2 weeks Ago By Tom Fox
KINGSTON — Richie Kioske practically grew up on the bowling lanes. The former Wyoming Valley West wrestler and West Side CTC graduate remembers all the memories of watching his late father, Rich, roll his ball down the oily-soaked alleys, looking for that perfect pocket hit to crush the pins. It was right there that Kioske knew.
“Watching him, it made me want to do it, and later down the road, I just fell in love with it,” he said. After taking a few years off to complete his wrestling career, Kioske is back on the lanes with a greater purpose. It’s to honor his dad, who recently died after a battle with cancer.
“It means a lot to me,” Kioske said. “It was something that we both loved, and it was great at bowling on those Saturday nights. Bowling helped to strengthen and grow our bond even more.
” The sport also will take him to Indiana. Kioske recently committed to bowl at Calumet College of St. Joseph in the fall.
“I would love to make the varsity roster, and see where I can go from there,” he said. While he grew up in the sport, the former Spartan grappler took time off to complete his wrestling career where he was a lightweight at Valley West. It’s not that he necessarily wanted to pause bowling.
It’s that he understood the demands the sport of wrestling had on him. “I still had love for both wrestling and bowling, but it was definitely a tough decision,” he said. “I knew that I had to focus on the weight and making weight for matches every single week.
It was tough because I did miss bowling.” When he turned 18, new opportunities opened up. Specifically, the chance to bowl with his father in the adult leagues.
“I wanted to stay active, and when I turned 18, I was able to bowl in the league with my dad,” he said. “But when he got the cancer, he couldn’t bowl anymore. So, I started to bowl by myself, and I’m probably bowling close to four days a week now.
” Kioske won’t lie about his return to the sport after a nearly three-year absence. “I was rusty. It took me a little bit to get back to my usual self in terms of staying consistent and finding that consistent shot.
It took me a good three to four months,” he said. He also switched his approach, electing to try and bowl with two hands instead of the traditional one-arm swing. “When I was bowling one-handed, my dad tried to teach me as much as he could.
Once I switched to two-handed, it was kind of out of his control. He’s been there for me all the entire time, helping me as much as he could, though,” he said. It was a fellow bowler and future Crimson Tide teammate, Mason Doan, who pointed Kioske toward Calumet College.
“I used to bowl tournaments with Mason, and I told him I was looking for colleges I could bowl at. He suggested the school,” Kioske said. “I sent some videos of myself bowling to the head coach there.
And they got back to me, said they were interested and asked if I wanted to come out for a visit. It’s a small campus, so it’s a perfect fit for me. The class sizes are perfect for me.
” For now, it’s about improving and getting back to his original youth form. He recently bowled his career high of 296, and also finished with his first 700 series. “I’m not at my full potential yet, but I knew it was going to take some time because I had the long break because of wrestling,” he said.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to go out to college, and I’ll keep improving from there. I am practicing as much as I can. I am getting close to bowling my first 300 and getting that first 800 series, so I have a goal to reach both of them.
I feel like they are coming soon. I just want to keep improving my game.” And it’s also about honoring his late father, and their shared passion for the sport.
“I’m so grateful for the memories and the conversations we had because of bowling,” he said..
