How dominant was Richards junior Ulyssa Garcia in winning the girls bowling state championship?
If she had thrown 20 gutter balls in her 12th and final game, she still would have won the title by five pins. Instead, she rolled a 172 at Cherry Bowl in Machesney Park to win by 177 pins.
“She had a huge lead going into that last game,” Richards coach Ed Fink said of Garcia. “I’m not saying she took off that game, but I just wanted her to have a little fun. It was pretty much set.”
Garcia’s 2,738 total was highlighted by the first six games in the tournament, in which she fired a 1,457 for a 242.8 average.
“Everything went right and nothing went wrong — it felt like a regular tournament for me,” Garcia said of the first two rounds. “I was flabbergasted with what I had done the whole day.
“I was in shock. I knew I could do it because I’ve done it before. But I had been feeling a little down about my performance lately, and winning this makes it a lot better.”
Actually, not everything went right on the first day, either. Her first frames in each of the six games had Fink scratching his head.
“Every first frame, she would not strike,” Fink said of Garcia. “Then she would throw a bunch of strikes. I asked her, ‘Can you just get a first frame with a strike?’ That became a big joke with us.’’
From the area, Lockport finished seventh in the team standings. Lockport sophomore Alyvia Matiasek took third with a 2,512, Morgan Park’s Bree Stewart was 13th with a 2,447 and Andrew’s Emilie Lewis ended up 22nd with a 2,396.
Garcia is the first bowler from Richards to win a state title and the fourth to place at state. Emily Gesell was the last, taking seventh in 2010.
Garcia’s victory gives the area back-to-back titles after Stagg’s Arianna Araujo won in 2024. Araujo, who bowls at Louisiana Tech, and Garcia are friends.
Finishing 31st in the state as a freshman and 30th as a sophomore, Garcia witnessed her friend’s championship last year. Araujo was able to keep up with Garcia’s scores this year via the internet.
“We grew up together and our parents bowled together,” Garcia said of Araujo. “She told me she watched all weekend and how she was proud of me.”
Another connection? Fink and Stagg coach Rich Kowalczyk knew each other in college at Lewis.
“When I took the job at Richards, one of the reasons was to be able to coach against one of my best friends,” Fink said of Kowalczyk.
Garcia originally lived in Chicago before moving to Oak Lawn. She was quite the pleasant surprise to the Bulldogs when she showed up for the tryouts her freshman year.
“She was new to me and I didn’t know her,” Fink said of Garcia. “But when I saw her at tryouts, I was like, ‘Holy cow. Who is this kid?’’’
She wasn’t just a practice wonder as Garcia also performed well during competitions.
She fired a 300 last season in the South Suburban Conference Meet. She followed with a 248 and 259 and finished with an 807. According to the Illinois High School Association records, it’s the fifth-best score state history.
Her six-game outburst in the state preliminaries screamed of consistency, with no score lower than 217 and none higher than 269. Her fifth and sixth games were both 246.
But after her previous finishes during her first two seasons at state, Garcia headed to the Rockford area this winter dreaming big — but not too big.
“I was just thinking about making it to the second day,” Garcia said. “I had a goal for myself to hopefully make it to the top five.
“But winning is a lot better.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
