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glenviewlantern.com sports
the glenview lantern | January 24, 2019 | 39
Coach Talk
‘Dear coach’ returns
Jon ‘Coach’ Cohn
Contributing Columnist
Glenview Resident
On a slow, dreary
late January day,
we bring you
another edition of “Dear
Coach,” the not-soaward-winning
advice
column featuring letters
that were not actually
written, but certainly
could have.
We proceed now, with
letter opener in hand.
DEAR COACH: What
has been your favorite
column to research and
write so far? Signed:
Slow Day, Just Wondering
DEAR SLOW AND
WONDERING: Great
question; tough one
though. That’s like
choosing which of your
children you like the
best. I mean, how do you
separate covering Loyola
football championship
success, observing all
the great youth sports
programs Glenview
has, learning about new
sports I knew nothing
about such as gymnastics
or Titan Poms or even
writing about physical
education teachers who
have given so much for
so long to our town (Dave
Jones, Mark Daniels,
Bill Norberg. etc). I have
enjoyed writing them all,
but really, for true inspiration
and human interest
how can you compete
with the recent “Squirrel
Appreciation Day” story.
I am still recovering from
that one.
DEAR COACH: Love
the other stuff, but why
no coverage of arguably
Glenview’s greatest claim
to fame, our beloved
Wagner Farms? You have
written about many of the
other parks and natural
resources in Glenview,
why the “pay no mind”
about our wonderful
farm? Signed: I’d Rather
Be Milking A Cow, Than
Watching Baseball
Dear Cow Milk Man:
First of all, on behalf of
the cow, I hope you milk
him/her faster than the
game of baseball moves.
Secondly, Wagner Farms
is on my hit list for 2019,
so stay tuned.
DEAR COACH: How
do you beat the winter
blues? Signed: Stuck In
A Rut
DEAR STUCK: I feel
your pain, bro. Well actually,
not really. I am writing
this response letter
from Florida, so I guess
that kind of answers your
question. Add in watching
basketball, and a new
season of “This Is Us”
and I think I can make it
through.
DEAR COACH: What
is one activity or sport
you haven’t tried yet in
Glenview that you might
want to? Signed: Longing
For New Ventures
DEAR LONGING:
Another tough one. I
have ruled a few out
recently. Skateboarding
at Community Park West,
and trying the climbing
wall at one of our
local schools would be
amongst the forgotten
goals. Throw spinning
and Zumba class in that
same category. What’s
left? I may join the growing
numbers of seniors
playing Pickleball at The
Park Center weekday
mornings. That’s just the
kind of wild and crazy
guy I am.
DEAR COACH: I
have been taking Yoga
classes in Glenview for
awhile and really enjoy
it. It has helped both
my mental and physical
well-being. I have gained
confidence and an all-new
perspective on life. The
only problem is, we now
have a new instructor
for the class and I have
developed a serious crush
on her. Makes it very
hard for me to concentrate
on activities at hand.
I am trying hard to get
back on track, but so far
nothing is working. Any
advice? Signed: In An
Awkward Position
DEAR AWKWARD
POSITION: Oh no you
don’t. I’m not going
down that road again. I
got in trouble with my
last advice column with
the kid with a crush on
his gym teacher. You’re
on your own here my
man, but maybe an ice
cold glass of water and
a few Kum Ba Yah”s
before class might help.
Cohn has been a coach,
physical education teacher,
sports announcer and athletic
supervisor in the community
for over 35 years. He
can be reached at jcsportsandtees@aol.com.
Boys Bowling
Tomasiello represents
Loyola at sectional meet
Chris Walker
Freelance Reporter
Chicago resident Jonathan
Tomasiello was the
lone representative for
Loyola Academy at the
IHSA sectional meet in
Woodridge on Saturday,
Jan. 19, but he represented
the Ramblers well.
The freshman scored a
965 (161 average), which
included a game high of a
180. There were seven individuals
who advanced
and Tomasiello was 253
pins off the pace as Argo’s
Noah Koulouris snagged
the final qualifier.
“I thought he did pretty
well,” Ramblers coach
Chuck Halfpap said. “He
only averaged 149 in the
Chicago Catholic League
and then had a 175 average
in the regional so to
average about a 160 here is
a pretty good accomplishment.”
Loyola Academy hasn’t
qualified a kid to state since
Tom Madrecki and Jimmy
Boratyn went in 2006.
Tomasiello hadn’t
bowled competitively three
months ago.
“I had bowled with my
dad several times, but
not competitively,” he
said. “It’s only been three
months. I didn’t think I
was going to be as good as
I am.”
He was pretty good on
Saturday.
“I felt like I did good, but
I felt like I could do better,”
he said. “The goal was to
average around 200.”
Ryan Torf didn’t think
he was going to bowl for
Glenbrook North.
But the sophomore got
his name called for the
sixth and final game and
he delivered big-time, firing
a 227, the team’s thirdhighest
score of the day and
enough to lift the Spartans
to sixth place and qualify
to the state finals on Jan.
25-26 at St. Clair Bowl in
O’Fallon.
“Everyone was doing
well the entire tournament
so I didn’t think I
was going in,” Torf said.
“(Coach Todd) Rubin said
he thought I should go in
and I think I bowled my
best game in a while. It was
very cool.”
GBN may have only
been eight pins off the pace
of fifth-place Notre Dame,
but Lyons was the team to
worry about most in the
end. Only the six teams
with the highest pin count
for both rounds in the sectional
advance to the state
tournament. Situated in
sixth place, that meant the
Spartans had a date at state
for the third consecutive
year. For Lyons, it meant it
was time to turn allow their
bowling shoes to go into hibernation.
Even with Torf’s strong
game, the Spartans still
only outlasted Lyons by 89
pins. Lyons actually gained
295 pins on GBN over the
course of the final three
games, but it still wasn’t
enough to catch them.
“I was beginning to get
afraid that we wouldn’t
make it,” senior Jared Kuper
said. “Our coach says
there’s no defense in bowling
so with one game left I
told my teammates that this
could be the end so we have
to bowl the best game we
possible can. It was good
enough and one of our subs
(Torf), who didn’t bowl the
entire day, had a 227 and
brought so much energy to
the team.”
Getting to state again
was far from a given with
this group.
“We lost some seniors
so it was supposed to be
a down year, but we had
some guys come in and fill
those spots,” Kuper said.
“We saw the scores from
regionals so we felt like we
had a good shot of making
it again but then the lanes
dried up and it was tough
to pick up spares toward
the end of the day. So we
had to battle through some
adversity to get to state
again.”
Kuper led the Spartans
with 1,215 pins and was
followed by Logan Cohn
(1,168) and Jacob Paterkiewicz
(1,150) as the
team’s only three kids to
compete in all six games.
Tibor Klein bowled in the
first five and had a high of
211 in Game 4 but slipped
to a 146 in Game 5. Robbie
Weiland also appeared
in three games, concluding
with his game of the day
in Game 6 with a 202. Eliot
Kang also fired in three
games, averaging a 163.
“I’m so glad to be able
to go back for a third year,”
Kuper said. “This team was
a little iffy and we’ve been
up and down, but I feel
we’ve come together and
now have another shot at it.
I want to go out with a bang
and we’ve never gotten to
Saturday’s final before.”
New Trier was more than
400 pins off the pace of
Glenbrook North, placing
eighth with a 5,269.