ROCHELLE — Head coach Jim Lyles said he believes the Rochelle Hub varsity bowling team can win the Interstate 8 Conference this season. The team held its first practice of the 2024-25 season last Monday and is gearing up for its first tournament of the season this weekend.

Rochelle will look to build on a 10-7 overall record and a 5-3 record in the Interstate 8 last season, when the Hubs took third in the conference tournament and placed second for the regular season. Senior Logan Frye headlines the varsity players back in the mix for the Hubs, who will head to the Super Bowl in LaSalle for the Mendota Invitational this Saturday. Frye has earned All-Conference honors in the Interstate 8 over each of the last two seasons.

“I think we have a good chance to win the conference,” Lyles said. “We have a solid group of six… Logan’s key will be picking up spares and staying focused. There’s no reason he can’t advance to the sectional and even make it out of the sectional this year. He has all of the tools.”

The Hubs are welcoming back a trio of talented juniors including Levi Waddle, Caleb Mortensen and Declan McGee, who each bowled varsity matches last season. Sophomores Luke Norris, Bryson Stewart and freshman Josef Alanis are three underclassmen who could emerge at the varsity level for the Hubs, who will host their first home match against South Beloit on Tuesday, Nov. 19 before beginning Interstate 8 play against LaSalle-Peru on Thursday, Nov. 21 at home.

“Our juniors need to continue to get better and focus on their spares,” Lyles said. “They’re a good group of young men and they all seem to get along with each other, which is huge. These guys don’t have animosity toward anybody and they legitimately root for each other.”

Rochelle will compete in multiple tournaments including the Mendota Invitational this weekend as well as the Guilford Invitational on Nov. 23, the LaSalle-Peru Cavalier Classic on Dec. 14, the Freeport Sport Shot Invitational on Dec. 21 and the Interstate 8 Conference Championship on Jan. 13, 2025. The postseason will begin with the IHSA 2A Regionals in late January.

“We were close to winning the conference last year,” Lyles said. “We have to focus on the small things. We lost a lot of matches by 20 or 30 pins and when we’re missing eight or nine single-pin spares in a match, that’s a lot of pins we’re leaving on the deck.”