A wild ride on the lanes

Evergreen Park junior Maggie Suchoski had a Friday the 13th to remember at the Girls State Bowling Finals, taking part in one of the craziest scenarios the tournament has ever had.

Suchoski had finished her six games and thought she had been eliminated in heartbreaking fashion. She knew she had totaled 1,108 pins, but had not been announced as being among the individual bowlers to advance to Saturday's final two rounds.

The Friday competition had been completed at 3 p.m. Around an hour later, Suchoski and Evergreen Park coach Bruce Scholtens were still at the lanes waiting for a copy of the complete results.

"I wanted to know how far I was from the qualifying number," Suchoski said. "Everyone was telling me I missed it by just a few pins. So we were just waiting there when the Rich Central and Evergreen Park coaches were called to the counter."

A scoring error had been discovered, resulting in the disqualification of one of the advancing bowlers. Minutes later, Suchoski learned that she and Rich Central senior Khrystal Richardson had tied for the final qualifying spot and were going to take part in the first rolloff in IHSA history.

The problem was, nobody could find Richardson. She had already left the lanes to go back to her hotel. By the time tournament officials could reach Rich Central coach Rudy Fisher and get Richardson to come back to the lanes, it was nearly 6 p.m.

"I did have one advantage," Suchoski said. "She was in the shower when they called her. So she had to get ready and come all the way back, while I was there waiting.

"But I was still freaking out. I was shaking. If I'd have had food in my stomach, I'd have thrown up. I was so nervous."

Suchoski would soon find out she had another advantage.

When Richardson returned, it was without her bowling balls. Her mother had them in her car and was well on her way home. Richardson had to use a teammate's ball for a two-frame (9th and 10th), winner-take-all match.

Could it have been that simple? Of course not. They wound up in a tie after the first rolloff, resulting in a repeat.

This time, Suchoski threw four strikes in a row and emerged as the survivor.

Now that's crazy.

"Yeah, for the most part," Suchoski said, laughing. "You go from being hopeful to just make it and finding out you didn't make it. Then you find out you have to bowl again.

"But after I won it, my coach and I were ecstatic. He was running around the hotel telling everyone what happened."

Mom and Dad, meanwhile, missed all the fun.

"My parents were like, 'Well, you didn't make it so we're just going to go to Burger King,' " Suchoski said. "I knew they weren't going to make it back in time so I didn't call them. I wanted to tell them in person (at the hotel) and see their faces."

Suchoski bowled well Saturday and improved from 68th overall to 50th -making her one of the biggest movers in the standings from Friday to Saturday. She averaged 189.8 for her 12 games. Among her high games for the weekend were 228, 223, 206 and 200.

"I had a lot of fun," Suchoski said. "Everyone was afraid I'd be really nervous. When my nerves get to me I do pretty bad. But I stayed pretty chilled out, even though it was kind of overwhelming to bowl and then turn around and see that there isn't an inch of space not taken up by someone. It's so crowded!"

Another Southlander, Richards senior Ashley Tenerelli, closed her career by finishing 41st, a significant improvement over her 55th-place finish in 2008.

Tenerelli averaged 197.8 and had games of 218, 217 and 212 Friday. She added games of 223, 205 and 204 Saturday, finishing the weekend with a 192.9 average.

Tony Baranek can be reached at tbaranek@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5947.