All good bowlers have plenty of stories to tell from “way back when.”
Bryan Thompson already has one that’ll be pretty tough to top — and he’s only 23.
The Chicago native carries a hefty 228 average in his Friday night men’s league at Palos Lanes, but that number pales in comparison to what he achieved in one weekend in 2006 as a freshman at Brother Rice.
Thompson and the Crusaders qualified for state. He had posted the fourth-lowest pinfall total on the team at the sectional and was carrying a 205 average going into finals weekend.
His first series at state was impressive, with scores of 213, 234 and 221. In the second round he went 258, 223 and 182.
“I just wanted to bowl the best I could,” Thompson said. “I had no idea what would happen. I was just grateful to start as a freshman.”
The next day brought something nobody expected.
Brother Rice went on to finish fifth in the state, but Thompson stole the show. His third-round series was a 244, 289 and 289. He closed with a 259, 227 and 246. His average for the weekend: 240.
“I just got lined up and locked in,” Thompson said. “I was able to keep repeating shots over and over. It was really fun.”
Thompson and the team qualified for state all four years he was at Brother Rice. In the individual competition, he finished 32nd as a sophomore, fifth as a junior and eighth as a senior.
He went on to bowl at St. Ambrose, where he was the inaugural team’s high-average bowler and earned all-tournament honors.
“I definitely improved because of college bowling,” Thompson said. “College bowling is the best tool anybody can use. You bowl on a ton of different patterns that are super challenging.”
Thompson’s first adult league was at Fox Bowl in Wheaton, the year after he graduated from St. Ambrose. His first team won the league title.
“The talent was a little bit better, that’s for sure,” he said. “There was a lot more competition, and the scores were consistently higher. But you got to bowl for cash.”
And drink beer.
“Yeah. I don’t drink, though,” he said, laughing.
Morgan Flaherty of New Lenox is still a couple of years away from her first adult league, but the 19-year-old sophomore from the University of St. Francis is averaging 200 in her Saturday morning junior/majors league at Laraway Lanes.
She has a pretty special bowling story to tell as well. In February 2012, as a junior at Lincoln-Way West, she became the first West athlete to win a state individual title and the first Southland female to win a state bowling crown in two decades.
Flaherty was a high 190-average bowler at West that season before catching fire and earning a berth at state.
She was a force on state finals weekend, stringing together games on the first day of 201, 247, 241, 221, 242 and 278. Carrying a 238.3 average into Saturday’s third and fourth rounds, she continued her dominance with a 215, 254, 217, 239 and 231.
Then came her last game, a 178.
“I wasn’t sure where I was at in the standings,” she said. “I remember not knowing what was going to happen, having that last game as low as it was. But then when I turned around and my coach I was good, it was a moment of relief.”
Flaherty was on the first St. Francis women’s bowling team, which just missed making it to nationals. She’ll have three more chances to get the Saints there before turning her attention to league bowling.
“I’m going to try,” she said. “Bowling is just my happy place.”
