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the new lenox patriot | January 30, 2020 | 37
Girls Bowling
4
LW West again takes second in SWSC
JOE BIELANSKI
Freelance Reporter
Lockport ran away with
its fourth straight South-
West Suburban Conference
title, but Lincoln-Way
West also pulled away in
the battle for second place.
The Warriors finished
with 5,085 pins over six
games, well behind Lockport
(5,702), but solidly
ahead of third-place Lincoln-Way
East (4,833).
Andrew (4,803) and Lincoln-Way
Central (4,456)
rounded out the top five in
the nine-team event Saturday,
Jan. 25, at Bowlero in
Woodridge.
West was led by three
bowlers in the top 10.
Mackenzie Ullian (4th,
1,158), Olivia Daujatas
(8th, 1,031) and Hailee
Hospodar (10th, 1,002)
took home all-conference
honors for the Warriors.
Lockport's Chloe Siezega
won the individual title
with 1,238.
West coach Scott Ullian,
Kenzie’s father, was proud
of the way his team fought
and found themselves in
second.
“We have had a great
year all year,” he said. “It
was a tough [oil] pattern
out here today.
“I felt that our team
chemistry today was really
good, too. That is going
to be important moving
forward. That is what we
need. We’re just going to
keep doing what we do
and go on to regionals and
hopefully sectionals.”
The top competition of
the Southwest Suburban
Conference has helped prepare
the Warriors as they
move deeper into postseason
play. Coach Ullian
credits the conference with
helping his athletes become
the best that they can be.
“Lockport is always in
the mix and near the top
of our conference,” Ullian
said. “They have a very
deep program. We came to
this meet last year and finished
second and finished
second today. More than
that, I’m happy with how
the girls finished. We started
slow and came back to
have a better second half
than first.”
Mackenzie Ullian was
the highest finisher of
the day not in a Lockport
uniform. While finishing
fourth and taking home
all-conference honors is a
great achievement, Ullian
isn’t ready for the time
with her team to end.
“I’m more focused on
the team making it [to state]
than individually,” Ullian
said. “It is a lot more fun
qualifying as a team than
individually. It’s an added
bonus when you have the
support and can give it to
everyone on the team.”
Megan Kukulka (972)
also bowled all six games
for West, while Lexi Picicco
scored 662 over four
games and Leah Zack totaled
260 in two games.
The Lincoln-Ways will
not have to worry about
Lockport at regionals, as
they will all compete in the
Joliet Central Regional at
Crest Hill Lanes on Feb. 8.
Marianna Hristakos
(tied for 17th, 961) led
Lincoln-Way Central.
Abby Nolan (950), Livia
Zolnierowicz (944), Lauren
Davern (852) and
Kloie Bautz (749) rounded
out the Knights’ lineup.
“We finished in fifth and
I keep telling our girls that
only the top four move on
from regionals,” Paulsen
said. “So, this meet was a
builder, helps us get some
momentum going into regionals.
Unfortunately,
I’m disappointed, but we
have two weeks to get better.”
It was a tough conference
battle, and the road
does not get easier from
here.
“I think that being a part
of the Southwest Suburban
Conference is to our advantage,”
Paulsen said.
“It shows that we can
compete. We are in a very
tough regional, too. We
have Lincoln-Way West,
Minooka and Joliet West.
So, we’re going to have to
bring our A-game to make
it out as a team. It does
make us better by playing
better competition.”
Wrestling
Boersma wins CCL title, leads Celtics to fourth
TIM O’BRIEN
Freelance Reporter
Ryan Boersma had come
up empty through two periods
of the Catholic League
championship match at 285
pounds.
But all the while, the
Providence Catholic sophomore
knew he needed
to keep pushing. His opponent
would eventually
make a mistake.
In a defensive-minded
struggle, Boersma capitalized
early in the third period
with a takedown and
fall out of nowhere in 5
minutes, 3 seconds as he
won the Chicago Catholic
League heavyweight title
on Saturday, Jan. 25, in
New Lenox.
Boersma won the
220-pound title as a freshman.
“I was looking for a takedown
the first two periods,
but I couldn’t find anything,”
Boersma said. “It’s
waiting for your chance as
well as getting him tired
and wearing him down so
you can really put the hammer
down when you need
to.”
Led by Boersma’s firstplace
finish, host Providence
Catholic (155 points)
finished fourth behind
Montini (373), Mount Carmel
(322.5) and Marmion
Academy (222.5).
It was Providence’s third
straight fourth-place finish
at the CCL tournament.
As for Boersma, the
6-foot-6 sophomore continued
his season-long tear
as he improved to 35-1.
He qualified for state last
year at 220 but is looking
to do more damage the second
time around.
“I’m definitely feeling
good,” Boersma said. “I’m
looking forward to the next
couple of weeks. I want to
win state. I need to keep attacking
and keep pushing
the pace.”
Kevin Countryman (31-
6) defeated Fenwick’s
David Capron with a tight
3-2 decision to clinch third
place. He lost his opening
match of the day to Capron,
a fall in 1:51, but advanced
through the wrestlebacks to
exact some revenge in the
third-place match.
“It’s okay, I could have
done a little better,” Countryman
said. “I got caught
my first match. I feel okay
with today. You’ve got to
wrestle through everything.
If you need to bounce
back, you’ve got to bounce
back.”
As the Celtics prep to
compete in the deep Lockport
Regional on Feb. 8,
Countryman knows his
route to a third straight
state trip is no joke, but he’s
ready for the challenge.
“I’m thinking about
getting down to state and
wrestling my best,” Countryman
said. “I know who
I have in front of me, who
I have to beat and what to
work on. I want to get on
that award stand.”
4
Providence sophomore Ryan Boersma, pictured competing
in the Illini Classic, won the Catholic League championship
at 285 pounds. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTO
Other top six finishers for
the Celtics included sophomores
Billy Meiszner (106
pounds) and Ian Maguire
(195), and junior Jack
Bruno (152) in fourth,
junior Kaden Bray (160)
and sophomore Liam Mc-
Dermott (182) in fifth, and
senior Blain Ramirez (132)
and freshman Andrew
Fitzgerald (113) in sixth.
As the Celtics battled
some serious injuries,
Reynolds knows the performance
could have been
stronger. He hopes his
lineup takes a tough day to
heart going forward.
“We took some lessons
from today’s tournament,”
Reynolds said. “We didn’t
have a great first round, but
we came back and wrestled
well. We’ll go back to the
drawing board, look at
some film and fix some
small areas and techniques
and get ready for regionals.”