Rochelle junior Brady Shank knew from his first few warm-up balls that he was in for a big day when the Hubs varsity bowling team returned to DeKalb’s Mardi Gras Lanes this past Saturday for the IHSA Regional hosted by Sycamore High School.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
DEKALB — Rochelle junior Brady Shank knew from his first few warm-up balls that he was in for a big day when the Hubs varsity bowling team returned to DeKalb’s Mardi Gras Lanes this past Saturday for the IHSA Regional hosted by Sycamore High School.
Shank found his mark early in the competition, and he finished the tournament with Rochelle’s high series score of 1,287 over six games to place sixth individually. More importantly, his performance helped the Hubs finish fourth out of 10 teams and qualify for the IHSA Sectional hosted by DeKalb High School this coming weekend. It’s the first time Rochelle has reached the sectional level since the IHSA changed its postseason format for boys bowling in 2013.
“I was feeling it in practice,” Shank said. “I was in my zone during the first game and I just stayed there throughout the tournament… We’ve bowled a lot together and we each have different skill sets. We can all do different things and we can all score high which helps us as a team.”
Senior Tyler Nalley finished 13th individually with 1,211 over six games, while junior Tyler Johnson (1,173) placed 25th and senior Mark Bratko (1,162) landed two spots behind Johnson in 27th. Junior Dallas Driver rolled 1,135 to finish 33rd and round out Rochelle’s top five bowlers this past weekend.
“It feels awesome and this is my first time going to sectionals,” said Bratko, who is Rochelle’s only varsity bowler to have spent four years with the program. “It’s good for the team and it’s good for me because I’m a senior and I want to go to sectionals. I’ve come so far from my freshman year and I think I’ve made my biggest strides this year.”
Freeport took the regional title with 6,326 pins, with Rockford Auburn (6,128) taking second place and Sycamore (6,008) finishing third. Rochelle knocked down 5,968 pins to outpace the Rockford East E-Rabs, who placed fifth with 5,788 pins, for the fourth and final qualifying spot. Freeport’s Ty Collalti shot 1,390 to take the individual regional crown.
“Today was the first time I bowled well here,” Shank said. “It really grew my confidence going into sectionals and it was exciting to see how well I bowled today… The fact that we’re going to sectionals as a team is really gratifying to be honest, and after the last three years we’ve had, it wasn’t anything we were expecting.”
Rochelle is one of 16 teams that will compete in the IHSA DeKalb Sectional, which will also be played at Mardi Gras Lanes. The top six teams will advance to the IHSA State Meet at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon, and due to their familiarity with DeKalb’s home house, the Hubs are feeling confident they can bowl well enough this weekend to make history for the program.
“It helps bowling on the same lanes with the same oil,” Brakto said. “We know when the oil is going to dry out so we just have to keep our heads up and bowl good.”
