New boys’ bowling coach announced

 

Boys’ varsity bowling, coming off the most successful season in school history in which eight bowlers were state qualifiers, hired a new head coach when longtime head coach Barry Lapping resigned.  On Sept. 23, it was announced that Cody Mathias would be replacing Lapping.

“[Coach Mathias] is very experienced and is very highly regarded in the bowling community,” Eddie Mendrala ’16 said. “He has a different ideology within the practices, with different specifics on what we are supposed to work on.”

Mathias, a 2013 graduate from Carthage college and sixth overall finisher in the Wisconsin Collegiate Bowling Conference, has plenty of experience. Mathias was also a four-year starter for the club bowling team in which he was named team captain twice. Most recently, he was a volunteer coach at Antioch Community High School near his hometown in Kenosha, WI.

“I personally love to coach whether it is baseball, football or bowling,” Mathias said. “It is something I really enjoy. The biggest thing I want to work on is the mentality with the bowlers; mental game is 90 percent of the sport, and once you conquer your mental toughness, it gives you that boost on other opponents.”

With tryouts on Oct. 26, Stevenson has a solid core of starters, five of them being seniors coming back from state qualification. With these state qualifiers, Mathias looks to these bowlers that can score well into the high 200s for another shot at a state victory.

During the offseason, players have been keeping in tip-top shape in order to make another run at the state title. State qualifier Ted Tapas ‘16, along with participating in a travel league outside of school, also gets individual coaching.
“Just knowing the kids that I’ve seen, I know that this school is phenomenal.” Mathias said.