Boys bowling: Vernon Hills stands in 2nd place at state tourney

Chasing history and rolling high scores were in line for Vernon Hills and Stevenson on the opening day of the boys bowling state tournament at St. Clair Lanes in downstate O'Fallon.

Vernon Hills opened the day with a 1,129 and kept rolling to second place after the first six games of competition. Stevenson ended up in 17th place and will miss the second day of competition Saturday.

Stevenson's Ryan Grabiner and Diego Cortez of Waukegan each found perfection as both rolled perfect games of 300.

The Cougars are sitting right behind the tournament leader Harlem 193 pins back with a 6,420 and Richards was third (6,348) followed by St. Charles East (6,303).

"The day went well-being in second place," Vernon Hills coach Ron Long said. "We had a great morning and everyone was having fun. The afternoon we were on the higher end of the house where it was more humid. The lanes became dryer. But we're still in the running with Harlem and there's a lot to go after (Saturday). It's like a one-day tournament."

Vernon Hills rolled a 3,327 in their morning three games and followed up with a 3,093.

The Cougars were led by Joseph Napierkowski with a 1,346 that included a high game of 269 starting the day. Alex Kouvelas had a 1,337, Jacob Gates 1,292, Nicolas Schwind 1,242 and Brandon Cervantes 1,203.

St. Charles East rolled with the leaders by throwing a 3,251 and a 3,052.

Leading the way for the Saints was Tyler Johnson with a 1,317. Connor Johnson had a 1,308, Edgar Burgos 1,271, Edward Burgos 1,262 and Nicholas Cutrara 1,145.

Stevenson's Grabiner rolled a perfect game in his second game and lifted the Patriots into third place early in the day but they slipped down to the 17th spot with a 5,899.

Grabiner, outside of the 300, rolled 237 and 204 for an opening 741 series and followed up with an afternoon set of 548 for a 1,289.

Cortez is in the runner-up spot behind tournament leader Ethan Pash of Harlem, who rolled an impressive 1,589 for the six games. Pash had an 832 series followed by a 757, an average of 264.8. Cortez started out with a 771 and followed up with a 667.

A few other teams missed their chance at a second day by not making the Top 12. Lake Park was 14th (5,992) and Glenbard East 19th (5,811).