Matthew Orlow. If you didn’t know the name now you do. This Junior at DePaul Prep is making both his school and his bowling team proud. 

Features on star athletes involved in baseball, basketball, and football are always hot topics. But one sport that deserves more attention is bowling. 

“It’s a great sport – I wish more people would take time out of their day to come to one of these matches and see how exciting it is,” according to Boys Varsity Bowling Coach, and DePaul Prep Social Studies teacher, Joe Hohrein. 

Orlow is a proud DePaul Prep student and an even prouder varsity athlete. 

Orlow became interested in bowling at a young age, sharing their love for it with his father. 

“I’ve been bowling since I was seven years old, my dad is a bowler so he was the one who first encouraged me to bowl.” 

“It’s just something that’s always been fun for me. Anytime growing up I’ve always said yes to bowling, I’ve always been excited to do it.” 

Since then Orlow has practiced and played his way up the varsity level and is a three-year varsity player at DePaul Prep holding many accomplishments both individually and with his team. 

One of Orlow’s highlights from this year was bowling a perfect score of 300.

On top of that achievement, Orlow was also able to represent himself and DePaul Prep at State for the second year in a row. 

Orlow explained the commitment it took to get to the State. “I was basically practicing every day, in and outside of school. I usually bowl by myself but sometimes I like to practice with my friends or my dad.” 

Hohrein adds, “He put a lot of work in the off-season, he didn’t let himself get rusty. 

Orlow described going to State to be a great and rewarding experience. “At State, I got to see a lot of high-level competition in the Chicago area” 

Orlow was able to not only qualify for State this year but was able to improve from last year and rank in State.

“Getting to State and making the cut for both days was a big improvement from last year. Getting 35th overall was huge for me,” says Orlow. 

Competing at this level is not easy. Thankfully Orlow has had support from his coaches and teammates throughout his whole career. 

“My relationship with my coach and teammates is good, you can tell that they want you to succeed.” 

Hohrein shares his experience both with bowling in general and with Orlow. Like the player, Hohrein started at a young age, getting into it due to his father. 

“I’ve been bowling since I was very young, my father was in a league and he got me started.”

Hohrein loves coaching at DePaul Prep and shares an excellent relationship with the students, finding a balance between “seriousness and recognizing that this sport is meant to be fun.” 

Hohrein has had the pleasure of coaching Orlow these past three years at DePaul Prep and has nothing but positive things to say. He expresses that Orlow is an incredibly talented kid and maintains an impressive attitude. 

“Matt is the son of a bowler, he’s had some youth experience. As far as me having to coach him I don’t have to do much. When working with someone with as high a skill level as Matt, my job is to get him to start to think about what he needs to do, not me telling him what to do. He knows his shot best.” 

Friend and Teammate Jonathan Ingrassia added to Hohrein’s comments.

“He’s a very talented player, he works very hard, and we’re all very happy for him.” 

When asked what allows Orlow to be so successful, Hohrein mentions his visible collected mindset. 

“Definitely hardworking, never gets rattled, if he misses a spare or if he has a shot that should’ve been a strike but wasn’t, he’ll get upset for two seconds and then he’s already brushed it off and is ready for the next shot.”

“His mindset is very impressive, it’s a hard thing to do. Most people will focus on the negative.” 

On top of being a valued player, Orlow does an incredible job at being a well-rounded person. Coaches and teammates like to describe him as calm and collected. 

“He is very mellow and friendly. Just a genuine person. He’s very kind and accepting to everyone whether that’s with his teammates or shaking the hands of opponents or being paired with random people at State,” says Hohrein

Ingrassia stated, “Matt is really nice and fun to be around, he’s a good friend he’s always there for you” 

As Orlow continues to improve, so does the team. Orlow shares that if you’re interested you should give it a shot, even if you feel you’re not the best. 

“Just try out and have fun, that’s all you can really do. Don’t worry about whether you have experience or not. There are kids that play for three months and improve huge amounts. Anyone can start from the bottom.” 

Bowling is a competitive sport that deserves more recognition, and so does Orlow. Orlow holds the title of being an impressive athlete while maintaining a good character. 

He is a perfect example of what it means to be a DePaul Prep Athlete.