers, that has helped the Cougars close the gap on Franklin.
Brad Walters noted that the team has benefited from the addition of some multi-sport athletes who threw a bit more competitive fire into the mix.
“Franklin has pushed us,” he said. “Our boys love to compete … it only drove us more to improve.”
The two county rivals have met five times this season, with the Grizzly Cubs taking three and the Cougars two. There could be two more clashes this season — one at Richmond and another in the Feb. 2 state final at Championship Lanes in Anderson.
It would be a fitting conclusion if their last one came with a state championship at stake.
“We’ll bowl 10 Baker games,” Brad Walters said, “and we’ll come down to the last frame of the last game every time.”
