—Submitted photo Fort Dodge TEAMMATES Ara Ellis and Calli Graves (second and third from left) stand with their state qualifying ticket after finishing sixth and seventh at the qualifying meet.

LE MARS — It will be a beginning and end for Fort Dodge’s Ara Ellis and Calli Graves.

The Dodger teammates earned state bowling spots, as Ellis starts her career and this is the last season for Graves.

Graves, who was a sophomore on Fort Dodge’s sixth place state team in 2022-2023 finished sixth in a Class 2A regional meet on Monday, rolling a 528.

Ellis added a 527 to become the first freshman qualifier in the current format since its inception in 2021.

Graves and Ellis are the first individual qualifiers for Fort Dodge’s since Aryssa Lumsden and Gabby Flores in 2022.

“Calli came out and did what she needed to do with a 204,” said eighth year head coach Nick Vinson. “She missed some spares in the second game, even with throwing a lot of good balls that just didn’t carry.

“She was able to pick up makeable spares.”

Graves finished with games of 147 and 167.

“Games two and three she was a little bit nervous it seemed,” Vinson said. “But again, she covered makeable spares like she did all day.

“Even with the nerves she did what she needed to.”

Vinson has seen Graves come along ways since her freshman year.

“I’m happy for her because she has competed all season,” Vinson said. “She has become a more consistent bowler and is able to pretty much put the ball where she wants to.”

Ellis had a strong second and third game. She started with a 141 and finished with a 185 and 195.

“By the second set of five (in bakers), she was bowling fifth for us,” Vinson said. “She was constantly pounding the pocket and giving us a chance. She struck 90 percent of the time and was marking.”

Once the Dodgers were eliminated from team competition, it was time to focus on individual qualifying.

“She (Ellis) started out a little slow, but after the first game we talked,” Vinson said. “I asked her if she thought she could bowl two 200 games in a row, because I thought that’s what it was going to take. She said yes and then she fired two good games.

“I knew if she was around 530, she had a shot.”

Le Mars won the district title with a 2,679 and Denison-Schlewsig (2,475) also advanced.

The Dodgers shot a 2,122 as a team.

The Class 2A state tournament will be Feb. 11 at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo.