Spartans Look to Repeat Undefeated Season

After going 12-0 last season, the Spartans, Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity bowling team, were looking to to start off the season with a victory on September 27. In this season-opening match against Louis Brandeis High School at Astoria Bowl, the Spartans won the series, 2-1.

With four players participating in each game for each team, junior Samuel Fang and senior and captain Linpeng Chen led the Spartans with scores of 173 and 155, respectively, paving the way for a 571-539 win in Game A. Senior and captain Ansh Sharma led the Spartans in Game B with a score of 93, followed by junior Erram Labib with a score of 90 to get the win in Game B 333-300. And while the Spartans lost Game C 341-330, the team had already clinched the best-of-three series victory, cruising to a first match victory.

The hopes of another perfect season, however, were dashed in their next match against Hunter College High School. The Spartans lost 2-1, only winning the last game out of three. In Game A, the Spartans narrowly lost 592-569, but in Game B, were beat by a wide margin 434-381. The two bright spots were Chen, who led all players in the match with a 171 in Game A, and Sharma, who scored 135 in Game A and 150 in Game C.

This is a very different team from last season, with only three seniors compared to ten seniors the year before. Not only has the level of experience gone down, but the number of players on the roster has, too. Last year, there were 21 athletes compared to this year’s 11, putting a greater responsibility on each athlete. Chen, Fang, Labib, and Sharma are the only four players that are returning from last year.

Another development for the team was the departure of coach Di Wu from Stuyvesant. Wu was previously a guidance counselor at Stuyvesant and fostered a great team bond and chemistry throughout his tenure as coach. In his place, the Spartans have welcomed a new coach, Mimi Divjak. With a new coach and new players, the Spartans will go through bumps along the road this season as they grow and learn together.

Though the Spartans ran away with the Manhattan I division last year, going 12-0 in the process, this year could prove different. New addition Hunter College High School is off to a 3-0 start and has proven to be a formidable opponent, defeating Stuyvesant already in the second match of the season.

When asked about what he wants to accomplish this season, Chen said, “I would also like to challenge our team to play the best we can, and [I] hope that we can advance through more matches in the playoffs each and every year. I would like to assist the coach and lead the team to a new zenith than that of previous year.” He remained unwaveringly confident despite the new conditions the team found itself in. “I am also trying to promote the growth of the team so that the legacy of being undefeated in the division goes on. I believe that we Spartans are invincible and will never fall apart if we remain united and determined,” he said.