After finishing fifth among nine squads in the regular-season South Central Conference standings, the prospects for the Albert Lea High School bowling team advancing to state appeared slim.

It meant the Tigers needed their best performance of the year at the conference tournament, the winner of which earns an automatic berth to state.

The Tigers got it. And they’re going.

In what coach Loren Kaiser called a surprising and impressive performance, the ALHS crew captured the SCC tournament title at Waseca last weekend, earning the right to represent the conference in the state tournament Dec. 7 in Crystal, a Twin Cities suburb.

“I told the kids at the beginning of the season I felt we would be right in the middle of the pack (in the conference), we’re not going to win it, there are a couple real strong teams,” said Kaiser.

“But I knew we had a chance to maybe knock somebody off at the conference tournament. It’s just a real surprise. It was a lot of fun to have them bowl well as a team.”

Making it more special for Kaiser is the fact his son, eighth-grader Matt, is among the starting five. The other starters are senior Matt Rasmusson, juniors Brandon Boekelman and Joe Squires, and freshman Shane Walk. The reserves are senior Brandon Vanryswyk, sophomores Grant Boyer and Brian Baas, and eighth-grader Jason Christensen.

Coach Kaiser admitted becoming a bit emotional when the Tigers won the SCC tourney to advance to state for thethird time, the first since 1998.

“It really was kind of neat,” said Kaiser. “It’s kind of special to have your son on a team. But all the kids performed well, and they’re a great group. They get along well together.”

The Tigers, who had a regular-season record of 8 1/2 wins and 9 1/2 losses, opened the round-robin conference tournament with a 3-0 victory over LeCenter in a best-of-five match, with games of 202, 209 and 206.

The next opponent was Mankato West, which won the regular-season title with an 18-0 record. After dropping the first two games 194-183 and 203-172, the Tigers rallied for three straight victories to beat the Scarlets, 190-165, 169-159, and 211-178.

The Tigers also came from behind in the championship round, falling 196-192 to Faribault in the first game but taking the next three 171-156, 205-155 and 235-226.

“It was a pretty remarkable day,” said Kaiser. “Everyone bowled pretty good. We averaged 195 and filled 82 percent of our shots. That’s fantastic. Other teams kind of faltered, but we didn’t. Not one of our kids had a bad day. Everyone bowled well, everyone.”

For the season, the Tigers’ team fill percentage is 71, and they’re averaging 172.2 pins per game. Matt Kaiser and Boekelman were among eight bowlers to receive all-conference recognition as voted by the SCC coaches. Other teams in the conference include Mankato West, Faribault, Mankato East, St. Peter, Waseca, LeSueur and LeCenter.

The Tigers will compete with 18 other teams representing 16 districts in the state tournament to be held at Doyle’s Bowl and Lounge in Crystal. After 10 qualifying games, the top 16 teams will advance to a best-of-three, double-elimination format using the Baker System, with five bowlers each rolling two frames.