Boys Bowling Spares No One on Path to Playoffs

The bowling team faced Murrow in an intense match on October 17. Photo: Alden Lee

By AMMAR ALI and ALDEN LEE

After starting the season strong with a five game winning streak, the Boys Bowling team hit a few snags before wrapping up the year with a 7-2 record, good enough for second in the league and a playoff spot.

The team will be looking to regain its winning ways from early on, as their last full match was a 1-2 loss to the Scholars Academy on October 19 at Funfest Lanes.

The team faced a devastating defeat in the A-game, trailing by over 150 points. This forced the B-team to step up to serve as a lifeline, and they came though, totaling 463 points to 403 by Scholars, bringing Midwood back in the game. Team captain and B-team anchor Michael Farfan ‘23 said the B-squad “brought good energy to the team. It got our hopes back up for the tie-breaking C-game.”

However, despite the team’s best efforts, they didn’t have enough to close the gap. The team put up an impressive 547 points, but were outperformed by their rival, who bowled 648. “Scholars Academy has more technical bowlers than us, and that caused them to out-edge us just by a little bit,” said senior Nafis Uddin. “Our team played their part, and we didn’t give up without a fight. We weren’t as well equipped as them this time, but sooner or later, we’ll get there.”

Korey Yuen ‘25, who bowled a career high 171 just two days before against Murrow, partially blamed the loss on his own lack of experience. “I need to grow on how consistent I am,” he said, after scoring only 92 points in the A-game.

This year, the team had a lot of first time players who were filling in the gaps left by last year’s graduating seniors. “We lost over half our teammates from the previous season, which put us under a lot of pressure because we had to make sure all the newcomers were properly trained,” Farfan said. “As the captain, the team’s morale and training were my responsibility. I had to make sure they were prepared for the games both physically and mentally.”

Muhammad Rizwan ‘23, who only started bowling this year, considers the captain to be his role model. “Michael would encourage me to take it slow and bowl my best while helping me make adjustments to my form,” he said. “He was supportive of me whether I bowled well or did poorly.”

Despite the team's recent setbacks, they continue to look optimistically toward the playoffs. “Last year was more intimidating than this year because of the bigger numbers being displayed on the screen,” Yuen said. During the last match played in the previous season, the rival team set a daring target of 715. This year, the team had yet to fathom such a score.

Everything the team experienced so far has helped bring improvements to their game. Each play was a learning moment for them. Now, with their eyes on the chip, they’re taking that drive into the playoffs. To keep the team’s good energy, they live by their motto: “Spares and strikes are all we like!”