The Bluebonnet District took to the lanes at the Rose Bowl Lanes for the first time in the 2025-26 season on Sunday.
This year, the district is an all-county affair.
The season’s first meeting between Brenham and Burton on the lanes ended in 15-0 victories for both the Cubs and Cubettes.
Sunday marked the first of nine weeks of regular season competition for the district over the next three months. Brenham, Burton and a co-op team of other bowlers in Washington County make up the district field.
Excitement surrounds the Brenham Cubette bowling team after a solid opening evening. Team leaders Laina Nugent and Colleen Cole, who qualified for the Dick Atkinson State Championship Tournament last year, return for their junior seasons.
Both bowlers won head-to-head battles over Burton sophomore Camryn Douglas and freshman Felicity Shuey to earn team points.
After last year’s regular-season district title race was separated by just eight pins, Nugent and Cole again bowled similar scores to start this season. Cole bowled games of 159 and 144 to earn an 11-pin edge over Nugent, who bowled games of 144 and 148.
Brenham coach and Bluebonnet District coordinator Michael Groves expects both bowlers to battle for the team’s anchor spot, the bowler who bowls the fifth and tenth frames in the Baker games, again this season.
Nugent and Cole are excited for the season ahead. Both bowlers used Wednesday evenings in the offseason to work on their craft. Cole also got to experience different bowling centers.
“I have been practicing in other bowling alleys because my dad lives out of town, so they are different environments to get used to,” she said.
While Nugent is excited to chase an individual district title, she also sees promise in her teammates.
“We are doing really good this year,” she said. “We are way further this time.”
Savannah Wolf bowled games of 125 and 107 while first-year bowler Hailey Davis added games of 112 and 91. Leah Marshall rounded out Brenham’s five-bowler singles lineup with games of 76 and 56.
Groves credited Davis, a friend of Marshall and Cole, with having good form in her first season with the team.
The Cubettes also have depth beyond the five bowlers who bowled singles games for the district match. Seniors Marissa Panko and Avery DuPont are among this year’s quality newcomers.
DuPont eclipsed 140 with her first game and added a game of 114 for her second singles game.
“A few of the people that have joined our team, they have never bowled before and now they are bowling 140s and it is pretty cool to see,” Cole said.
Brenham struggled to establish consistency with its team Baker games, though. The Cubettes started strong with a game of 140 fueled by two strikes and four spares. However, games of 80 and 121 followed with just two strikes and four spares in both games combined.
“They have got to want to make all of their single (pin) spares,” Groves said. “They know how to do it, so they need to take their time and they need to focus.”
Brenham’s boys also had familiar faces bowling well. Senior Thomas Loesch led the five-Cub singles lineup with games of 172 and 196. He had a chance to reach 200 in the tenth frame, but missed a one-pin spare chance to fall four pins short.
Junior Wyatt Janner followed with games of 188 and 175. Fellow junior and brother Reid Janner scored games of 178 and 156. The third Janner brother, Lane, rolled games of 150 and 126.
Groves expects big numbers from Wyatt in his third season. He wants to see a 190 average, which would put Janner on track with alums Charlie Boggan, Lane Sparks and Campbell Groves from their time as Cubs.
Austin Morisak recorded games of 167 and 162.
The first 200-game of the district season, though, came from outside of the Cubs’ starting five. Junior Ayn Perez scored a 207 in his first game of the night. He rolled four straight strikes from the second through fifth frames and closed strong with strikes in the eighth and ninth frame as well as his third ball in the tenth frame.
“He is going to put pressure on Austin and maybe Thomas,” Groves said. “If he can consistently bowl above that 175 (mark), he is going to work his way into the starting lineup.”
Burton also has several returning bowlers this season. Cadeyn Manley led the Panthers with games of 99 and 141. Zach Purvis was the only Panther with two singles games above 100 by scoring 101 and 102.
“Those are kids who love to bowl and we love to see them out here,” Groves said.
The Cubs rolled games of 174, 155 and 146 in their Baker games. Burton put up scores of 110, 101 and 96.
“They have to start stringing strikes (together) and they have got to stay focused,” Groves said of the Cubs.
The Bluebonnet District will bowl each Sunday through February at the Rose Bowl Lanes before regionals on March 1. The district will pause regular-season play on Dec. 28 for a special Christmas-week event and is also planning another district tournament before regionals.
Groves will seek to give the district weeks that are conducive to bringing great environments throughout the year to prepare his bowlers for the postseason.
“We need those type of environments so that when our boys and girls get there, they know they can perform,” he said.
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