Residents across the southwest part of Sask. banded together this past weekend for a major bowling tournament.

The provincial bowling tournament in Saskatoon ran over two days, Feb. 17 and 18. The Swift Current-based Social Bowl bowling club was able to arrange for four teams to head up to this year's Rising Stars and the Fun Bowl categories. They competed with other teams from across Sask. for a chance to go to nationals in Newfoundland.

Teagen Gader, owner of the Social Bowl, was extremely pleased with the results from all the participants.

"We did exceptionally well this year," said Gader. "We had a substantial increase in points this year. We had great bowling. It was a great representation of south Sask."

Saturday was the strongest day for the two teams, with Rising Stars finishing in first place, and falling to third on the final day. The Fun Bowl team had a similar performance, according to Gader.

"They went to finals on Sunday, and they lost out as well," Gader said.

Of note, Swift Current's Tyler Smith made it into the top five of all men in Saskatchewan.

"He advanced in the stepladder and he finished fourth," said Gader. "Just amazing bowling."

Next year, Gader hopes to see more folks come out for tryouts, expanding their talent to pull from for the tournament.

"I think our first year there were maybe 12 or 15 people that tried out," she remembered. "The second year I think around that 18 to 20 mark came out. This year we had over 30."

This year, tryouts were held in early January, with next year expected to be relatively the same. Follow the Social Bowl on social media to stay informed of this and similar events.