He was right.

The Dunkirk Marauders culminated their Unified Bowling season with a third straight title at Airport Lanes in Cheektowaga earlier this week. Sedlacek finished off the 10th frame with a strike and dropped to his knees in celebration, with a crowd of his peers cheering him on.

“I felt pretty happy when we won first place again for the third year in a row,” Sedlacek said. “The best part of the culminating event was being with (Coach) Gilmour and my best friends.”

Dunkirk was in a battle throughout its first two games, as Ahmad Mohamad Narvaez and Nick Solares led the team with 239 pins in the first match, while Sedlacek and Zachary Zentz posted a 247 game in the second match.

Dunkirk senior Zachary Zentz, left, is pictured with Mekiah Sedlacek, right, at the culminating event of the Unified Bowling season earlier this week. Zentz and Sedlacek were partners on Dunkirk’s third straight Unified Bowling Championship Team.

But when it came time to seal the deal, the Marauders came through with 1,022 pins in the third game. Dunkirk finished with 2,679 pins overall, which put the Marauders third overall out of 61 teams in all of Section VI.

In the third and final match, three Marauders duos led the way to victory. Cadence Cave and Gabe Valentine posted a 249 game, while two other pairs came just shy of a 300 game. Narvaez and Dylan Bankoski combined for 295 pins, while Sedlacek and Paul Trippy III combined for 293 pins.

Nate Garcia won the Section VI Sportsmanship Award for the Marauders. Ayden Hamernick won the Cross Training Character Athlete Award for Dunkirk.

Zentz, the Senior Class President and Student Representative on the Board of Education, later spoke to the importance of the Unified program at Dunkirk.

“Unified is important to me for a variety of reasons. Unified has opened my view of the world and allowed me to connect and understand the people who participate,” Zentz said. “Before this, in my freshman and early sophomore year, I had no idea what a Unified sport was, but I was willing to join. Little did I know it would be one of the greatest things I have ever done. Meeting new people, connecting and creating new bonds was something I wasn’t familiar with and unified completely changed that.”

Ayden Hamernick won the Cross Training Character Athlete Award for the Dunkirk Marauders Unified Bowling Team.

Zentz continued, “All I had to do was score a 100 in a match for Mekiah to call me his best friend. Being a pioneer for the Dunkirk Unified program will forever stay with me and make me proud. With this being my last year, I realized how much fun it was and what these people mean to me. If I had to go back and do it all again, I 110% would, but maybe throw less gutter balls next time so Mekiah wouldn’t have to shake his head in anger so much.”

A year ago, Zentz split time between shortstop and pitcher for the Marauders baseball team. Valentine, also a Marauders baseball player, ran alongside Zentz in the Special Olympics torch run a year ago. Bankoski and Trippy are also returning starters from the Dunkirk baseball team from a year ago. Dunkirk’s elite spring sports athletes hope to carry the momentum of their latest victory with them into the next season.

Zentz said of his latest Dunkirk victory, “It felt great. You would think it might get a little stale, but everything about that match was exhilarating. We have been waiting so long to say we got the three-peat and it finally happened. I’ve never seen a bowling alley so loud and full of smiles. I truly believe everyone had a great time, win or lose.”

The Dunkirk Marauders Unified Bowling team was later celebrated with a clap-out through the halls of Dunkirk High School and the players took turns ringing the bell outside the building near the entrance to the track and football field.

Michelle Gilmour, Dunkirk Unified Bowling Coach, is the former varsity softball coach at Dunkirk. Gilmour spoke earlier this season about the impact Unified Sports programs have had on the Dunkirk school community.

“It’s been wonderful watching our school and community come together to support it. We really feel like one big happy family. Our kids really enjoy it. Just seeing the interactions between them, it’s absolutely wonderful to see,” Gilmour said.

Dunkirk even cheered on its opponent, Eden, once the Marauders had finished bowling on Tuesday.

“The highlight of the day for me was once our kids were done bowling they turned to the team next to us and started cheering for them,” Gilmour said. “It was a special moment which wasn’t prompted by any teacher or coach. Our kids knew the feeling of having a big cheering section, so to reciprocate to another team, so they could experience it as well, was very special.”