WICHITA – Already armed with a comfortable lead as the team-focused Baker bowling games began Friday afternoon, the six guys in green and black tops at the south end of Bowlero Northrock turned the Class 6A state tournament into a house party for themselves and their fans.
 
That was bad news for the bowlers trying to unseat Derby from the top of Kansas’ largest classification.
 
Eager to restore order after a regional runner-up finish, the Panthers delivered an emphatic statement, producing the individual champion in senior Dawson Baumgartner and winning their second straight 6A team title by 253 pins over Shawnee Mission East with a 3,763 pinfall total.
 

Baumgartner, who rolled a 299 game in last year’s state tournament, posted a 741 series Friday to end his high school career with a first-place medal after taking seventh a year ago. Senior Evan Clark earned his second straight third-place state finish with a 716 and junior Cash Carns, who rolled a 300 earlier this season, finished fifth Friday at 695.
 
“We just humbled ourselves and went back and worked hard for this,” said Baumgartner, who joined his teammates in choruses of “Boom!” after each strike throughout the Baker set. “Whenever it’s wild and I’m happy and with my team, I just feel better and I bowl better.”
 
The Panthers showed no signs of a team that could be beaten Friday. But that’s exactly what happened for the second straight year at the Great Plains Classic in late January and then on Feb. 25 at the Wichita regional. Both times, Derby fell to western Kansas power Garden City.
 
Derby coach Brent Cunningham used the latter defeat to stir the pot for his team, which returned five of six bowlers from last year’s state champions.
 
“When we took second at regional, that whole week and a half, nobody reached out to talk to us about state or anything like that,” Cunningham said. “I used that for fuel to fire my boys and say, ‘They forgot about us. It’s time to show who we really are.’
 
“Those boys bought in and they’re easy to fire up. They’re very confident and laser-focused, and I enjoy coaching them.”
 

 
With Baumgartner dropping a season-best series in tenpin qualifying and three others rolling 630 or better, Derby finished the first half of the competition with a 2,800 pinfall, almost 200 ahead of Shawnee Mission East’s second-place 2,601. Garden City conceded 113 pins to the Panthers in the final game of tenpin, and eventually settled for sixth.
 
Still, the Buffaloes’ earlier victories over Derby served as a driving force.
 
“Coming back after winning state last year, it showed we’re not untouchable,” said Clark, who rolled games of 249, 241 and 226. “People can compete with us. I think that really kept us pushing to go even higher.
 
“Even at regionals, they got us there. But we made it out, so we were going to have to spoil it for them at state.”
 
Shawnee Mission East won a competitive battle for the runner-up spot. Third-place finishers at the Olathe regional, the Lancers improved 240 pins at state and were led by senior Christian Lahey’s 728 series, which finished 13 pins behind Baumgartner in second.
 
Top-10 finisher Simon Clark rolled a 673 series to boost Olathe Northwest to third place with a 3,441 pinfall.
 
Much like it did last year at state, Derby celebrated every successful roll, creating an avalanche of enthusiasm that seemingly couldn’t be stopped. The Panthers followed their tenpin qualifying effort with a 963 total in the four-game Baker set, including a closing 269 that raised their Baker average for the day to 241.
 
“That was us at our best,” Cunningham said. “That’s just the way we bowl. If you ever come to one of our triangular home meets, it’s loud in there.
 
“I told the other two coaches before we started (Bakers), I’m going to apologize right now. We’re very loud. And they said that was fine, but I don’t think they really expected what I was meaning.”
 

A few of the Panthers were reluctant to proclaim a ringleader for their spirited group. But Clark pointed the finger at Baumgartner, a future Kansas Wesleyan bowler who solidified his state as a standout in big meets.
 
“We like keeping the energy up, especially Dawson,” Clark said. “He’s a big energy guy. He banks on it. If the energy is high, we’re going to bowl good.
 
“I think that’s the thing we lacked at regionals. We didn’t bowl bad in individuals, but in Bakers we struggled. When we went into that last set, it felt like our energy was dying.”
 
There was none of that at Northrock, as Derby effectively slammed the door on the competition with opening Baker games of 236 and 256. The Panthers’ other bowlers – seniors Tyler Huffman and Tai Gibbon, and sophomore Michael Stanger – all got into the act to help Derby pull away.
 
In the end, the Panthers’ winning total was 41 pins higher than last year at Northrock, when they claimed the championship with a 3,722 pinfall.
 
“This is pure happiness,” said Carns, who figures to be a leader for the Panthers moving forward after they graduate four bowlers from the championship team. “It was amazing doing it one time, but doing it with this team … everyone is so good and it just feels great.”
 

CLASS 6A BOYS STATE TEAM SCORES
 
1. Derby 3,763; 2. Shawnee Mission East 3,510; 3. Olathe Northwest 3,441; 4. Olathe South 3,415; 5. Washburn Rural 3,365; 6. Garden City 3,343; 7. Maize 3,319; 8. Blue Valley North 3,244; 9. Junction City 3,233.
 
CLASS 6A BOYS STATE MEDALISTS
 
1. Dawson Baumgartner, Derby, 741; 2. Christian Lahey, Shawnee Mission East, 728; 3. Evan Clark, Derby, 716; 4. PJ Level, Wichita Heights, 711; 5. Cash Carns, Derby, 695; 6. Tyler Faurot, Washburn Rural, 689; 7. Maddox Siharath, Wichita Southeast, 683; 8. Logan Glinka, Washburn Rural, 679; 9. Simon Clark, Olathe Northwest, 673; 10. Brayden Ebeling, Olathe South, 671; 11. Jacob Clark, Olathe Northwest, 665; 12. Jake Smith, Shawnee Mission East, 650; 13. Brody Nichols, Garden City, 648; 14. William Groebl, Blue Valley North, 646; 15. KJ Burns, Garden City, 645 (232); 16. Kellan Sewell, Olathe East, 645 (231); 17. J, axon White, Maize, 641; 18. Eli Nathan, Blue Valley North, 634; 19. Aaron Salvino, Shawnee Mission North, 633; 20. Tyler Hagg, Olathe South, 632.