The Marshalltown High School boys’ bowling team poses with its Class 3A eighth-place trophy after Monday’s state meet at Cadillac XBC in Waterloo. Pictured, from left, are: head coach Nate Clark, Tucker Wedgwood, Zach Morris, Carter McCready, GMG’s Jayden Beichley, Aiden Cowan, GMG’s Cayden Slifer and Porter Niedermann. PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

WATERLOO — A young Marshalltown boys bowling team which includes two GMG bowlers couldn’t maintain a strong start, finishing eighth in the Class 3A state team tournament at Cadillac XBC on Monday night.

The Bobcats finished seventh in the 15-Baker pre-bracket play with 2,901 pins. In head-to-head action, Cedar Rapids Kennedy defeated Marshalltown 3-0 in a consolation semifinal, as did Davenport North in the seventh-place match.

Tucker Wedgwood, who bowled varsity this season but did not roll on Monday, is the only senior on the Bobcats team that had just two returning state qualifiers from last year in GMG’s Jayden Beichley and Aiden Cowan (Cowan competed in the Class 3A individual tournament Tuesday morning in Waterloo).

“The experience itself is huge,” MHS head coach Nate Clark said. “Knowing how long of a day it is, keeping your emotions in check the entire day, just the experience itself. We started out really high, got in a funk and then had to try to get out of it.”

Marshalltown was in third after the first five Baker games with 1,098 pins, trailing only defending champs Waterloo West at 1,145 and Davenport Central at 1,168, the latter of which rolled a perfect game in their first five.

GMG bowler Jayden Beichley – who competes as a member of the Marshalltown High School boys team – calls out during the Class 3A state team tournament this past Monday evening in Waterloo. Beichley was one of just two returning state qualifiers on the team this year which finished in eighth. PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

But MHS slipped to eighth after 10 Bakers and while the margins were close enough to climb back in the standings, the Bobcats only rebounded to seventh when pre-bracket play concluded.

New this year to the team tournaments was a championship cut where only the top four teams at the end of pre-bracket play could win the state championship. The bottom four teams, including Marshalltown, played in consolation play.

“They didn’t transition well with the move,” Clark said. “Kept trying to play catch up the entire time with the transition. But we were 90 pins from the cut, and that’s five spares.”

Prior to this year, teams would be seeded based on their performance in the 15 Baker games, but all eight teams that qualified would get a chance to get hot at the right time to win a state title.

“Personally, I’m not a fan of [the change],” Clark said. “I liked last year’s setup, but it’s not my decision.”

The Bobcats had a chance to fight for the next best thing in the consolations, but couldn’t string together a game better than 190 pins as Kennedy and North swept past them.

Waterloo West went on to win another state title with a 3-1 victory over Muscatine.

For the Bobcats, it’s a young team that improved greatly over the course of the season, including knocking out Waukee at the state qualifier on their home lanes, extra sweet for MHS coming two years after Waukee beat Marshalltown for the state title.

“That was pretty cool in itself,” Clark said.