– What are your thoughts on the team’s performance at the State Meet this weekend?

It is tough to put the whole experience in perspective. We were pretty happy after Friday finishing in 9th only 327 out of first. We knew it was going to be a tough climb, but we knew we could do it. Then on Saturday morning we bowled our best 3 game series of the tournament but we still dropped a place to 10th. That was fine, we set our goals on 6th and moved forward, but then we kind of unraveled and dropped down to 12th. As I said, it is tough to put in perspective because you are in last place on the second day of state, but then you have to remember that only 12 teams in the state made the second day of state and you realize what an awesome accomplishment it is and then you look at the individual successes inside the larger team and you realize that it truly was an amazing weekend that I or the boys will never forget.

My main goal going in to the tournament was to get to Saturday and then see where we could go from there. So, in that sense the weekend was very successful. The boys were focused all weekend and really gave their all. After entering Saturday in 9th place we were hoping to move up in the standings, but it was a tough field with several quality schools. I was pleased with the determination the boys showed through all 12 games never giving up and fighting until the end.

– What were some of the highlights for you guys?

There are several pieces of the weekend that will always stand out to me. The first was the support we got from the parents. We had a fairly large contingent follow us down to state, and it meant a lot that there will willing to take the long trip to O’Fallon. On Friday in game 6 we were right on the bubble between advancing and being cut and the boys needed a big game, we were going strong through the first 8 frames and we were in good shape. Then, unexpectedly, the fan section starting chanting, “Let’s go Bears, Let’s go Bears…” and it was really awesome. This encouragement pushed the boys forward and we bowled our best game of the day (1039). The chants from the crowd gave me goosebumps and really made the day.
Another highlight is the performance of the seniors, Luke Mueller and Austin Wells. Both days Luke started out with a rough score (159 Fri and 148 Sat) but finished very strong. (1266 on Friday and 1211 Sat) he didn’t let the bad first game get him down and he kept fighting through. He was also always clapping and cheering on his team mates even when he was worried about his own game, which I really appreciate that he was able to put his own frustrations aside for the good of the team.

Austin’s performance was also inspiring. He has been battling with tendinitis since winter break and been fighting through the pain. On Friday morning his medication was not agreeing with his system and he just felt a little off leading to an uncharacteristically low (155) game 2. In the afternoon, after eating some lunch and letting the medication settle, he was back in good form finishing with a strong game 5 (266) and a 672 series for the afternoon. Then, on Saturday Austin was our rock. He decided to forgo medication and tough through the pain. In the morning most of the boys were clicking and bowling well which lead to our team’s high series (3052) but we still dropped a place to 10th with Austin finishing with a 622. In the afternoon as the team started to unravel, Austin was steady as a rock with only one open in the last two games and finishing with a 642 series and taking 28th place with a 2485 tournament total (207.1 avg). This makes him the highest finishing Lake Zurich Boy’s bowler in school history. It was really nice to see Austin achieve this since he has been our team leader for the last two years and to see all of his dedication to the bowling team really pay off.

Finally, the total team effort that the boys showed throughout the weekend very gratifying to me. It is difficult to instill the team concept in what is perceived by many as an individual sport, but the boys really came together as a group. When we had to substitute kids in and out to try and find the right mix no one got down or upset. The boys were constantly trying to help each other make adjustments and they were constantly encouraging each other. The leadership of Kyle Hunter, much like at sectionals, really helped us on the first day to keep from getting discouraged in the tight competition, he was always setting the expectation that we were going to do better each game, and that paid off.

– I believe Austin Wells reached the state tournament last year as an individual, how much do you think that helped him this time around?

Austin learned a lot last year in terms of how to adjust to the lane conditions as the broke down. The state oil pattern is still a house shot, but it is a slightly different house shot than what these boys play on all year. This isn’t as much of a problem in the early goings as it is as they break down. Austin saw this last year as he was barely eliminated after the first day because he was not able to string together his strikes. That experience gave him motivation to make his game more versatile and we can see that it paid off this year. Austin has never been one to be affected by the pressure of the moment, but I still think having been in that state environment last year helped he keep a cool head this year.

– Could you list how the rest of the team did at State?

Luke Mueller was 44th with a 2426
Steve Garcia was 45th with a 2407

Those were the only 3 who bowled all 12 games.

Here is a link to the results from Saturday, http://www.ihsa.org/activity/bwb/2009-10/1result2.htm and Friday, http://www.ihsa.org/activity/bwb/2009-10/1result1.htm.

– Can you put in perspective the season the team had this year?
This was the first year since my first were we had a full varsity team (5 or 6 kids who could average 200+). We had no seniors last year and only 2 two years ago, so we have been building to this for several years. Last year when we didn’t advance out of sectionals after winning the conference we said, wait til next year and all year we talked about how this is our year and the boys performed up that expectation. They won two large, competitive tournaments (Cougar Classic & Plainfield North Invite) and finished in the top 5 the last 5 weeks of the season. (Morgan Park, Rockford PBA Experience, Plainfield, Lake Zurich, Sectionals). With the 12th place finish at state this is the most successful team in Lake Zurich Boy’s Bowling history.

On top of that we are only losing two members of the Varsity squad (Mueller and Wells) for next year and we have some underclassman that have made a lot of progress in the past year. After the 2006-07 state trip, most of that team graduated, so the lessons learned from state where not passed on. This year, I am hoping that the returning members will take what they learned from this experience and use it to motivate and drive them forward as we work in the off-season.

Some of the my comments were in the article, but I wanted to share the rest. I was a little verbose because I was exited from sectionals.

– What does this mean to you guys to be competing at the State Meet next weekend?–
It means quite a lot for us to be going to state. This is a group that spent the last 3 years waiting for “next year.” The team had no seniors last year and only two the year before. So, most of the guys this year have been on varsity in some form for the past 3 years. As a group we always talked about growing and maturing and how our time would come and this season we have seen all of the hard work of the last three years finally pay off. For this group to make it to state is also personally satisfying because the seniors on the team started the same year that I started coaching the team so it is culmination of a lot of hard work.

– What were some of the highlights for you guys at the Sectional today?–
A few highlights of the day for me where Mike Schmitt (Fr. 200 average) who came in off the bench when we needed him in game 5 and bowled a 257. That was a huge game that really helped keep the team’s momentum going.

Game 6 was very exciting for the team. We we were out of 1st by 25 pins but up on 3rd by 80 and 4th 136. The 4th place team, Niles (Notre Dame), was coming in real strong in the lane next to us and we were about neck and neck with Vernon Hills (1st place). Throughout the year at several tournaments the boys have had a rough time staying strong through all 6 games. Today with the pressure on, the guys performed well and finished the day almost climbing back into 1st.
The other highlight was the performance of Kyle Hunter. Kyle typically starts tournaments stronger than anyone on our team. However, he has not had a particularly consistent time of it as the tournaments progressed. Today Kyle showed his toughness both physically and mentally to fight through 6 games making many adjustments and trying different shots both ones that he was used to and ones that are outside of his wheelhouse. And while he had dreams of 1^st place after the first three games, the 6^th place finish is by far his strongest individual performance.

Also, the stable leadership or our seniors, Luke Mueller and Austin Wells really help set the tone for the day. While they were not the scoring leaders, they didn’t let that get to them. The other bowlers could see that they still had the confidence in the team and were panicking because of a couple of low scores and that helped to set the tone for the day. I can not say enough about what those two have done for this team over the last three years, and we certainly wouldn’t be were we are today without them. Ultimately, all four of the upperclassman ended up “on the sheet” which would be in the top 27 for the sectional.
Finally, I was very excited about the support the team received today both from the large turn out of parents and the large number of other bowlers from the team that showed up. It is encouraging as a coach to see that the younger kids are excited to be on a team and are willing to come out and cheer their teammates on.

– What did you think of the performances of your two juniors Kyle Hunter and Steve Garcia on Saturday and what have they brought to the team this year? –
I can’t say enough about the performance of Garcia and Hunter. I already wrote about Kyle above. But to add to that Hunter has become one of the team’s emotional leaders as well. More than anyone on the team Kyle has matured as a leader and the team looks to him for motivation and inspiration.
Garcia has been one of our consistent performers over the past few weeks. He took 3^rd at the Plainfield North Invite, 3^rd at our tournament, 4^th in conference, and 8^th at the sectional and is really starting to find his way as a bowler. He started the day a little slow but showed true grit and fought through and gave us some huge games when we needed them. He too is growing into his role as leader on team and impresses me a little more every week with his bowling insight. All during the second game he had to basically through his ball at the gutter in order to strike. This is something he is horribly uncomfortable doing, but he toughed it out and got the job done.

– What are the team?s aspirations at the State Tournament next weekend? –

One of the traditions our school seems to be developing over the last three years is that teams that earn 1st or 2nd in state get to ride a fire truck from May Whitney to the high school for a pep assembly. One of the boy’s main goals is to ride the fire truck. That is what they talked about in practice as we prepared for sectionals. My goals are a little simpler, I want to make it to the second day at state. My first year coaching I took a team down state and we did not make it past the first day, and I would like to get over that hump. If after that we get to fire truck all the better. This group has the physical ability to bowl that well as long as they stay focused. We don’t have a true super star this year, but we have a group of solid bowlers that have shown when they are performing they can compete with the best in the state.

The second game was a little rougher. Austin couldn’t find his line after several adjustments and he never really got into a groove. He had one double (9 th & 10th) but that was it and he ended with something around a 177. The third game went very well for him. I beieve he had a clean game or something close to it end the morning.

In the afternoon we started on a reall rough pair and again Austin had a hard time finding his line. As we moved to the next pair,  Austin moved in to play up the 3rd arrow and get a little hook at the end. This worked pretty well for a while and is how he finished most of the day.

‘So, we ended with a 1206 (which is respectable) but he didn’t make he cut. It has been a fun weekend. We went over to the Cahokia Mounds which was actually more interestijnng than I would have thought. For dinner tonight we got a bloomin’ onion (which I didn’t realize was made by a bloomologist) and pizza from a local restaurant, Fortels, which is very goof.

We then went swimming and played some Mario Kart. All in all, it was a fun but disappointing day.

Good Thing: Austin bowling consistently all six games. This is what we are going for.

The second game we picked up the pace a little, but Loyola Academy and Deerfield were bowling out of their minds! Loyola (who we soundly defeated about two weeks prior) bowled their first 1,000 game of the year that day, and they did it often. I don’t know what got into Deerfield, but they were bowling better than I had seen them all year. We bowled fairly consistently for the first 5 games and where hanging around all day. We never really had that amazing game that the other top schools had, but we never really had a let down. Tony came through big time which was especially impressive because he is a freshmen. Steve did good until game 5 when he lost some steam on the dry lanes. Austin of course did amazing and is going to state this weekend. He kept his calm about him all day and didn’t panic as the lanes broke down.

Afterward, I tried to talk to the guys, but I didn’t even know what to say. I wasn’t mad at them, but with all of the other issues surrounding my involvement with the school, I was very sad with what happened and with what the future holds for my involvement with the team. The kids have been very supportive and they are a good group of guys. The team dinner we had on Friday was very nice and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.

So, Austin, Luke, & myself will be heading to O’Fallon, IL this weekend to watch/help Austin bowl his way through state. I am very happy for Austin and it will be a fun trip. (It will also give me a good chance to use my new webcam to talk to Isaac and Gina.) In the grand scheme of things, it was one day of bowling and it certainly doesn’t erase a great season of bowling, but it would have been nice to end the season on a high note. Now, I have to work out an off-season plan to try and make sure the bowlers get better.

We had one kid bowl a 289 (which means he missed 1 pin on the second shot in the 10th frame) that was also very stressful. Who knew bowling could be so exciting.

What makes it so stressful is that the scoring is not straight forward. If you are familiar with bowling scoring you know what I mean. You get bonus points if you bowl well after a strike or a spare, so you can’t always tell where you stand.

That’s all for now, the house is coming along, and the football team made state, so I will be down in Champagne for that.

Cheers.

I am the boy’s varsity bowling coach now at LZHS. It is an interesting job given that I know very little about bowling, but I have a couple of father’s that have been very helpful as far as the technical coaching goes. Our first match is tomorrow and should be exciting.

I have been watching Heroes on NBC recently. It is a fanatastic show. I am not sure if it will have more than one season, but this season will be good.