It’s 7 AM on a Friday. The grade check is at 4 PM. All grades have to be above 70 to be eligible for extracurricular activities. An important day for any student. But, for the bowling team and Matthew Vincent, this day is that much more important; this eligibility applies for the next three weeks, including the final match of the season and the regional championships. It’s been a rough semester for Matthew. Senior year is hard. Bowling takes up a lot of time. It’s also the first few weeks of the semester, and not many grades have been put in. His grades might have slipped a little. Then a little bit more. All of a sudden, Matthew is sitting ineligible in four classes. Not great for his report card or the bowling team. But the day isn’t over yet. It’s just begun.
By 7:30, Matthew is already talking to his first teacher, arguing about the grade received on his last essay. It’s not easy, but he made some good points. One down. As the day progresses, Vincent is a blur, turning in late work in one class, writing an essay in the other, all while keeping track of the magic number: 70. After a hectic day of arguing, hard work, and a detailed bowling film session, it’s around 3:45. Just a few minutes before the grade check, with grades coming in during the waning minutes of the school day, his grades are finalized. 70 or above all around. Now, with that resolved, only one thing is left on Matthew’s mind: a state bowling title.
Varsity Match
All of this, of course, led up to Jesuit’s season finale against Nimitz at Bowlero, an away game for the Rangers. While meaningless in terms of standings, this match was the only thing standing between the Rangers and an undefeated season for the second year in a row. Making quick work of the Vikings, Jesuit was able to handily win 13-2.
Starting things off for the Rangers, Jack Holloran ’20 handily won his match 384-272 while the combined team of Will Risinger ’20 and Matthew Vincent ’20 won their match 283-235. Silas Hartman ’20 also won his match, with a score of 306-206, while Jack Corrales ’20 and Hayden Montpas ’22 dropped their matches 328-339 and 369-374 respectively. Jesuit moved into bakers with a 5-2 lead, and a need to win two baker matches. With a solid start, Jesuit won their first baker match 167-148, and never looked back, winning their next two matches 215-171 and 215-125.
JV Match
In a 3v3 match, the Jesuit trio of John Risinger ’23, Michael Norris ’21, and Ryan Menke ’23 took on Nimitz’s JV squad. Norris started things off for the Rangers, narrowly dropping his match 214-264. Risinger rallied back for the Rangers, however, winning his match 246-187. Menke finished things for the Rangers, with a tight 227-219 victory.
Moving into bakers, the Ranger JV squad dropped their first match 42-61. Rallying back, the Rangers snatched game two with a 65-59 win. Coming into game three, the Rangers lost narrowly 42-44. This led to an overall 6-7 loss to Nimitz’s JV squad in a highly contended match. To be noted, with only three players for each team, the scores are a bit off in bakers from a normal 5 man team, as the format was slightly adjusted.
The Next Step
After securing an undefeated season for the second season in a row, the Rangers now prepare to take their skills to Amarillo where they’ll attempt to claim another regional title among a group of teams native to the panhandle region, and hope to move onto state for the second year in a row!
Check back soon for more bowling updates and other sports news!
