On Jan. 13, the CHSAA bowling city championship was held at 34th Avenue Lanes in Flushing, but after the second of two games was completed between St. Francis Prep and Salesian, no one had quite figured out who had won the title.
“My hands were shaking while I was trying to punch the numbers into the calculator on my phone,” St. Francis Prep coach Nicole May said.
Her response when she finally realized that her team had won?
“Wow,” May exclaimed. “That was too close.”
By a deciding margin of only six pins, St. Francis Prep (19-5) became the CHSAA city champion for the first time since 2004.
Prep won the two-game championship series despite losing the second game by 55 pins. The Terriers’ saving grace was the 61-pin decision in the series’ opening game that gave them the winning margin. Overall, it was a 1967-1961 victory for Prep based on a total pins tiebreaker.
Senior Chris Fesler rolled the high series for the match, recording games of 255 and 202 for a total of 457 pins. Sophomore Jason Lindo was awarded the high game award for his score of 246. Fesler’s 255 game was not considered, as the CHSAA does not allow bowlers to win both the high game and high series awards. Francis Peralta, who rolled an individual best 266 earlier this season, came through with a 215 in the second game for St. Francis. Consistent performances from Kevin Lawrence and Paul Battisi also helped to hold off Salesian late in the match, while Tom Morehart provided moral support.
Fesler doesn’t only star in the alley. He is also a collegiate level pitcher for the St. Francis Prep baseball team. The poise that he showed in the championship match resembled that of a seasoned veteran on the mound.
Lindo will lead the returners for St. Francis next year. May calls him an “up and comer” who has the potential to bowl in college.
He will undoubtedly assume a leadership role in Prep’s run towards a repeat next year.