The Lewisville bowling team is bound for the state tournament after capturing first place in the DFW Central Regional Tournament at USA Bowl in Dallas. Members of the Farmers bowling team are (front row, from left)Abel Castilleja, Dawson Byrd, Raul Castilleja Jr., coach Raul Castilleja Sr., (back row) Greg Hancock, Dylan Hollingsworth and Nate Hancock.
The Lewisville bowling team is bound for the state tournament after capturing first place in the DFW Central Regional Tournament at USA Bowl in Dallas. Members of the Farmers bowling team are (front row, from left)Abel Castilleja, Dawson Byrd, Raul Castilleja Jr., coach Raul Castilleja Sr., (back row) Greg Hancock, Dylan Hollingsworth and Nate Hancock.
The message that Lewisville head boys bowling coach Raul Castilleja, Sr. had for his Farmers coming into the DFW Central Regional Tournament was to make the cut for the Texas High School Bowling Club state tournament.
Lewisville had come so close to accomplishing that feat over the past few years, but all the Farmers needed to do to qualify for state was to place in the top three of the team standings.
Having already gone a perfect 10-0 in district match play, Lewisville continued its historic season by placing first out of 10 in the regional tournament with a total score of 2,455 pins. Rowlett (2,383) and Sachse (2,299) also punched their tickets for state.
On the girls’ side, Marcus is also bound for state after placing third with a score of 1,803 pins.
The DFW Central Regional Tournament was held at USA Bowl on March 5.
It was the first time that Lewisville has made the state tournament in Castilleja, Sr.’s four seasons as head coach. He said it will be just the second time in school history that the Farmers will bowl in the state tournament.
"It was emotional, excitement level was high,” he said. “I've been bowling with two of these seniors for four years, and one of those is my son, who is a senior. Every year, we've been close but have fallen short by about 20 pins just to make the cut to go to state. This year, it was like, 'Let's go all out. It's your last year. We have to do something.’"
Bowling for Lewisville are seniors Dawson Byrd, who has signed with Crown College to play college football, and Raul Castilleja, Jr. and Abel Castilleja — the sons of the Farmers' head bowling coach — Greg Hancock, Nate Hancock and Dylan Hollingsworth.
"They all clicked,” Castilleja, Sr. said. “They all helped each other out. Last year, my son was disappointed that we didn't get to go to state. We had people not making spares. This year, I told the guys, you have to pick up your spares. The strikes will come, but spares are key. Spares is what counts. Every pin is a point. That's what they worked on during practice, which is making spares."
After falling short of making state in each of the past three seasons, Byrd said the mentality of the Farmers coming into this season was “all or nothing.”
Byrd also complimented the play of Dylan Hollingsworth, Greg Hancock and Nate Hancock.
“They’re great,” Byrd said. “We missed Nate for a little bit because he started off the season with a hamstring injury and then Greg hurt his finger. That was a big hit. We weren’t clicking as we normally do and the games were a lot closer, but once we got them back and got our rhythm back, we knew that we would go undefeated.”
Marcus received a team effort in qualifying for state for the second time in the last three years. In the standard game portion of the regional tournament, all five Lady Marauders scored at or above their average. Marcus was steady during the Baker games, recording scores of 171 and 172.
Veronyca West has led Marcus with a 195 average, and joining her on the Lady Marauders’ state team will be Jamie Campopiano (172 per-game average), Riley McInis (140), Valentina Cavasos (132), and Lauryn Wells (136).
The state tournament is set for March 25 in San Antonio.
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