championship season

By Chris Donahue Editor-in-Chief

As head coach of the bowling team at Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen, Rusty Thomsen joined the six members of his squad on two trips down victory lane.

Thomsen, who was assisted this season by former Saint Joe’s wrestler Brendan Sosinski, guided the team to its first undefeated season in school history (16-0), and capped it by winning the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 1 team championship at Bowlero, North Brunswick, in late February. The Falcons posted a score of 3,189, while Group 3 champion Jackson Memorial finished second with 3,124.

It was the first state title in bowling in the school’s 61-year history.

Then, in a field of 96 at the NJSIAA individual state tournament at Bowlero Feb. 24, Thomsen watched freshman Kai Strothers defeat senior teammate Devon Kiessling, 230-180, in the stepladder final.

Even before he got to Saint Joe’s, Strothers, whose goal is to become a professional bowler, was having success at the national level. He recorded a perfect game (300) during a youth league contest at Jersey Lanes, Linden, Jan. 19, 2019, which made him first 10-year-old in New Jersey history to accomplish the feat and the second in the country.

In July 2021, he finished second at the Junior Gold National Championships in Indianapolis.

“He [Kai] has a great grasp of the game — of the total game, the fundamentals,” Thomsen said. “He is very coachable and is a sponge — he absorbs it all, then he uses it in the right manner. He is very even-keeled has supreme confidence in himself.”

Strothers’ father, Kenny Reece, was his first coach. He also works with Parker Bohn III, a member of the Professional Bowling Association Hall of Fame, said his mother, Sharonda, in a telephone interview with her and her son.

“He [Bohn] said he has never seen a child who is so consistent and has such a command of the game,” she said. It doesn’t seem like he is working hard, but hard work pays off. He practices. He studies.” do it for my grandfather. That week, he was in the hospital,” Kai said.

Sharonda noted that fortunately, her father, who will be 84 in June, was discharged from the hospital and is rehabilitating as of mid-March. “Kai has been the one who has taken it to the next level, so he wanted to win it for his grandfather,” Sharonda said.

“We knew he was something special when he was about 8 or 9, but we used that as a bargaining chip,” she added with a laugh. “He wanted to go bowling after school and we told him, ‘If those grades aren’t here or there, if we get a notice from the teacher,’ then there was no bowling.

“It worked out because he is good in bowling and an Honor Roll student.”

Strothers and his mother said their faith in God plays a large part of their daily lives. Kai and his parents and sister, Shante, are members of Tabernacle Baptist Church, Newark. Kai is a member of its youth choir, youth ministry and a youth usher.

“He is from a religious family, so he knows the power of prayer and as long as he has God on his side, he will always be a winner, always a conqueror,” Sharonda said.

As to why Kai attends a Catholic school, she said: “I had a Catholic school education and I know the importance of a good education -- the values, discipline and structure it instills. It made me into the person that I am today – the values, the discipline, the structure, so I definitely wanted that for him.”

In addition to Strothers and Kiessling, the Falcons' roster included senior Timothy Haklar, who led the team in prayer before a practice or match, Thomsen said; juniors EJ Chin and Alexander Kozak, and freshman William Cunningham, who also competed at the 2022 Junior Gold National Championship.

According to the school’s website, the team title was won thanks to “two of the best three-game series scores” by Cunningham and Strothers, as well as the third-highest single game of the day from Kiessling.

The team’s season was also highlighted by winning championships in six of the seven tournaments they competed in, including the prestigious New Jersey Winter Classic Tournament, Thomsen said.

Top of page, Kai Strothers, a freshman at Saint Joseph High School, Metuchen, is shown competing in the New Jersey state Interscholastic Athletic Association Individual Bowling Championship at Bowlero, North Brunswick. Strothers defeated senior teammate Devon Kiessly 230-180 in the stepladder final. There were 96 competitors. Below, Kiessly, far left, poses with Rusty Thomsen, head coach; senior Timothy Haklar; junior EJ Chin; freshman William Cunningham, and senior Alexander Kozak. The Falcons won the NJSIAA Group 1 team championship.

Sharonda noted that her son’s success would not have been possible if were not for the love of the game of her father, Richard Strothers, because he got the whole family to play. Richard, although he could not see his grandson compete in the individual tournament, was still an integral part of his achievement. “It felt pretty good [in the finals] because at the same time I was trying to

Although the NJSIAA did not sponsor a bowling Tournament of Champions, Thomsen organized an unofficial match play event between the NJSIAA Group winners: Saint Joseph’s, Jackson Memorial, East Brunswick and Burlington Township. The Falcons again soared, defeating East Brunswick in the first round, 3-0, then Jackson Memorial in the final, 3-1.