Climbing the stepladder frame by frame

Dudley becomes Amherst’s first individual state bowling champion

Ian Dudley holds his first-place plaque surrounded by the founding members of Team Dudley — mom Jess Ligman and dad Roger Dudley Jr.

By Mary Riley

The Amherst bowling program has a long history of success but, until a fateful day in March, had never produced an individual state champion. That is until Junior Ian Dudley emerged from a field of 100 of the state’s best prep bowlers to take the individual title at the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin (BCAW) High School State Championships held at Dale’s Weston Lanes March 6-8.

Throughout the weekend, Dudley battled Sheboygan Lutheran Sophomore Kyler Zeman, not realizing they would be the last two standing on Sunday. The boys were on the same pair of lanes for qualifying on Friday afternoon, when Dudley bowled a 777 (284, 251, 242) and Zeman bowled a 726 (235, 245, 246). They bowled on the same pair of lanes again for the second round on Saturday night, when Dudley had a 681 (234, 255, 192) and Zeman had a 624 (227, 195, 202). In the final stepladder on Sunday morning, they bowled head-to-head for the state title.

Zeman was in fifth on Sunday morning, so he had to beat three other bowlers to get to the championship match. In the final, he got the upper hand early when Dudley got a spare followed by a tough 4-7-10 split. But Dudley found his groove, coming up with nine strikes in a row, and Zeman couldn’t keep up. Both boys bowled hard, but it was Dudley who earned the title with 265 versus Kyler’s 235.

Following the tournament, Dudley took time to share his thoughts with the Spirit.

Riley: How did you feel Saturday after finishing as the top bowler? Were you thinking about winning it all on Sunday? What did you do Saturday — mentally, physically — that had you positioned to win on Sunday?

Dudley: After Saturday when I finished as the #1 seed, I was deathly nervous. But I was also proud of myself, and I believed in myself. I figured if I had led the whole tournament, I could go on to Sunday and win the whole thing. On Saturday night, I tried to keep busy and get a good night’s rest so I wouldn’t think about Sunday too much and stress myself out. On Sunday morning, it was stressful, but I felt that nobody could take me down. I had the belief that I could run over anyone who got in my way.

Riley: After trailing early in the final on Sunday, how did you regain your focus and finish so strongly? Did you make any adjustments?

Dudley: I didn’t make any adjustments. I just let my coach, Ty Peterson, talk to me and get me back into the game. The first two shots were mainly nerves but after that Ty told me, “One shot at a time, stay confident, keep your feet.” He told me that on every shot — actually he was telling me that over the whole weekend — so I listened and focused on striking out.

Riley: What was your first thought after knowing that you had won the championship? Was it something you expected or a total surprise?

Dudley: I expected this thought but it was very surprising, too. My first thought was, “I really just did that. I really just made the Amherst community proud.” I was also very proud of myself.

Riley: What does it mean to you to be crowned state champion? How will this aid your confidence going forward in terms of bowling and life in general?

Dudley: It means a lot to me because I did something that my coaches could never do while they were in high school. I did something that has never been done in all of Amherst bowling history.

Riley: Who are some of the people who made this possible? Who are the members of Team Dudley? How would you characterize the level of support you received from friends and family?

Dudley: If Whitetail Lanes didn’t have the great coaching program they have, then nobody would even have the chance to go to State or to be as consistent as some of us are now. The members of Team Dudley are my dad, my mom, my aunt Merry, my aunt Katie, my grandma, my grandpa, my uncle Mike, my teammates, you and your family, and most importantly the community. They were cheering for me when I went to State, and they were cheering for me when I won. The level of support I received during the whole tournament shocked me. I was not ready to be supported like that all weekend. Certainly the most shocking part to me was that everybody was proud of me, and that meant a lot.

Riley: What advice did you receive from your family, if any? How did your family respond when you won?

Dudley: The advice I received from my mom was to go out there and have fun. And I certainly did just that. My dad on the other hand said to go out there and take it one shot at a time and be me, play my game, and play in my strong suit. My parents and most everybody watching me were all crying because they didn’t know what to do after I won. They were all just so proud of me, and it really meant something else to me.

When he was just a little guy, Ian Dudley preferred to/had to use two hands to throw the bowling ball. Now he’s a champion two-handed bowler.

Riley: When did you first start bowling?

Dudley: I started bowling almost from the day I could walk. I would bowl with fake plastic pins at home and at my grandparents’ houses. I have been bowling for real since I was able to roll the ball down the lane. I always had joy in throwing that ball and watching it hit the pins and hearing all the clapping that would happen after I got a strike or a spare. I quit when I was around the age of 10, but I came back to it in eighth grade after Jonah and Eli Stubinski and Ayden Nelson got me back into it.

Riley: Did you ever imagine when you first picked up a bowling ball that you would one day be the best high school bowler in the state of Wisconsin?

Dudley: I wanted to make it to the PBA as a kid but never thought about winning a state title. But these last few years after I got back into bowling, I knew I could keep up with a lot of these guys in my division, and I most definitely did that.

Riley: What advice would you give other high school kids about the benefits of bowling on a team? What’s been fun/great about participating here at Amherst?

Dudley: I would say just go out there and have fun. Nobody can beat a good team when they are having fun. It’s when a team gets too down on themselves that it all goes downhill and you can’t really bring the team back up. But when you have a good team like we did this year, once we got on a roll we were able to conquer anything in front of us.

Riley: What type of equipment and bowling balls did you use?

Dudley: I mainly use reactive resin bowling balls. I wear Dexter shoes, which have interchangeable slides and breaks that allow me to change how much my shoe slides on the approach. I have a urethane ball, which pushes oil down the lane and breaks down the lane. I threw a benchmark ball called the Hammer Effect Tour, which is a very strong ball and hooks a lot more than most of my other bowling balls. But equipment matters. Knowing what it does and when to play it is most certainly a challenge. But if you can figure out what each of your bowling balls does, you will be golden.

Riley: What was it like waiting during all of those stepladder matches before the final?

Dudley: It was nerve-racking. There is no other way to explain it. Waiting for the last match felt like the longest wait of my life. I was focused on practicing and getting ready for the final match, but I was a little nervous beforehand. The start was definitely shaky, but I came through and pulled out the victory. I did what I had to and I won the match by 30 pins. I kept my head level and I went out there and made some amazing shots to keep striking, and that’s what pulled me through.