Troy High bowling goes from coaching vacancy to top-end program

TROY — Heading into the school year, Troy High School was prepared to not have a bowling season at all. Now, the school is ranked in both its boys and girls programs, with regionals looming.

Head coach Dave Harris was hired in October, well after the school year began, and yet Troy’s bowling program is in fantastic shape. The boys team has one of the better bowlers in the state and was ranked just outside the top five in the January Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association Division 1 rankings, with the girls also ranked among the top-10 teams.

“It’s been a little bit of controlled chaos,” Harris said. “I graduated from Troy High School in 1993… When Jacob said, ‘We don’t have a coach; we’re not going to have a season,’ I said, ‘Let me see if I can help out.’… So I took on the role.”

Jacob Kondratyev, the student who reached out, is also one of the best bowlers in Michigan. Going into the school year, there was a real worry he wouldn’t have any way of showcasing his talent.

“Three to four weeks before the season even started my athletic director called me in,” Kondratyev said. “She said, ‘We have no one lined up right now.’ I’m under this impression that I may not even have a season.”

From Kondratyev’s perspective, the way things have turned out is “truly a blessing.”

Kondratyev is committed to bowl at Lawrence Tech next year, which, according to Harris, is the No. 1 bowling team in the country.

Harris stated that Kondratyev led the Oakland Activities Association with a 218  average score last season. He is over 220 this year, according to Harris.

Troy’s season has allowed Kondratyev  to not only showcase his talent, but also be a leader and bond with the team outside of the lanes.

“When I’m at a match or a tournament, if I need somebody to mark out or strike out to win it, I want the ball in his hands. There’s nobody else that I want to throw a shot that matters,” Harris said. “Not only is he the best bowler, but he’s able to lead… He’s just a phenomenal leader.”

The girls program has also been producing at an incredible rate this year. According to Harris, four of the team’s five girls have bowled a 200 this season, with Peytyn Herron up for Bowler of the Year.

“Highest scorer (for the girls team) is 236 by Peytyn,” Harris said. “She’s got, I think, a 175 average. She’s having a really solid year and is our anchor bowler. Then I’ve got three seniors to help carry us a little bit… like Ellie Pfauth, who does bowl anchor sometimes.”

Regionals are coming up this weekend and the Troy program is preparing by bowling as much as it possibly can. The team has top-to-bottom talent, with other contributors like Adeline Alex, Joey Lindholm, Ethan Fischer, and more.

“The expectation right now is that we go to regionals, we get that top-two spot, and we go to states at Thunderbowl,” Kondratyev said. “It’s not something we came into the season thinking, but I think that’s something that’s truly reality now.”

In a program that’s filled with talent, one of the most noticeable distinctions of Troy’s teams is the attitude of the program’s bowlers. Perhaps it’s due to being grateful that the teams even exist, but everyone is rooting for each other and putting the team first.

“The thing that’s really different about our team, at Troy High, specifically, is that we’re all so close,” Kondratyev said. “We all talk to each other and come up with different ideas. I think that’s something that’s very different about our team… That’s what helped us become really successful this year.”

For a season that wasn’t even supposed to happen, aside from merely being able to participate, Troy has become a dangerous team that’s on the rise. Although no one would have expected it back in September, both the boys and girls will head to Regional 5 and attempt to make a run at states.

“This season has gone way above not only mine, but I think everybody else’s expectations,” Kondratyev said. “Troy bowling right now just has a lot going for them. It’s just awesome.”

Boys and girls regionals are being held Feb. 19-22, with both Troy teams playing at Century Lanes in Waterford Township. The Division 1 bowling state finals are February 28-March 1 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park.