Around 4 years ago, Cole Darling began to bowl every week. Little did he know it would give him the reward of a lifetime.
Darling is a junior at ADM High School. Sometime around 8th grade, Darling and his peers began to go bowling. It wasn’t for any specific reason other than the fact that they thought it was fun, and they always had free time since they got out early on Fridays. The Adel Family Fun Center became the new home for this group of boys on Fridays. They would bowl, eat, and enjoy time with one another. Up until his sophomore year, this was just a fun hobby to Darling, but when he had the opportunity to join the Waukee High School bowling team, everything changed.
During Darlings’ Freshman year, he joined the Waukee bowling team. ADM did not have enough students participating in bowling to make their own team. He continued the 5o bowl with Waukee throughout his sophomore season. In the 2024-2025 school year, ADM High School finally had enough bowlers to have a team of their own.
From the end of last year’s season to the beginning of this year, Darling put in constant practice. He was determined and motivated to grow as an individual and improve his team. He practiced consistently throughout last summer, hoping to achieve great things.
Darling says he doesn’t do any sort of pre-meet ritual or have a special good luck charm, but rather, he chooses to rely on himself and everything he has done to prepare. To say his hard work paid off is an extreme understatement. On Tuesday, February 25, Darling was named the 2025 Boys Individual State Bowling Champion. In the final game, Darling beat Trey VanWyk from Oskaloosa with 232 points.
Darling says his goal for his senior season is to do it again. He also hopes to go further as a team. He said, “If there was anything I could change from this past season, it would be to try to be more of a team. Working hard to make ourselves better for our team. He also hopes to bowl for a college team in the near future. When asked What piece of advice would you give beginner bowlers, Darling said, “Just keep bowling. Just keep getting better.”
