Strikes, Spares, and Spartans

The 2025-2026 season saw Stuyvesant’s boys’ bowling team, the Spartans, finish third in the Manhattan Division with a respectable 7-3 record. Despite an early exit in the playoffs, the season gave the Spartans’ young core invaluable experience, which they hope to carry into next year. 

The Spartans began the season with a roster that looked significantly different from last year’s, with multiple rookies taking on starting roles. As junior Leon Orlov described, “[this shift was] a change of pace [that gave] returning members a chance to hone their teaching ability, [which], collectively, made them stronger.” This change also helped the Spartans improve their team chemistry, as younger bowlers were able to learn from and get closer to the more experienced players on the team.

Younger players brought challenges with them as they experienced the growing pains associated with adjusting to varsity, but their promise and potential were valuable assets for the Spartans. Notably, sophomore Eason Chen was able to raise his personal best score from 70 to 185, earning him a spot in multiple B matches. Additionally, sophomore Samuel Chen—in his second season with the Spartans—raised his pinfall average from 78 to 120, landing him a spot at the Manhattan Individuals. Overall, their rapid improvement gave the Spartans crucial depth and showcased that the younger core is developing into a reliable group that the team was able to trust and fall back on in pivotal moments throughout their season. 

As these younger players took on greater roles, returning players like captain Ricky Chen and senior captain Jonathan Yao were called upon to provide leadership. 

Chen led the Spartans to another seven-win season, with a team-high average of 156.33 pins per game. With the team’s turnout fluctuating throughout the season, the Spartans had to rely heavily on their captains; Chen played 12 games in just nine matches. Bowlers typically appear in one game per match in the PSAL, so the team’s reliance on Chen reflects both his importance as a player and the stability he provided for the team when travelling to games without a full roster available. Orlov reported that the team notably struggled with turnout in some games, which explains why some players took on heavier workloads throughout the season. Even with the added playing time, Chen continued to perform at a high level throughout the season, breaking 200 pins in one game, which tied him with Yao for the team’s best regular-season score of  203. “[In Chen’s] first year serving as the full team captain, he grew a lot—both as a leader and as a bowler. The accolades back this up, with Chen winning second place in the Manhattan Individuals and eighth place in the City Individuals, bowling far better than any other in [Tomas’s] tenure,” head coach Lance Tomas said. Chen’s excellent record helped the Spartans in their push to the playoffs.

Yao also delivered a strong season. In 14 games across nine matches in the regular season, he was able to average 152.64 pins per game, which was the second highest on the team. He received high praise from Chen; “Yao improved a lot from last year and hit the team’s highest personal score this year during playoffs, where it mattered the most,” Chen described. Yao’s late-season performances topped off a strong senior year where he cemented himself as one of the team’s standout bowlers.

However, a problem that plagued the Spartans throughout the season was lane conditions. In their first match against the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics (MCSM), the lanes had no oil, which presented a major problem to the team, since most of their bowlers relied heavily on hooking the ball. Hook bowlers depend on the lane’s oil pattern, which helps the ball curve, so the dry lanes make it much more difficult to hit accurate shots. The Spartans struggled and experienced one of their worst totals as a result, leading to a disappointing loss in their first matchup against MCSM. Despite this setback, Spartans were able to bounce back and defeat MCSM in the rematch. The team’s ability to learn and fight through adversity, whether it was from lane conditions or struggles they had early in the season with player turnout, highlighted the growth that was emblematic of their entire season.

A separate example of this growth came in the Spartans’ two games against Hunter College High School. Coach Tomas described the first matchup as “not competitive,” noting that many players struggled to adjust to the pressure of the regular season. However, in the final game of the season, the Spartans were able to push Hunter to a tie-breaking C game. Even though the Spartans lost, the stark difference in performance shows how much they grew as a collective over the season. 

This mirrored coach Tomas’s view of the year; he described the season as one of growth. Tomas explained that the captains Chen and Yao, working with the younger bowlers, led an increase in form as the season progressed. 

The Spartans’ run concluded in a tough playoff exit in the first round against Jamaica High School, where lane conditions and spare pinfall turnover proved to be a formidable challenge. Even with these obstacles, the match produced some of the team’s strongest performances of the year. Yao recorded a season-high score of 222 while Chen had multiple steady frames that kept the Spartans alive to the end of the game. Orlov also noted that junior Justin Yoo’s energy and “glorious motivation” helped keep the team energized and competitive throughout the game. 

Although the Spartans ultimately fell short, the playoff pressure and environment proved to be meaningful for several of the team’s younger bowlers, who gained valuable experience, leaving the game with a clearer understanding of what they needed to improve on for next season. “For a team made up of mostly newer or novice bowlers, they performed very well,” Tomas said. “In our playoff game against Jamaica, those same newer bowlers almost won their B match against athletes whose averages were much higher.” 

Under the stewardship of Chen and Yao, the Spartans showed promising signs and hope to build on this foundation next year, despite the departure of key seniors like Yao. Beyond the records, individual performances, and stats, the Spartans were also able to strengthen their bonds with one another, creating a welcoming and positive environment for players to thrive in. Even after the playoff loss, the team found a way to cherish their last moments together at their “sacred” Popeyes near Jib Lanes. 

Regardless of wins or losses, Popeyes has become a special place to the team. Chen said, “I cherish every dinner and lunch there.” In many ways, that final trip to Popeyes captured everything the Spartans worked so hard for this season, epitomizing the growth they showcased as players and the camaraderie they expressed that made every frame meaningful.