Stevenson High School boys bowling team rewrites record books
Stevenson High School honored its boys bowling team that broke several school and state records in winning the Illinois High School Association state championship.
In winning the crown, Jan. 30, at St. Clair Bowl in O'Fallon, Stevenson set an IHSA team records by accumulating 13,371 pins during the two-day, 60-game competition, and defeated last year's state champion, Rockton Hononegah, by 40 pins. The Patriots' final pin count broke the previous mark of 13,161 bowled by Andrew High School in 2006.
"It was incredible. I always knew they could do this. They could always put up big numbers but I didn't realize they could put up that big a number," bowling team coach Cody Mathias said during Monday's celebration at the Lincolnshire school. "That was a great way to finish the season and send out our seniors on a high note."
Marking a first in IHSA state bowling tournament history, the top two finishers came from the same school as Stevenson junior Zach Singer captured the individual championship, with a score of 2,899 pins, and teammate Richy Zenner finished second with 2,879 pins.
"It's unbelievable. As an individual, I worked hard through the year to get where I am. It's really a big step for me to come out and represent my school. We have molded well as a team. We bonded really well and I think that's one of the reasons why we came out and did so well," said Singer, the first Patriot bowler to win a state title.
During the tournament, Stevenson bowlers set several school records as well, including highest one-game score of 1,263 pins, three-game series mark of 3,499 and six-game series of 6,739.
The state-winning team consists of Mathias and assistant coach Paul Mazzuca, seniors Theodore Tapas and Eddie Mendrala, juniors Zach Singer, Josh Singer, Gabe Gordon and Richy Zenner, and sophomore Lucas Pinkus.
The state championship is a first for the boys bowling team at Stevenson.