Turkey Bowling brings plenty of suspense

The Malta Boys & Girls Club hosted their 15th Annual Turkey Bowling event on Thursday, November 15, and the tournament took place after a community potluck which was attended by close to 100 people.

The winner of the adult group, Laicee Young, was the most animated and the best bowler on the night, picking up two strikes. After every strike, Young did her patented "Turkey Dance."

"Epic!" Young said. "It was so freaking awesome and I am super-stoked and I can't wait for next year!"

Young was then asked about her multiple strike performance and how she does on a real bowling alley.

"I actually hit the pins in turkey bowling!" Young exclaimed with a long laugh.

Seventh-grader Clay Hallenberg was the seventh through twelfth-grade turkey winner, despite completely missing on his first roll in the opening round. Despite his miss, Hallenburg was able to get a spare on his second of three chances.

"It's not very hard, you just have to get the angle correct," Hallenberg said.

He then shared why bowling a turkey is more difficult than regular bowling.

"It's not shaped like a ball," he said.

When asked about how he was able to pick up a turkey winning spare, Hallenberg wasn't sure he could do it over again.

"I have no clue," Hallenberg said. "I just threw it."

Ultimately Hallenberg was defeated in the championship round by Malta High School senior Shelby Jones, who bowled a pair of strikes, one in the opening round and another in the final.

"Just throw it and try to win," Jones said of her winning strategy.

She was asked if she has any skills that lend themselves to turkey bowling.

"I can't say," Jones said.

Ivan Lefdahl won the fourth grade through sixth-grade turkey after defeating Dirk Bestman in the finals. Bestman knocked down seven pins.

"I just threw it and knocked down all of them," Lefdahl said.

He was asked about his approach to turkey bowling.

"Just throw it and hope you can get them all down," Lefdahl said.

While he has been to a regular bowling alley, Lefdahl knew that bowling is not his best sport.

"I'm not very good at bowling," Lefdahl admitted.

In the kindergarten to third-grade bracket, kids could be heard loudly cheering throughout the Malta High School Gymnasium as Kiernan Young, Jace Tollefson, and Lane Spencer squared off in a finale. First up was Young, who knocked down nine of 10 pins. Tollefson followed with a strike on the first of three rolls. Lanes Spencer knocked down all 10 pins in dramatic fashion as the final pin slowly fell to the ground on the first try, giving him a championship-tying strike.

In an extra championship round between Spencer and Tollefson, Spencer knocked down nine pins on his first roll. He would then knock down the final pin on his final roll. Tollefson would collect a one-pin spare on his second of three tries, giving him a victory. Having to pick up the one-pin spare, Tollefson admitted that it was tougher than it looked.

"I thought it was harder with one pin," Tollefson said.

Tollefson was then asked what he loved so much about the event.

"I like bowling and you can win a turkey," Tollefson said.

He was also asked who in his family would cook this year's turkey.

"Mom and dad are going to cook it," Tollefson said.