Oak Lawn Spartan Bowling Team Rolls Back-To-Back Championships

OAK LAWN, IL — Back-to-back championships has a nice ring to it. And for the Oak Lawn Community High School boys bowling team, it is a reality. The Spartans recently won the South Suburban Conference Red title during winter break. But what’s more, the Spartans are now seeking to repeat as Illinois High School Association Regional champions as well in the coming weeks.

Ramiro Garcia was the individual SSC Red Champion. Justin Canvin finished second, and Sam Bergamo finished seventh. All three of those Spartans were all-conference bowlers. Gavin Rybicki finished in 11th place, just barely missing the medal stand. Charlie Dell, Julian Amador, and Brandon Mariano also contributed for the Spartans at Palos Lanes.

“The varsity squad had their eyes on the conference title all year, but we are not done yet,” head coach Kevin Walery said. “We hope to repeat as IHSA Regional champions and advance as a team to the IHSA Sectional and the IHSA State Finals. We are just getting started.”

The junior varsity team battled all day and finished second overall in the SSC tournament. Vinny McBrien (third place) and David Bush (ninth place) both finished as all-conference bowlers. Jesse Correa, Ed Smykowski, Moises Caballero, Eoin Burke, and Malik Adi bowled well also.

Walery was proud of the JV team and their performance too.

“Coach Mueller worked very hard with the JV team all season, and we are very happy with our second- place finish at the tournament and with our two all-conference bowlers,” he said.