MHS boys bowling strikes at success

   For the first time in MHS history the Boys Bowling team qualified for state.

  “It felt really good qualifying for state,” said varsity bowler Winston Petri, sophomore, “The guys worked really hard this season and I feel like it was well earned. It is also pretty cool to make school history.”

  Many of the players hadn’t even considered the possibility of making it to state. 

  Making it to the state finals was something that I didn’t even think about. As a team that had not even made it to sectionals, I had no expectations of making it to state,” said Gottfried. “[As a senior] this is the end of the road and I think that the idea that every time I go out there could be my last time out there has really motivated me to put my all into every shot.”

  Although in bowling athletes compete individually, every member of the team is crucial to the team’s success overall. 

  “For bowling every scores counts so it doesn’t matter if one guy averages 230 unless the other four bowlers are supporting them,” said Christopher Sweno, head varsity coach, “We need to average over 1,000 pins a game to give us a chance at winning tournaments and one or two good scores don’t help all that much.”

  The team dynamic and energy contribute to the success of the team overall. Each player is not working for their own score but to help the team succeed.

  “At the end of each match, the only thing that matters is the team score at the bottom, so you feel like you let your teammates down if you have a bad individual score,” said team captain, Sam Gottfried, senior.

  The energy of the team helps to lift players up. As the team comes together to support each other they have seen the benefits.

  “Some things that have contributed to my success this year was having a super supportive team and having people around to encourage me,” said Petri.

  Not only do they support each other in their successes, they pick each other up when they aren’t performing as well.

  “We have a lot of talent at every level, and everyone has contributed at some point this season. When one or two guys struggle our other bowlers step up,” said Sweno. 

  The team as a whole came together to work hard and qualify for state. 

  “Everyone pushes each other to be better on a daily basis in matches and practice,” said Sweno. 

  The boys bowling team at Mundelein is still fairly new so they’ve had to work to overcome the learning curve. 

  “We are relatively young as a program so a lot of bowlers are still developing and learning the game. Not very many kids bowl growing up like you have with baseball or basketball, almost everyone who comes out is new to the sport,” said Sweno. 

  However, the team has risen to the challenge. In practice they work hard and encourage each other so they can all reach their full potential.

  “We come out and work hard at practice every day to work on being consistent with our spares and to get better at striking,” said Gottfried. “I try and go out there and keep my energy high, cheer on my teammates, and pick them up if they are struggling.

  This effort and motivation as a team got them to state and will keep them going in future seasons.

  “I am hard on my guys, but I want them to succeed and I want to push them to give everything they have got every time they get an opportunity to bowl,” said Gottfried. “I try and lead by example and I expect 100% effort every day. If I’m not giving my all then how am I supposed to expect others to follow my lead?”