Primetime 585 Spotlight Team: Waterloo boys bowling

The Primetime 585 Spotlight Team for February 20th is the Waterloo boys bowling team. The atmosphere at Roseland Bowl in Canandaigua for the Class C/D finals was amazing!

In one of the closest and most exciting sectional matches, Waterloo was down to Newark going in the final game of the six game sectional final, but bowled a spectacular game to pull out the win by only ten pins. That’s about as close as it gets for sectional bowling.

“I’m feeling so ecstatic. That’s the culmination of hard work over three years,” junior Nate Robson said. “It’s been a grind. We had to come back. We were down 42. This does not feel real right now.”

This is the first sectional bowling title for Waterloo in school history. Co-head coach Toby Coleman said there wasn’t a whole lot of coaching needed as the final match got tight. Just reminders about the basics–both life and bowling.

“Helping them stay calm and hit their marks. That’s it,” he said. “Breathe. Most of it: breathe.”

Alexander Rogers led the Tigers with a 1263 series and was named to the All-Tournament team. Kyle Brown might have been the lynchpin to the comeback. The Tigers began the final game with opens from six of ten bowlers over Waterloo’s first two frames. Brown’s triple starting in the third frame seemed to settle his teammates down. From frames 5-9, Waterloo struck on 16 of 25 shots. Two different bowlers had a run of five strikes in a row.

“Rolling opening strikes brings the whole team morale up. Everyone strikes if one person strikes,” senior Zachary Manko said. Manko was one of two Waterloo bowlers with a five-bagger in the final game. “It brings the whole energy up and that’s exactly what we did.”

It was definitely very emotional for these young men and coaches. Many of whom have been waiting and working towards this day a long time.

“I’ve been on here six years. All of us yelling, cheering for each other was the best support I can have,” senior Kyle Brown said. “I would never choose a better team.”

“It feels amazing. I don’t even know how to begin to describe,” senior Chris Hayden said. “Six years of a non-stop grind. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to do this with. I wouldn’t have changed a thing. We got one!”

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