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Boys bowling: Morrison's 300 propels Lake Zurich to fifth at state

Starting the day off perfectly, Jason Morrison threw 12 strikes for a perfect game of 300. It was a great start for Lake Zurich on the final day of the boys state bowling tournament at St. Clair Lanes in O'Fallon on Saturday.

"I was so relieved, it was so much fun and I knew I had done something great." said Morrison, who also had a perfect game last summer outside of high school competition. "I wanted to enjoy the moment, but knew I would need to stay focused for the rest of the day."

The Bears opened their first game with one of the best games rolled all day with an 1,193 that moved them up to the sixth spot in the team standings. They also had top games from Billy Schroeder (259) and Trevor Madura (246).

"We're here and we have nothing to lose," Lake Zurich coach Chuck Vozas said. "It was like a chess game and they came out on fire. We let them loose - like the way Jason was going, the rest of the team followed his lead."

Following that opening game, Lake Zurich threw games of 988 and 892 for a 3,073 set.

In the afternoon, the Bears had their sights set on moving up and they rolled games of 1,098, 1,049 and 943 for a 3,090 series, which ended them up in fifth place just 274 pins out of third with a two-day total of 12,340.

"It was really exciting," Vozas added. "Our goal after game four, was trying to move up. We happened to be paired with last year's champ, Hononegah (in the final game). Our goal was to beat the reigning champs and we did that. Our team just never quit all season and that's what they did."

Schroeder led the way for the Bears with a two-day total of 2,595. He shot a 707 during the afternoon with games of 252, 258 and 197. He finished in 16th place individually, missing reaching a medal by 22 pins. The other Lake Zurich bowlers were Madura (2,547), Brett Schnur (2,465), Morrison (2,444), Jason Czabaj (751) and Alex Kouros (385).

Machesney Park Harlem took first place with 12,851 followed by Minooka (12,714) and Joliet West (12,614).

The top individual was Edgar Burgos of St. Charles East with a 2,868 for a 239 average over the 12 games. He started the second day with his second 300 over the weekend. He tossed a 753 through his first three games.

Diego Cortez became the first Waukegan bowler to earn a medal by finishing in sixth place with 2,678. He threw a 699 in the morning and 637 in the afternoon with a high game of 259. Waukegan just started its program this season.

Ethan Kailin of Warren, who is autistic, had a season to remember reaching state and on the second day by ending up in 56th place with a 2,412.

He had a 625 for his first three games and a 516 over the last three. He rolled games of 300 and 299 two days apart earlier this season then made it through the regional with the team and advanced out of the sectional as an individual.

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