The D219 Co-Op bowling team shocked the bowling community as it ventured to O’Fallon, IL this past weekend to compete against the elite bowling teams of IHSA.

The coaches and team members did not really expect much because they knew that the bowling field in Illinois had a lot of good youth bowlers. They were all in it for the experience of a  high school team. Little did they know that they would be the ones to beat plenty of teams in regionals, sectionals and advance to state.

Junior Scott Hirsch said, “It was really tough battling it out with other schools but at the end we did what we were good at and managed to shut out  a team that was well known at state.”

The squad was able to place 4th at regionals and sectionals, beating teams that have had the program running for years. This made them the “underdogs” and really caught the eye of the crowd.

Their experience at state was a learning experience for the team. They faced schools that had all of their team members averaging over a 200 and kids that also ranked nationally. Although they did advance to the second day they definitely made it clear that they would be back next year.

Senior Daniel Ullenbrauck said ” The board rejected our team twice. The program almost did not even exist. I promised them we would make it to state and we did. Our job was done and that is thanks to my team. The program wouldn’t be this successful without them.”

Go Vikings, and congratulations to the bowling team on such a successful season.