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The Facebook post on the Evanston Township High School account on Dec. 21 was straightforward: “Anthony Swanson (2027) bowled a perfect 300 game for the Kits at today’s Tom Cat Classic Tournament!” followed by an emoji of a bowling ball and two tiny pins.
You can watch the moment in this 50-second clip.
In the video, Anthony positions himself in front of the lane. “As soon as I released the ball, I knew it was good,” he says as he celebrates with his coaches and teammates.
ETHS bowling
For those unfamiliar with bowling, each game lasts 10 frames. A frame is a single turn. Each player gets two chances within each frame to roll a ball down the lane to knock down 10 pins. A strike is when all 10 pins are knocked down with the first ball within that frame. A perfect game is when a player rolls 12 strikes in a row.
The ETHS boys’ bowling team practices at Classic Bowl in Morton Grove. ETHS has bowling lanes in the basement of the school, but they are old and in disrepair. Sophomore Anthony is a member of the varsity team, which also includes Kaelexx Oats, Augie Ommen, Miles Gieraltowski, Michael Conroy and Shane Asbra.
The varsity team regularly practices with the junior varsity team, who also participated in the tournament. Harold Bailey is the team’s head coach. Dale Leibforth, Steve Bridges, Mark Whitman and Jake Rubin are assistant coaches.
Big tournament win
The Tom Cat Classic is more commonly known as the Glenbard Boys Varsity Invitational Tournament. Each team must complete six games using five players per game. The ETHS team won the tournament against 15 other boys’ teams. Anthony’s perfect game was in the second game.
Assistant coach Leibforth said, “This was the first regular season tournament win for the boys’ varsity bowling team in the school’s history. Currently the team has 10 wins and four losses. If we make it to state finals, the season could last until early February.”
This was Anthony’s first perfect game in a tournament, but not his first perfect game ever. That game occurred in 2022 when he was 14.
At the Glenbard tournament, he came in first place out of 80 tournament players. His cumulative score was 1385 points for an average of 231 points per game. His teammate Michael Conroy came in second with a total cumulative score of 1367; his best score was 288 in the fifth game.
Anthony’s perfect games is only the second perfect game bowled by a member of the boys’ bowling team during a game or a tournament. (There have been a few in practices.) The first student to do so was Clayton Krasinski on Dec. 1, 2022.
At the tournament
Stephanie Kimmel, Michael Conroy’s mother, was in the crowd that day. In an email, she provided a “I was there” description of what it was like to watch Anthony bowl that final frame.
“It was incredible to be there to see Anthony’s first 300 in a competition,” she said. “The crowd got very quiet while everyone gathered around to watch the last frames, and then when he released the last ball, the cheering just erupted! To have it followed up three games later by Michael’s 288 and to see how well the entire team bowled that day to take first place was really special,” Kimmel said.
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Anthony said he’s had games where he made six strikes in a row, and then he’ll mess up on the seventh turn. But he focused and delivered the seventh and eighth strikes. “That’s when I thought that maybe this time would be different,” he said.
Coach Bailey was nearby working with the junior varsity team. He kept checking on Anthony’s progress. He said, “I was not worried. I knew he could do it. His bowling was consistent. He had a lot of focus and concentration. Anthony practices a lot outside of the team. By the ninth frame, I moved over to where the varsity team was, but stayed out of his way.”
Charlotte Swanson was there to cheer for and support Anthony. She said, “He makes it look easy, which of course, it isn’t. The team is so close and they are really talented. I’m so glad I was there. I’m happy for Anthony and happy for the team.”
Nuances of his game
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The RoundTable spoke to Anthony via a Zoom call on Dec. 26 about the subtle changes in each game he bowls.
“The bowling balls are all different and they do different things,” said Anthony. “It’s just like a golfer who has different clubs for different types of shots.”
He said for most tournaments, he’ll bring three to six bowling balls. His teammates do the same. Some players like to use plastic grips that are in the finger holes of the bowling ball. (He does not, but that’s just his preference.) A two-handed release only requires two finger holes instead of the typical three. Of the six varsity players on the ETHS team, four use the two-handed technique.
Currently Anthony has 16 or 17 bowling balls that are in his active rotation. He has another dozen or so that don’t have holes yet, mostly as a result of participating in tournaments that offer bowling balls as part of the entry package or as prizes. When it’s time to refine or add the holes in his bowling ball, he favors a pro shop in Mundelein. Anthony tries to visit the pro shop about once a month for maintenance or if he’s going to start using a new bowling ball.
It’s important to properly place and maintain the finger holes. Sometimes a bowler’s hand or fingers grow. Anthony said his right arm is more muscular than his left arm.
A bowling ball that is used regularly by competitive bowlers typically has a useful lifespan of about 12 to 18 months even with regular maintenance. Lanes have oils and dirt on them, so the wear and tear on equipment is considerable even with regular lane cleaning and ball cleaning.
Getting started with bowling
Growing up, Anthony didn’t pay much attention to bowling except for attending the occasional bowling-themed birthday party. He started bowling during the summer of 2019 when he was about to enter sixth grader. That summer, his mom purchased a “summer special” advertised by Bowlero in Mount Prospect that allowed Anthony, his brother, and both parents to play three games for free every day. Bowling became a family activity.
Charlotte Swanson, Anthony’s mom, explained why she signed the family up for bowling. “Bowling is fun,” she said. “It’s a team sport. Peter, our older son, was going to be starting at ETHS that fall. When he was younger, he had tried baseball, soccer, lacrosse and basketball and didn’t really ‘take’ to any of them. I wanted to expose him to bowling so that if he had any interest in joining the team at ETHS, he wouldn’t be starting from zero. Anthony came along too, but as it turned out, he was the one who really got into it.”
Her logic paid off: Peter, a musician, was good enough to play on the ETHS varsity bowling team his freshman and sophomore years. (He later dropped bowling to pursue his musical interests.) Anthony, still in middle school, started watching YouTube videos about how to improve his game. He learned how to roll using two hands. He learned how to complete a hook shot and make the ball curve. None of it came easily to him, but he practiced a lot until he learned how to make the ball do what he wanted.
He researched different bowling coaches and asked his parents for lessons. Eventually he got his first customized bowling ball.
Today Anthony is the only nationally ranked player with the Professional Bowlers Association, Junior Division, at ETHS.
Coach Bailey said, “He’s a great kid and a real asset to the team. I know Anthony was happy about his perfect game, but he was more excited that the team won the tournament. That tells you a lot about him right there.”
Checking in with ETHS sophomore Anthony Swanson after he bowled perfect game is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.