Boys bowling: Rockton Hononegah takes first-day lead downstate
Day One of the IHSA boys bowling state meet saw Lake Park, St. Charles North, Stevenson and Lake Zurich all advance to Saturday's finals at St. Clair Lanes in O'Fallon.
Rockton Hononegah is the tournament leader with 6,502 pins after the opening six games on Friday. O'Fallon is in the second spot at 6,291 and Lincoln Way Central holding third at 6,176.
The top 12 teams made it to the second day. Lake Park rolled 6,003, good for seventh. St. Charles North is ninth at 5,868, Stevenson sits in 11th at 5,827, and Lake Zurich is 12th at 5,822.
"We just wanted to make it into the next round," Lake Park coach Greg Edwards said. "It was a struggle game after game and we had to grind it out. I thought we did OK."
The Lancers were led by Jordan Fischer (1,287), Shaan Patel (1,283), Jason Gutkowski (1,203), Nathan Williams (1,161) and Matthew Tumbarello (1,069).
St. Charles North's Blake Miller posted a 1,397, followed by Joey Rayner (1,189), Mitch Leanord (1,128), Ryan Christman (1,124) and Zachary Mundt (1,030).
Stevenson was on a roll the first three games with a 3,096 (third place) but struggled in the afternoon with a 2,731.
"We're in a good situation and we can compete with the other teams ahead of us," Stevenson coach Cody Mathias said. "It's been a goal for us all season to be here."
Stevenson's Lucas Pinkus led the way for the Patriots with 1,276. Joey Gluck (1,184), Nicolas Sternes (1,177), Ryan Lerman (1,063), Ben Reis (960, five games) and Kerry Mueller (167) also contributed.
Lake Zurich secured the final spot but had been near the top six for most of the first day.
"The shot out there was challenging," Lake Zurich coach Mike Sutton said. "Our boys did what they've done all season and grinded their way through it. We just have to do our best (Saturday) and get into the mix."
Leading the Bears were Trevor Madura (1,280), Billy Schroeder (1,261), Brett Shnur (1,182), Eric Reusch (1,097), Jason Morrison (844, five games) and Joey Kovanda (158).