MORRIS – A year ago, Cody Surges won the Southwest Prairie Conference tournament title to help Romeoville claim the team championship over Minooka.
While Surges wasn’t able to duplicate that feat during Satrurday’s competition at Echo Lanes, he achieved a bigger honor.
Because of a combination of dual meet showings and a tie for fourth in the tourney with a 1,324 total, Surges won the league’s MVP award, following in the the footsteps of his former teammate, Dakota Vostry.
“It feels great,” Surges said. “I knew coming into today that I’d have to shoot big, make good shots and stay consistent and I did just that. We have regionals and sectionals and hopefully state coming up. I feel like I can do it, I just need to do exactly what I did today.”
Minooka owned a 28-point lead coming into the event and as a result of points for games and series Saturday, it won the title by a 134-67 margin over Oswego. Plainfield North (66), Plainfield South (43) and Plainfield Central (41) followed.
The Indians finished with four all-SPC recipients. They were Jack Russell (second), Ryan Koesema (fourth), Alex Guglielmucci (sixth) and Kai Devine (11th).
Koesema won the tournament title with a 1,464 total, which was 29 pins better than Oswego’s Kameron Rockwell. The Indians’ sophomore posted an 808 series in the morning, following up a 238 with a 274 and then a 296 in the third game.
“Coming off of an 808 series, I just tried to keep my focus and bowl good, which is really hard to do,” Koesema said. “I came back and shot two 230s and then had a 190. I know that everyone on our team is going to contribute in regionals and sectionals. We’re trying to go out with a big bang for the seniors. So we just need to keep our focus and composure.”
Guglielmucci joined Rockwell as one of three bowlers to roll a 300 game during the day. He shot that in his opener and then had a 245 to start the afternoon to finish with a 1,324, which tied Surges for the fourth-best score. Russell posted a 1,255, while Dylan Pickett turned in a 1,250 to help Minooka to a 6,589 total for the day.
“For the past three years, I’ve been working toward this, especially since this is the first time that I’m all-conference,” Russell said. “I’m more confident with this team than I’ve ever been. I definitely feel like we have a chance to go through regionals and sectionals and get to state. If we can get a trophy, it would be a perfect way for the seniors to finish up.”
Although Plainfield North finished second in the tournament by a 6,418-6,342 margin over Oswego, it was not enough to move it past the Panthers to finish second place.
The Tigers had two all-conference athletes, Jack Baggs (fifth) and Steven Sussenbach (tied, 12th). Baggs shot a 1,296, Matt Gurgel rolled a 1,271 and Dillon McGuire had a 1,270.
Plainfield East had the fourth-best score of the tournament, a 6,188. Zack Kendrick had a 1,355 to place third in the tourney, while Patrick Lopez shot a 1,318 to place sixth. That helped Lopez to finish tenth on the all-SPC team while Kendrick tied for 12th place.
Romeoville’s Jacob Hubbs turned in a 1,295 total to finish third on the all-SPC team. Plainfield South’s Cory Kopanski shot a 1,277 to help him finish ninth.
The other 300 game in the tournament was recorded by the junior-varsity champion, Plainfield North’s Vinnie Spitzzeri. He opened the afternoon with the perfect game and went on to finish with a 1,373 total, which was 14 pins ahead of Minooka’s Austin Schomig. Minooka defeated Plainfield North, 112-75, for the team title.