L-P girls bowling hopes to win ‘the whole dang thing’

The La Salle-Peru girls bowling team set a goal to return to the state tournament this season for the third time in the past four years after missing out last winter.

With that goal achieved, the Cavaliers have others in mind this weekend at the IHSA state tournament at Cherry Bowl in Rockford.

“We talked at practice about having multileveled goals,” first-year L-P coach Aaron Guenther said. “Their season goal was to make state: check. Now our next goal is to make Saturday. Once that goal is reached, we have the ultimate goal of winning the whole dang thing. We have the talent to check off all of those goals. The question is will we be able to remain mentally resilient throughout the entire tournament and allow ourselves to maximize our talent.”

The tournament begins at 9 a.m. Friday. The field begins with 24 teams along with 30 individual qualifiers.

“State will be very challenging,” L-P junior Kamryn Oscepinski said. “There’s a lot of great teams, but I believe we’re a great team, and I think we can do great.”

After Friday’s six games, the field gets cut to 24 teams and 30 individuals not on an advancing team. L-P had the ninth-best pin total during sectionals at 5,609. Joliet West had the best sectional score at 5,927.

“Resilience, positivity and teamwork [are the keys to success],” Guenther said. “The ball isn’t always going to react the way we want it to, the pins won’t always fall how they should, and it won’t always be easy to maintain a high energy level. But if we fight through the tough moments as a team, we have the physical talent to compete with any team in the state.”

The Cavs showed resilience at the Oregon Sectional when they jumped from 10th place after one game and eighth place after four games into fourth place to earn the final team state berth.

“Starting as low as we did, we really had to work to earn our state berth,” Guenther said. “Coaches put in a little more effort, parents put in a little more effort, and the players put in a lot more effort. Their resilience was incredible, and it was awesome to see them have fun for the first time that day. I think discovering what exactly our highest potential was unlocked something in the girls, and hopefully that success continues this week.”

Although L-P did not qualify for state last season, the Cavs do have a few players with state experience.

Senior Anna Ricci bowled all 12 games at state in 2023 as a sophomore, helping L-P place sixth. Senior Camryn Perra bowled three games and Oscepinski rolled five games during L-P’s last state appearance.

“I think the experience factor is something that can’t be replicated,” Guenther said. “Anna, Camryn and Kamryn have all gotten a taste of what state is and hopefully they’re able to help the younger ones throughout the tournament. Having been there already, they know what to expect and how to navigate those waters. Relying on their experience is going to be key for our success.”