Four years ago, no one could have predicted that Arianna Araujo would be a state champion.
Araujo entered high school as a one-handed bowler and made Shepard’s junior varsity. Not quite state championship material. Then she started bowling with two hands and her family moved.
In the process, she transferred to Stagg.
That two-handed approach, rarely used by females, also ended up working out for her.
“I think I was frustrated I couldn’t gain the strength to cup the ball one-handed,” she said. “I tried a lot of things. I tried machines to gain my wrist strength, but it didn’t come to me like other people.
“My brother (Anthony) and a lot of my guy friends were two-handed, so I decided to switch. And I ended up becoming really good, so honestly, it was a blessing.”
It’s a blessing that led to winning the girls state championship at Cherry Bowl in Machesney Park.
Her 2,634 over 12 games put her at the top of the podium. She’s the first Stagg individual to win a state title since 2012, when Kevin Molyan won a Class 3A championship wrestling at 145 pounds.
Before the postseason began, Araujo committed to Louisiana Tech, which sent out a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying she’s the first two-handed bowler in program history.
The technique has given her confidence. So much confidence that Araujo told Stagg coach Rich Kowalczyk before the season that she was going to win the state championship.
“I believed her,” he said. “I had a pleasure to watch her bowl every single day for the last three years, and to see that kind of talent, determination and work ethic — yeah, there was no question in my mind that I believed her.”
Kowalczyk even believed it when she came back after from the lunch break on the second day and rolled an uncharacteristic 160.
Araujo had just come off a spectacular 702 series that featured a 266 game. Then after eating two slices of pizza, she suffered through a game in which she had three single-pin open frames.
But she finished with a 210 and 234 to beat out Richmond-Burton’s Gina Scichowski by 37 pins.
“I was getting frustrated with not striking, so I brought that into my spare shot,” Araujo said of the 160 game. “They were all single pins, and usually my single pin conversion is really high. I shouldn’t have been missing them.
“After that game, I knew I had to do what I had to do — just completely relax and refocus and carry on with the next two games. Everyone has a bad game and everyone misses a couple of spares. I couldn’t let that bring me down.”
Bowlers generally go through ups and downs in a 12-game tournament, but Araujo had the handle on this one.
“She has grown so much as a bowler where she can handle most of those downs,” Kowalczyk said. “She was very even keel and even after that 160 … two years ago that may have hurt her a little more than it did.
“But she had this determination, and you can tell by the look on her face that said, ‘State champions don’t bowl 160, but I have two games left.’”
At the end of the tournament, Araujo was the final bowler on the lanes, with all eyes on her. She needed to knock down five pins to clinch the state title. She got two strikes and a nine.
“Honestly, I felt like I drowned all the silence out and focused on doing what I know how to do,” she said. “It wasn’t completely quiet, but it was quiet enough where I knew I was the only one bowling.
“I just went through my normal routine and tried to put out the best shot I could.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
