FORT SMITH -- To those outside the Fort Smith Southside boys bowling program, the show freshman Carter Traywick put on at the 6A state tournament might've come as a surprise. It didn't for the Mavericks.
"We knew he'd be this good," Southside Coach Tadd Stewart said. "Paul Humphries, who kind of runs this and is a volunteer, had seen him for years at youth leagues. He told me, 'this kid is going to roll.' I think he was right."
At the biggest 6A meet of the year back in February, Traywick, the River Valley Democrat-Gazette Bowling Newcomer of the Year, showed up in a big way. He bowled a 724 three-game series, which was the highest individual score on the day by 38 pins. His performance helped guide Southside to its first 6A state tournament title since 2019 taking down two-time defending champion Cabot by 66 pins.
Bowling has been a big part of Traywick's life playing for nearly 10 years now. He had been looking forward to competing at the high school level and representing Southside, and it turned out his first year was everything he dreamed it could be in his breakout season.
"It was so much fun for me and the team the year we had," Traywick said. "It was just so awesome. At the state tournament, we just wanted to have fun and not put too much pressure on ourselves. We bowled really well that day. Now we want to do it again next year."
Southside finished third at the 6A state tournament last year and were missing key seniors this season with the graduation of Andrew Stephens, who earned all-state all four years for the Mavericks. Enter Traywick, who was just the piece needed to push the team over the top this time around. Southside improved by 172 pins from last year.
"We lost some really good seniors from last year, but we really had Carter step up," Stewart said. "He is the reason for the improvement. That's 100 percent the reason why. He is pretty good, and it showed during a pressure-packed tournament."
With the arrival of Traywick, Southside is now hoping to add even more hardware to the trophy case during the next three years. The Mavericks know who will be leading the way when they do.
"We have a chance to go back-to-back with titles like we did in 2018 and 2019," Stewart said. "As far as creating something special, we can keep that tradition alive. We've got a pretty dominant program. Carter is going to be a big part of it. As far as our team right now, he is the sun because everything revolves around him. When he is on, we are on. He is just scratching the surface of how good he can be. This was a really great freshman year, but his better ones are yet to come. He could be the best bowler in Southside history when it's all said and done."
Fort Smith Southside freshman Carter Traywick, seen Tuesday, April 2, 2024, is the 2024 River Valley Democrat-Gazette Bowling Newcomer of the Year. Visit rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (River Valley Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)