Pueblo Central wins first unified bowling title, continues Pueblo’s dominance

LAKEWOOD – For the third straight year, there’s a new unified bowling champion in Colorado.

At EMF Belleview Lanes on Friday afternoon, the Pueblo Central Wildcats rolled their way to victory during the 2022 unified bowling state championships. Their combined score of 594 was the best among the 17 teams competing and it earned the Wildcats their first-ever state title in the rapidly-growing sport.

“It was really cool that we made it to state and it’s a good thing that we won,” Pueblo Central bowler Theo Romero said. “I feel like a champion player. We had fun and we always work really hard on being a good teammate.”

This year’s state tournament included a total of five games instead of three, and the action was nonstop with players rotating frames under the Baker format. The Pueblo Central squad prevailed, but it was the community atmosphere that truly highlighted the event.

“Seeing the smiles, seeing the kids getting out and enjoying it, you know, that’s what it’s all about,” Wildcats coach Darrion Hatchett said. “We have so many kids that want to go out for it and our numbers just keep growing at Central for unified bowling, so we’re doing something right.”

Last year’s state champion, Pueblo South, finished runner-up with a score of 579. Pueblo Centennial scored a combined 568 to take third.

Three teams that all rode to and from Lakewood together on the same bus, the Pueblo teams continued to dominate the unified bowling landscape. Since the sport was first sanctioned, Pueblo teams have finished in all but one of the combined nine top-three places over the past three years.

In 2020, the first season with a sanctioned unified state championship, Pueblo East, Pueblo Central and Pueblo South finished in that order. In 2021, Pueblo South, Windsor and Pueblo Central claimed the top three spots.

“They all had fun and had smiles on their faces,” Pueblo South coach Raul Delgado said. “It’s just so awesome for them to have the opportunity to compete at sports that maybe they would have never gotten the chance to do, and to represent their team and their communities. It’s just a really great thing. And Pueblo’s representing out here every year, so it’s fun to see our local athletes succeed at state.”

Silver Creek placed fourth with a score of 545 and Northridge was sixth at 532 to round out the top five. Complete results can be found here.