Student Athlete Of The Week: Bellmore-Merrick Bowler Riley Kolinsky

MERRICK, NY — With the 2025-26 varsity sports season in the rearview mirror, Patch is taking a look back at the athletes that defined the year in Long Island sports. Whether they made massive strides on the track or big plays on the field, they were stars.

The second star of the year is Bellmore-Merrick freshman bowler Riley Kolinsky. In his third year as a varsity bowler already, Kolinsky took home the 700 club prize and made a trip to state championships as an individual bowler, his first individual trip after going to states with his team last year.

When looking back on the season, Kolinsky said he was proud of his effort. Even as he changed lanes — switching from practicing in Wantagh to practicing in Massapequa — the high school freshman said he

“I thought this season was a little challenging…but overall, I thought I overcame pretty well,” Kolinsky said. “And I think I did pretty decent for this year, for going to counties and states and just doing the whole experience. And I think that that was actually pretty fun.”

One of the defining stories of Kolinsky’s year was a nickname his teammates and coaches developed for him, which spawned from the scores he would put up most games: Five Strike Riley.

“My coach and the teammates actually kept calling me that, because at the end of every game, no matter how bad or how well I was doing, it was always five strikes at the end,” Kolinsky said. “I thought it was just funny, and I just kept doing what I was doing. Sometimes it was pressure, but at the end of the season, I wasn't really striking out at the end [of games]. I was striking more in the beginning and doing well during the beginning of the game, and did well towards the end of it. But I was doing more towards the beginning, then. So, [it was a] little pressure because they always kind of chanted that when I was at like the tenth frame or something, but it was fun. It was like a little joke between everybody on the team.”

As for his individual performance, Kolinsky said he already had goals in mind to improve upon next season. Even with a trip to states under his belt, Kolinsky said he wanted to improve his feel for the lanes, understanding how the ball moves along different parts of a lane, seeing where the oil patterns on a lane change, and getting better at diagnosing those conditions.

“This year was very tough, during states, just because we did the whole trip up there and then you bowl, and I didn't do the best,” Kolinsky said. “Honestly, next year I really want to start understanding the oil [on lanes] more and just understanding the lanes, and trying to overcome it a lot better than I would in previous years.”

In previous years, Kolinsky said it has taken him about a game to figure out a lane. As he approaches the offseason, he said his goal is to get creative, rolling some practice games where he intentionally misses a pin or two on the first roll and forces himself to scramble to make a spare.

“I'm working on a lot of spares, for sure. I'm working on accuracy, trying to hit one part of the lane multiple times, throwing it right, left and everywhere, pretty much,” Kolinsky said. “And also, spares. Hit my 10-pins and 7-pins.”