Eric Keppeler '85
Sports Writer
Usually when a bowling team is loaded with seniors, they’re a pretty experienced group.
But what happens when they’re not?
The St. Joe’s bowling team has a few returning seniors this season, but the rest are brand new to the program and they’ll all graduating in a few months, so the team could be in the same situation again next year.
So what’s a coach to do?
“We try to be as competitive as possible and work with the kids to build up their averages and try to get some wins,” said longtime coach Al Simmons, the only coach the program has ever had. “Canisius and St. Francis are again very good, and to beat them would be some kind of chore, but I think we can be competitive with Timon and O’Hara.”
The team has two returning starters in senior four-year vets David Henel and Caleb Hoch, while senior Daniel Piazza is back for his third year.
Freshman Matthew Klein is new, as are seniors Brady Mazur and Liam Kiernan.
Hoch is the team’s captain and anchor bowler.
“Being the team captain, I don’t really feel any pressure – I just try to help the team as best I can. I just encourage them, and if somebody’s doing something wrong, I try and help them out,” Hoch said. “Just keeping the morale up is big. Even if they’re not doing well, it’s OK. You have to keep the energy up because if you’re happy, you bowl better.”
Simmons is joined by assistant coach Matt Kwiatkowski, who came over from Canisius; Simmons has long since retired from teaching math at St. Joe’s, so it is Kwiatkowski who has done the bulk of the recruiting for the program.
He’s rounded up 15 kids total for the program, which is enough to field the varsity squad and two JV teams – but again, there’s not a lot of experience.
“They need the time to develop, every last one of them. Every time we practice, I’m looking to see if there’s somebody that can move up. But they’re mostly inexperienced bowlers, too. None of them have ever bowled before,” Simmons said. “I tell them that they have to stick to it and put in the work. Like today here, I got two extra lanes for practice. We can pull them off to the side and do a little bit more teaching with them.”
The way the Monsignor Martin Athletic Association is set up, the athletes with the top eight averages over the course of the regular season will advance to the Catholic state championships in March.
Hoch figures to be close to qualifying; he was hampered by a bit of a slow start, which has his average in the 150s, although he’s likely to push it up into the 170s or better by the end of the season.
“I’m hoping to push it 180 because this is my senior year and I definitely want to go to states this year,” Hoch said. “Picking up your spares is the biggest thing. Making your spares and getting strikes in between – that’s how you get to 180.”
