Record-setting game leads St. Charles East to IHSA boys state bowling championship
In sixth place with three games left Saturday at the IHSA Boys State Bowling Tournament, the St. Charles East Saints didn’t panic.
Instead the Saints simply did what they have all year.
“We adjusted to the lanes and we made our spares. But basically we bowled like we have all year,” Saints coach Steve Dessauer said. “We’ve been the best team in the state all year and we bowled the way we can the last three games.’’
The Saints opened the fourth round Saturday with a 1,063 game to jump from sixth to second place then overtook tournament leader Vernon Hills with a state record 1,279 game.
Keyed by a 300 game from Tyler Johnson and a 298 from Edward Burjgs, the 1,279 game broke the previous mark of 1,263 set by Lincolnshire Stevenson in 2016.
Also featuring 2019 individual state champion Edgar Burgos, the Saints concluded their spectacular final round with a final game of 1,005 to finish with a 12-game score of 12,836 pins, 159 more than runner-up Vernon Hills (12, 677).
Minooka won the third place trophy with a score of 12,663. Collinsville led the metro-east area contingent, placing sixth (12,477). Mascoutah was 11th with a 12,055 pin total.
The Kahoks, who have qualified for the IHSA state finals every year since 2012, also jumped in the standings. In 11th place starting the day, coach Sean Hay’s team shot a three game series of 3,273 and 3,091 to jump five spots to sixth place.
“From where we were after yesterday and jump five spots all the way to sixth place ... I couldn’t be more proud of this team,’’ Hay said. “We set a goal to be within 150 pins of a trophy (third place) after three games today and we were 147 out.
“It was a great great season. It’s nice to finish it on such a positive note.’’
Individually, Ethan Pash of Machesney Park Harlem won the title, finishing with a total of 2,811 pins, 39 more than both Alex Nolan of Lincoln-Way Central and Efrain Soto of Minooka, who finished the scores of 2,772.
Collinsville junior Nathan Hay had the top local finish, 12th, with a score of 2,615. Mascoutah senior Jacob Bartosiak placed 15th with a score of 2,606.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 11:54 PM.
