Budding New LTHS Bowling Program Finding Success

In only its second official season, and its fourth since originating in 2007, Lyons Township’s varsity bowling squad enjoyed a successful year with a collective fifth place finish at sectionals in January.

Coached by LTHS teacher Francisco Gamboa—who engineered the creation of the school's bowling program—the team won seven of its nine regular season matches and qualified for the sectional meet before dropping out in fifth place.

Oak Lawn, Lemont, Argo and St. Laurence, finished ahead of Lyons, respectively, with Oak Lawn and Lemont advancing to the state meet.

“These kids should have something to be proud of,” Gamboa said. “There were a lot of good teams [at sectionals] and even though they had minimal competition experience, they were in it for the long haul and it was a great learning experience.”

 Individually, the Lions touted three top 25 finishers at the sectional meet, with sophomore Marco Micovich finishing 11^th with a 206.7 pin average per game, Jack Gouty snagging 15^th with a 199 pin average and Matt Rivera taking 21^st with a 196.7 pin average.

“[The team] started as individuals, but they played as a team,” Gamboa said. “A lot of our more skilled players didn’t have that IHSA experience, so it was great to see them compete together.”

The entire Lyons Township program consisted of over 75 bowlers, from freshmen to seniors, and although the varsity team did have size constraints, Gamboa claimed that bowlers did move up and down based on performance.

“We had the biggest program of all the teams we faced, and sometimes we had to hold scrimmages during matches because we had so many kids,” Gamboa said. “But, [junior varsity] players could move up if their averaged and competition performance improved.”

Junior varsity bowler Sean Delaney expressed his enjoyment of the system.

“It gave me something to work for,” Delaney said. “I knew that playing with the varsity team was solely up to me and how hard I worked in bringing up my scores in matches.”

Additionally, the senior stated his enjoyment of the season as a whole.

“It was a great year,” Delaney said. “We had some good times, performed really well, and it says a lot about the bowling program and the school that we’re able to compete without having been around for a while.”

Jason Stankiewicz, another senior bowling participant, believes that LTHS bowling will only continue to steadily rise.

“Bowling has only been a club for two years and a real team for two more years,” Stankiewicz said. “To be one of the biggest programs around here already is a good sign, plus we have a lot of young talent on the team now. The bowling program will just keep getting better.”

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