Men’s Bowler Wins Region III MVP

Hudson Valley senior bowler Michael Hartmann has been around bowling alleys all of his life.

His father was a professional on the Pro Bowlers’ Association and that allowed Hartmann to meet such professional bowlers as Parker Bohn III and Danny Wiseman.

“My dad is friends with Parker Bohn III,’’ Hartmann said. “He was able to give me a few pointers on my game.”

All this hard work has led to Hartmann becoming Region III MVP after helping the men’s team finish second at regionals.

“I was pretty happy about it,” Hartmann said. “It was one of the main goals coming into the event and I was happy to achieve it. I got close last year so I used that as motivation this time.”

Hartmann won the award after winning the All Events championship and Singles Championship.

On the day Hartmann totaled 942 pins in four games, one of those being a 243 game, and in the eight games totaling 1775 pins. He believes that experience got him over the hump.

“I’ve had success in that bowling alley for a few years, so the initial experience has helped me,” he said.

“I tried to play the same way I did last year at Regionals” Hartmann said, “I had a pretty good idea how it was the year before and played it based it off memory and allowed me to make smart adjustments.”

Not only does Hartmann juggle school, in which he is a Biological Sciences major, and his college bowling team, but he also participates in many events that award scholarship money to bowlers.

“The scholarship money gets sent to a digital program where it keeps track of my winnings,” Hartmann said.

Head Coach Joe Prest said that Hartmann is constantly bowling.

“He’s always the first one to practice and the last to leave practice” Prest said. “Plus he competes in a tournament every weekend.”

Since he is one of the only returning bowlers from last year’s team, Hartmann needed to become the leader and took the challenge head on.

“In practice, I try to talk to them individually, give them some pointers here and there, just things I notice, just trying to make better moves for them,” Hartmann said. “In games, I try to keep everyone positive and keep everyone together and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Michael’s been our number one guy all year,” Prest said. “All the bowlers look up to him and ask for advice.”

In his leadership, two first year bowlers have impressed him.

“Craig [Wojtaszek] has impressed me the most,” Hartmann said, “I kind of knew what to expect from him because I knew about him, and Dean [Smith] has really impressed me. I didn’t know much about him and [he] has improved a lot as the year has gone on.”

In the fall, Hartmann will be bowling at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. One of the former alumni is the professional bowler Bill O’Neil.

“Saginaw Valley is a great bowling school with a rich history,” Hartmann said. “I’m really excited about continuing my bowling career there.”