The HHS varsity bowling team had a terrific 2012-2013 season, qualifying for States and winning their Sectional Championship.

The varsity team wrapped up its season with a 9-6 record under John LaForge, the head coach for both the varsity and junior varsity team. Losing only to Pompon Lakes and Glen Rock, the team earned third place in the league. Their success earned them a spot in the Sectional Championship.

Up until this 2012-2013 season, the last time the varsity bowling team had qualified for Sectionals was in 2007-2008. This year, with a number of skilled and talented bowlers, they moved on and won. Over the spring break, they traveled to New Brunswick with many other bowling teams from the state. There, they competed in a semi-final round, but, unfortunately, came up short.

Freshman team member, Ian Bruinooge, said that despite falling into a rut in the middle of his season, “The season went surprisingly well.” Another varsity bowler, junior Michael Ulrich, also commented on the “surprisingly” successful season saying, “I believed our season would be great with Ian Cabello, Dan Chatten, Richie Christensen, and me all averaging 170 or above, and with Cabello over 200 [out of 300]… but I never thought we would win Sectionals.”

The players remarked that the entire season went extremely well for the whole team. Bruinooge, the only freshman on the varsity team, bowled 499 out of 600 in his first game. Chatten, a senior, once scored 243 out of 300. When asked about what he remembers during his high school bowling career so far, Chatten said he would remember winning sectionals, bowling a 226 out of 300 in States, and “looking at the score board at Sectionals and seeing nothing but Xs for the last five frames for everyone.”

Although the team will certainly miss its senior members  Ian Cabello and Daniel Chatten, the Hawthorne High School bowling team hopes for another successful season next year.