CHANNAHON – The Minooka boys bowling team has had a mountain to climb all season and has not conquered it yet.
It is known as Lincoln-Way West.
The Warriors rolled into Minooka’s home, Channahon Lanes on Saturday and left with the Minooka Regional championship plaque after posting a 6,495 total. Minooka, which led entering the afternoon portion of the six-game regional, finished second at 6,403, followed by Joliet West at 6,173 and Lincoln-Way Central at 6,105.
The Knights finished two pins ahead of LaSalle-Peru in the battle for the fourth and final qualifying spot for next Saturday’s Plainfield North Sectional at Town & Country Lanes.
Joliet Central (5,842) was eighth in the 11-team field and Providence (5,568) was 10th.
“Lincoln-Way West bowled really well, you have to hand it to them,” Minooka coach Derrick Rapsky said. “We knew we had to watch for them. They’ve beaten us all year, wherever we have seen them. They’re our mountain to climb.”
“We advanced the last three years to sectional, but this is the first regional we’ve won,” said Lincoln-Way West coach Scott Ullian, in his first season as the Warriors’ head coach after three as an assistant. “We knew it would be a high-scoring day.
“I’m just so proud of our guys. Our usual fifth starter had to go to the University of Alabama for a family weekend, and Noah Selof shot 1,288 filling in.”
Junior Caleb Kirby led the Warriors with a 1,408 total, third overall. LaSalle-Peru’s Nate Stubler shot 1,562, a remarkable 260.3 average, to win the individual championship. His “worst” game was 249. Joliet West sophomore Michael Grether was second at 1,458, a 243 average.
The top 10 individuals not on advancing teams also move on to the sectional. Joliet Central’s Tyler Theobold (fifth at 1,322) and Providence’s Jordan Chavez (seventh at 1,310) were in that group.
Following Kirby for Lincoln-Way West were Michael Nork 1,314, Selof and Eric Ullian 1,285. Scott Ullian subbed in freshman Cameron Jablonski after Game 1, and he responded with 1,047 over five games.
“These guys we have love bowling together,” Ullian said. “And when you have depth like we do, you use it. I try to make this as much fun as I can, and these kids – and I – learned a lot this season.”
Kirby and Selof both were in the Lincoln-Way Central program last season, transferring because of North closing.
“It’s pretty exciting to win today with this team,” Kirby said. “It’s going to be fun at the sectional. I can’t wait.”
Minooka has four seniors in its starting lineup, and Rapsky said how far the Indians go will depend on them.
“We have to get a lot more scoring and leadership from the seniors,” he said. “Tyler [Koenig, a junior] will get us a score, but it’s got to be all four seniors getting it done together.”
Ryan Koesema led the Indians and finished fourth at 1,358. Austin Schomig closed at 1,290, Kai Devine at 1,284, Koenig at 1,264 and Jon Studer at 1,207.
Minooka led after the morning session. Lincoln-Way West pulled one pin ahead after Game 4, then exploded in Game 5, positing a 1,225, led by Selof’s 278, to open a 116-pin edge.
The Warriors fell to 938 their final game and the Indians were aware for the last few frames that they needed 1,055 to win the regional. They closed at 962.
“We knew what we needed, we’re at home, we should have been able to shoot 1,055, but we didn’t,” Rapsky said. “I’m happy we shot 64 [6,403], but we needed 65 to win.”
Joliet West senior Jordan Anderson backed up Grether with a 1,254 score. Tigers coach Reginald Lee, guiding a freshmen-laden team, substituted through the rest of his lineup.
“We have a very young team with four freshmen, two seniors and a sophomore in the lineup,” Lee said. “We’ve talked about keeping our energy up all year, and today we let it all out.”
“That’s what did it for us, we had to keep our energy up,” Grether said. “I made the sectional last year as an individual, and this is great to give all our freshmen that experience.”
Sophomore Jack Davern, the Lincoln-Way Central leader all season, led the Knights with 1,307 for eighth place. Then came Trevor Amir 1,274, Alex Nolan 1,216 and Steve Plane 1,152.
“It’s been a weird year with kids switching schools, and it’s really good for both of us [Lincoln-Way Central and West] to advance,” Knights coach Coley O’Connell said. “We struggled the second half today, but we held on.
“We have a young team with a freshman, sophomore and three juniors starting and a bench with three freshmen. What I liked about today is we just worried about ourselves. We weren’t concerned with what anyone else was doing.”