North/Lutheran/Random Lake/Oostburg bowlers and coaches celebrate their state championship on Sunday. – Submitted photo

The Sheboygan North/Lutheran/Random Lake/Oostburg co-op bowling team didn’t even qualify for state last year. On Sunday, it won the Division 1 club championship in Appleton.

“I knew at the beginning of the season we had a really good chance of making it to state, and with how well we did this year, I had a pretty good indication that we had a very strong chance of doing well,” coach Mike Stubler said. “Didn’t expect to do as well as we did though.”

The squad finished 28 points ahead of the competition in the qualifying round to earn an automatic berth in the final, and then used a 447-391 victory over Appleton North to win the crown.

North senior Justin Gmach, who bowled all four years, was asked what he will remember the most.

“How excited we all were putting together an amazing qualifying score (11 pins shy of breaking a state record) and obviously the 300, but mostly the feeling of winning state and finally bringing home a championship,” he said. “Definitely the nerves we had going into it, and then the feeling of relief and kind of all being in shock we won right afterward, but after it went away, we were all super excited and happy.”

Others on the team include: North’s Luke Kilgore and Connor Mueller; Lutheran’s Hunter Adams and Dalton Zeman; Random Lake’s Jonathon Mikkola; and Oostburg’s Rory Stubler, Tanner DeMaster, Ayden Long and Dakota VerVelde.

SOUTH ALSO COMPETES: The Redwings finished third in qualifying, 56 points behind North/Lutheran/Random Lake/Oostburg, and then lost to Madison La Follette, 433-376, in the semifinals.

In the individual tournament, South’s Logan Weigel took 10^th and Zeman was 25th. Gmach, Adams and South’s Keegin Nachtwey also participated.

GIRLS DO AS WELL: Sheboygan’s co-op team was also third in qualifying and lost in the semifinals to Greenfield, 363-315.

North’s Juliana Bergman and South’s Lindsey Pudwill bowled in the individual tournament as well but did not advance out of the first round.