The 2017-2018 bowling team after Regional play: (back row, from left) Coach Todd Bourgeois ’88, junior Jake Stiegler, junior Bradley Fugetta, senior Alex Barron, senior Gerard Miller, senior Mason French, junior Alex O’Neil, Assistant Coach Chris McCabe, (front row, from left) pre-freshman Brennan Barry, junior Adam Francis, junior Grant Greco, senior Trent Greco, pre-freshman Luke Wood and freshman Ben Hunn

The All-Star Lanes in Kenner lit up blue as the Jesuit Varsity Bowling team bowled their way to victory at the New Orleans Regional Bowling Tournament this past Monday, March 19. Jesuit took all three games against Rummel with a score of 21-6.

The Blue Jays came out hot against the Rummel Raiders in game one. With four out of the six bowlers outscoring their opponents, the Jays nabbed the two bonus points for a total of six points out of a possible eight. Junior Adam Francis and senior Alex Barron led the team with 227 and 205 games, respectively. Seniors Alex O’Neil and Trent Greco and junior Jake Stiegler followed closely, with O’Neil and Stiegler both bowling a 194, and Greco hitting a 192 game.

The competition watch as junior Jake Stiegler bowls his way to a strike.

Outscoring Rummel by 152 pins, the Jesuit bowlers really hit their stride in game two, winning five of the six matches. Freshmen Ben Hunn picked up major speed, scoring a 234 game. Also scoring a 234 game was Stiegler who finished out his frames with a back string of strikes–striking in frames 8 and 9 and ending with a turkey (three strikes in a row) in the tenth. Not far behind, Barron racked up a 232 game with a 5-bagger (five strikes in a row), while Francis and Greco bowled a 193 and 195 game, respectively. Jesuit grabbed the two bonus points again, winning 7-1 and heading into the third game up by 270 pins.

The Jays and Raiders were neck-and-neck in the third game of the match, each seeing wins from three bowlers. Stiegler bowled 231 with Hunn on his heels, bowling a 211. By the end of the match, three Jesuit bowlers topped the 600 mark –Barron (613), Hunn (617), and Stiegler (659)– and two topped the 500 mark –Greco (556) and Francis (579). Jesuit outpaced Rummel by over 296 pins, capturing all the available bonus points and solidifying a Jesuit win by 3474 pins to Rummel’s 3178.

The victory was a true team effort. Behind the scenes were pre-freshmen Brennan Barry and Luke Wood diligently recording scores and pins missed. The alternates seniors Mason French and Gerard Miller and juniors Bradley Fugetta and Grant Greco also aided the team by keeping spirits high and cheering on their teammates from the sidelines.

The Blue Jays (9-4) will advance to the bi-regional tournament next Tuesday, March 27, at All-Star Lanes in Kenner starting at 11:00 a.m. In addition, juniors Jake Stiegler and Alex O’Neil and seniors Alex Barron and Trent Greco have qualified to participate as singles on the state level, advancing to the State Championship Singles Tournament on April 6th in Baton Rouge.

View the Photo Gallery from the Regional Tournament