On Friday and Saturday, Lake Zurich’s boys bowling team participated in the IHSA state tournament.
The Bears’ fourth-place finish at St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights was the school’s best since earning a third-place trophy at the 2010-11 state tournament.
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Pioneer Press contributor Jon Kerr caught up with Lake Zurich coach Peter Kupfer after the tournament and talked about the Bears’ exceptional season and state tournament run.
Jon Kerr: This weekend was Lake Zurich’s sixth trip to the state tournament since 2005. Fourth place for the tournament is the program’s second-best standing over that stretch. How were you able to do it?
Peter Kupfer: “With this team, we never had one kid we relied on to be our main scorer every time. We have had five or six above-average bowlers, never that one superstar. On any given day, a different kid was our best scorer.”
Kerr: On Friday, you were in contention. After 30 games, your team knocked down 6,313 pins and was in fifth place, 137 pins behind leader Harlem. Did you think you had a chance to win Saturday?
Kupfer: “I didn’t know what the appropriate expectation was. We didn’t feel any pressure to win. My goal was to make it to the second day [the top 12 out of 24 participants from Friday advanced to Saturday]. If we averaged 205 pins a kid [with five bowlers], we’d get 1,025 and make it to the second day. That was our goal.”
Kerr: You ended up with a total of 1,232 pins in the third of six total games Friday. Junior Zach Johnson bowled a 290 in the third game.
Kupfer: “That’s the second-highest total in the history of the state tournament. That put us in position to bowl [Saturday] without feeling pressure.”
Kerr: Lake Zurich was one of three teams (St. Charles East and state champ Hononegah were the others) with two individual bowlers in the top 20. Senior Ben Madura finished 20th with 2,593 pins and senior Donny Gross finished ninth overall with 2,648 total pins. What is so special about Gross?
Kupfer: “When he came into his freshman year, he didn’t even own bowling shoes. The amount of work he’s put in. Saturday at lunch, he told me he didn’t want to know [his score]. He’s a team-focused guy and even when he was having a bad game, he’d be cheering the other guys. He’s had an up-and-down season and [the state tournament] was his best of the season. He’s our captain and leader and it couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”
Kerr: Gross, Madura and senior Nick Lopinski graduate. But of the five bowlers who competed at the state tournament, three return. They are Zach Johnson and juniors PJ Waul and Connor Kovanda. What are prospects for 2015-16?
Kupfer: “It will be us and Stevenson. They had an incredible year in the conference. We had 10 juniors this year. We had four on the state team [the other being Tommy Keefe] and those will come back stronger next year.”
Jon Kerr is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.