Lee’s Maddie Kotek captures high school bowling state championship, as Wildcats go 1-2-3 on girls side | Local Sports

PITTSFIELD — Coming off of the team championship the night before, the best high school bowlers in the state assembled one last time for the 2026 season at K&M Bowling on Sunday morning to take their shot at the Massachusetts individual state title.

Although the matches maintained the same encouraging atmosphere — that is, in many ways a unique and charming feature of the sport — the intensity was certainly taken up a notch from the team games the night before as competitors were pitted against one another in head-to-head matchups throughout much of the day.

On the girls side, it came down to an entirely Lee final as Wildcats Maddy Kotek and Devyn Fillio, seeded in first and second, respectively, after the qualifying and top-eight rounds, faced off in the final match of the season to determine the state champion. Fillio was looking to defend her title that she claimed in last year’s individual championship, while Kotek aimed to achieve the same feat her sister, Bella, had two years prior.

By the time the final pins were felled, Kotek took home the title with a score of 180 in her final game. The Wildcats ended up sweeping the podium with Fillio following in second and Lauren Schuerer taking home third place after beating out Taconic’s Danielle Mathes in a two-frame playoff after a tense match that saw both finish with a score of 124.

“Honestly, I think it’s the best I’ve bowled all year,” Kotek said. “I was super consistent. The oil pattern was something totally different than what we’re used to, but I was able to adjust easily with the help of my coach.”

Sunday’s format demanded both consistency and clutch execution. All competitors began with three qualifying games, with the top eight cumulative scores advancing. In the next round, bowlers competed head-to-head, with winners receiving 30 bonus pins added to their total. After four total games, the top four cumulative scorers advanced to a ladder-style final where scores reset entirely — turning the championship into a series of winner-take-all single games.

The pressure was evident as the lanes grew noticeably quieter once the top eight were set. Bowlers rotated lanes to ensure an even playing field, waiting for their opponent’s shots before stepping up — a pro-style setup that amplified every strike and every spare attempt.

Kotek entered the day as the top qualifier with a three-game total of 578 and maintained her edge through the top-eight round, finishing with 788 pins after bonuses. But none of that carried into the final.

Instead, it came down to a one-on-one showdown against her teammate and close friend.

“It was a little nerve-racking,” Kotek said of facing Fillio. “I don’t want to see her perform poorly. She did very well, and I was proud of her. I was a little sad to beat her — but hey, she’s got next year.”

Both bowlers finished strong in the title match, but Kotek gradually pulled away late, closing with authority to secure the 180–146 victory. She credited her composure to the support system behind her.

“My family is a big help,” she said. “I look back at them and everyone’s cheering me on. It calms me down. I see my teammates and they’re all saying ‘good job,’ and it just helps me settle in.”

For Lee coach and Berkshire County High School Bowling League commissioner Matt Fillio, the final matchup was less stressful than it might have appeared from the outside.

“It wasn’t stressful because either way I was going to be happy,” Fillio said. “Once they got to the finals, that was our goal. We knew if they bowled well, it should be those two.”

The win marked the third straight year a Lee bowler has captured the girls individual state title — Bella Kotek two years ago, Devyn Fillio last year, and now Maddy.

Schuerer’s third-place finish added to the Wildcats’ dominance. The eighth-grader defeated Mathes in a playoff after their semifinal match ended in a 124-124 tie, further underscoring the program’s depth.

In fact, all eight girls who advanced to the head-to-head round hailed from either Lee or Taconic, a striking display of Berkshire County’s strength in the sport.

“This group of kids got along so well,” Fillio said. “They pick each other up. They actually like hanging out with each other. This is one of the best teams I’ve ever had.”

On the boys side, the drama was just as palpable.

After three qualifying games and the top-eight round, the final four were separated by just nine pins: Taconic’s Luzis Brown at 793, Pope Francis’ Carson Stromewall at 792, St. John’s Nick Cariglia at 790 and Monument’s Noah Walker at 784.

Once the ladder began and scores reset, it was Cariglia who rose to the occasion. He defeated Walker 201–196, edged Stromewall 171–168, and then outdueled Brown in the championship match, 246–233, in a strike-for-strike battle that electrified the building.

Cariglia’s individual title capped a remarkable weekend in which he also rolled a perfect 300 during Saturday’s team competition — a performance that foreshadowed his Sunday dominance.

Brown, meanwhile, delivered an impressive showing of his own with his 233 in the final match, finishing second after entering the finals as the top seed. It’s his second straight state runner-up performance.

Chicopee Comp claimed the team state championship Saturday, beating Lee after they traded the first two games and ended up dead even on total score, which led to a rubber match that Chicopee won 189 to 135. However, Sunday belonged to the individuals — and to the unique spirit that defines the Berkshire league.

“The league is awesome because the kids all get along,” Fillio said. “They want their friends to bowl well — maybe just a pin or two less than them — but they still support each other.”

Even as titles were decided and seasons ended, competitors remained gathered behind the lanes, cheering on friends from rival schools.

It was that combination — fierce head-to-head intensity and genuine camaraderie — that defined the final day of the 2026 high school bowling season.