Free State bowlers Alex Hardman, left, and Tyler Kring prepare to bowl. Free State's boys and Lawrence High's girls won at the dual meet Tuesday at Royal Crest Lanes.

Free State High’s boys bowling squad didn’t care that it was unable to make it three straight competitions of breaking the 2,600-pin mark.

All that mattered was the 90-pin advantage the Firebirds had at the end of their dual with Lawrence High on Tuesday at Royal Crest Lanes.

“You’ve always got to get pumped for any meet versus Lawrence High,” Free State’s Evan Taylor said following the team’s 2,591-2,501 victory. “So we’re really happy about this one. It’s always nice to beat Lawrence High.”

All four of the Firebirds’ top contributors bowled 600-plus series, with Taylor leading the squad with a 658 – tops among all boys bowlers.

“I’m stoked,” Taylor said. “I actually worked on my timing a lot this week and got it down. I’m pretty excited. It’s always good when you show up strong against your rivals.”

Alex Hardman and Robert Wagner each bowled a 655, while Aaron Bernhardt contributed a 623 series with a 256 in Game 3 for the highest single game bowled in the boys’ varsity competition.

The Lions had similar balance from their top four bowlers. Tanner Kilmer (654 series), Josh Russell (632) and Jerry Wang (620) finished above 600, with Ben Wyatt falling five pins short.

“They shot well, it’s just that Free State did a little bit better – just 90 pins,” LHS coach Brandi Perry said. “That can be made up really easily.”

The LHS girls avenged the boys’ defeat with a larger margin of victory: 2,159-2,037.

Lawrence’s Tiffany Demaline was the top female bowler with a series of 583, despite bowling under her average in the final game.

Jessica Wyatt covered for her fellow Lions teammate and saved her best for last with a 224 in Game 3 – the best single game on the girls side – to rack up a 561 series.

“She struggled her first game, and then she got adjusted to where she needed to be towards the end of the second game,” Perry said of Wyatt. “So when that third game started, she knew exactly what she needed to do and just really came through for everybody, and that game really brought our scores up as a team.”

Becca Stack’s 530 series and Mallory Hughes-Pfeifer’s 485 series rounded out Lawrence’s top four.

The Free State girls were led by Amelia Firns-Hubert’s series of 563 thanks in part to breaking the 200-pin mark for the first time with a 203 in Game 3.

Christina Picicci was the only other female Firebirds bowler to reach the 500-plateau with a 523 series. Bailey Carlson had a 494 series and Lanae Spencer had a 457

“The team as a whole did good,” FSHS coach Anita Carlson said. “They were working their spares, they were working together, and hopefully within the next couple of days they’ll settle down for regionals.”

The junior varsity match had some excitement as well. Lawrence’s Chad Boyd had a perfect game going in Game 1 before slipping in the final frame to finish with a 288.