Swanson Surges To 13th Place At State Bowling Finals

It didn’t take Anthony Swanson long to realize he was up against the big boys at the Illinois High School Association state bowling tournament this weekend.

He knew he had to up his own game --- and the Evanston freshman did just that.

Swanson rose to the occasion in the two-day state final test held at the St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights in downstate Illinois and earned a 13th place individual finish --- the best in school history --- with a total pinfall of 2,589 over 12 games.

After easily making the cut as part of the top 30 at-large scorers on Friday with a set of 1,295, Swanson finished with a flourish on Saturday and totaled 1,294, including a sizzling 680 over his last three games.

Both of those six-game blocks were better than the 1,261 he posted at the sectional tournament. Even in his state tournament debut, the unflappable freshman proved he belonged with the state’s elite in the sport.

Swanson was one of just five freshmen to make the qualifying cut to Saturday and one of them --- Tyler Paulus of Chicago Taft --- beat the Wildkit standout out of the final state medal awarded by a margin of just two pins.

It marked the only real disappointment for the weekend for Swanson, who was aiming to bring home four state medals in four years in his high school career.

Now he can’t wait ‘til next year.

“This was my first year down there, and I was up against some seniors and juniors who knew they had to score high right from jump street,” Swanson said. “The median scores at State were between like 215 and 220, so it was hard to just bowl a 200 and be happy about it. It’s hard to stay in the game mentally when you’re not happy with a 210. So I strived to get to at least 225. Sometimes I got there, and sometimes I didn’t.

“It took me a couple of games to get used to that scoring pace. I think this is a great starting point for me, and next year I’ll know what to expect and I’ll be even more prepared. I feel pretty good about being the first one in ETHS history to do so well. I’m pretty proud of that, and hopefully I can do even better next year.”

Veteran head coach Harold Bailey believes the best is yet to come for the freshman prodigy, whose only previous experience was in age-group youth tournaments.

“This was definitely a good tournament introduction for him,” said Bailey after Swanson became just the third individual in program history to advance to the IHSA finals. “I thought he handled the pressure well. He left it all on the table this weekend. I thought he represented the school very well, and I couldn’t be more proud of what he did. He really stepped up with a lot of eyes on him.

“I can’t foresee the future, but when you jump out like he did and finish 13th your first year down there --- I know he’s going to have three more tries at it. There’s a lot of good competition, but Anthony knows what he wants --- and he wants to be a state champion.”

Swanson produced in the clutch on Friday after stumbling to a 175 --- his lowest score in weeks --- in Game 3 of the first round. He bounced back by firing a 247 and earned the right to keep competing with games of 223 and 202 after that.

On Saturday, his scoring line read 193-215-206-235-222-223 as he vaulted from 28th place in the individual standings to a final place of 13th.

“That 175 really dented my mental game,” Swanson noted. “But after that I had a lunch break, and talked to a couple of my friends and my coaches. I was able to get mentally refreshed and get a game plan together for the next block. I was able to focus a lot more after that.”

“I didn’t really have any doubts about him making the cut, because all of the other big shooters that day were on (qualifying) teams,” Bailey said. “He had some bad breaks in those first three games. So I just told him he needed to put a big game on the board, like in the mid-220s, coming out of the break, and he did it.

“He wasn’t going down without a fight and he was definitely ready to go. He made it known just who he was out there on the lanes.”

Similarly, Swanson had some catching up to do on Saturday after three games of “only” 193, 215 and 206 dropped him farther back in the pack.

“I knew I need a huge block after that, and I got it,” he said after registering a 680, one of his highest three-game totals of the season. “I stopped looking at how some of the others were bowling and just focused on how I was throwing the ball. Those last three games I was throwing it awesome --- and I got some good results!”

Charlie Hunt, a senior from Rockton Hononegah, won the individual state crown with a pinfall of 2,767. The team title went to Salem with a score of 12,402 to 12,351 for Harrisburg and 12,196 for Central Suburban League champion Glenbrook North.

“It was great to see Anthony perform like that. And, the best is yet to come,” Bailey added.