Smithville's Brenna Hartzler headed to bowl for NCAA power Nebraska

ORRVILLE — Smithville senior Brenna Hartzler will never bowl a single frame of high school bowling yet will go down as one of the area's best all-time bowlers.

Her list of accomplishments long, from winning the Ohio Pepsi District 15U Girls Championship, to the NWIJTPA DTour Title, to being named the NWIJTPA Player of the Year a year ago, to more recently being named the MJMA (Michigan Junior Masters Association) Player of the Year and JTBA (Junior Tournament Bowlers Association) Player of the Year this year. Two weeks she won the Storm Youth Championship in Orlando, Florida for 18U. All in all, Hartzler has won 39 different titles since bowling 15U.

"A lot of those title wins are like practice, but it also gets your name out there," said Hartzler. "In my opinion, you have to learn how to lose first, before you learn how to win. I definitely got beat up on when I was younger, but that prepared me to be on a grander stage."

Hartzler took the next big step, signing to her National Letter of Intent to bowl at the University of Nebraska, one of the best collegiate bowling programs in the nation. Nebraska is the only NCAA program to qualify for every NCAA tournament since its start in 2004 and has won six NCAA Titles and 11 national titles (some pre-date inclusion in the NCAA).

"Between the people and what was going to make me better, that is what drew me to Nebraska," said Hartzler, who will major in communication and minor in media studies, production and the arts. "The coach and the team are amazing. You can tell they are family and that is something that I wanted to be a part of. Also, I had to do what was going to me be better and prepare me for when I eventually go out on the professional tour and I knew that if I went to Nebraska, that I would come out an even better bowler."

Hartzler had no shortage in elite schools offering her, from this year's national champion McKendree University to Vanderbilt, another national semifinalist. Hartzler had her list of options.

"You dream of it, you know it's a possibility, but for it to become a reality, that's pretty awesome," said Al Hartzler, her coach and father. "It was pretty humbling when the people of Nebraska and McKendree reached out, that's when you realize, hey, she is pretty good.

"Coach (Paul) Klempa is an amazing guy, the girls are amazing, and she couldn't be going into a better situation."

For Hartzler it was years and years of hard work coming to fruition. Starting at the age of three and then restarting at five, she competed in her first tournament at the age of nine and never looked back.

"I put in a lot of practice, when you start young and people see potential in you, they are going invest in you," said Hartzler. "So, I just practiced a lot, made sure I was in the gym, and it took some mental toughness."

She was very appreciative of Smithville for its support and willingness to work with her changing schedule. This year she has continued her studies, this time at Wayne College.

"Smithville has always been very supportive when I was missing days at school," added Hartzler. "They understood that I was out building my future essentially, so they were pretty good about it."

Now, she prepares to embark on a new chapter, she will have a new face helping her advance her game in Cornhuskers coach Paul Klempa. Most of her life, Hartzler has listened to the words of her father Al, who has coached her over the years.

"I have loved the game since I was 16 years old," said Al Hartzler. "She showed an aptitude for it young, was pretty good, it was just a matter of emotionally and mentally catching up and she finally did. Then she won and she worked even harder. I have always been her main coach but have been blessed with some great people to help coach her and give advice. The whole goal has always been for her to get beyond my ability and to need a better coach. She's pretty much there, she is beyond my ability to teach her anything."

Next up for the bowler is a stop in Nebraska, with a goal of a national title and a future she envisions wrapped around the sport she has known since the age of three.

"It's also a new experience for me, coming from such a small school and Wayne College, it's such a small environment," said Hartzler. "I wanted to try something new, wanted to do something a little bit out of my comfort zone.

"Everything that I have done has helped to prepare me to win the titles that I did and now, hopefully win a national title at Nebraska. I am also relieved, once when I made my decision and now that I signed, it finalized it and that's the biggest relief ever, now it's real."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Bowling: Smithville's Brenna Hartzler signs with Nebraska