Even though boys bowling was still in its infancy with the school being in just its second year of competition, the 2005 Salem Wildcats not only emerged as one of the top teams in southern Illinois but the entire state.

Under the direction of coach Steve Ludwig, the Wildcats put together a strong regular season with victories over some of the south’s top programs such as Trenton Wesclin, Harrisburg and Waterloo. That set the stage for a tremendous postseason run as the Salem won the Herrin Sectional with a score of 5,867 pins. That was 23 pins better than runner-up Harrisburg. Sophomore Curt Denzik led Salem with a score of 1,230, which was good for a third place individual finish. Senior Travis Sweney took the No. 2 position for Salem with a score of 1,170 followed by senior Bob Sheehan at 1,175 and senior Chase Goostree at 1,006. Salem also got a round of 905 from freshman Alex Henseler and 202 from senior David Angeloni.

The Wildcats capped off their season with a third place finish at the state meet held at O’Fallon. Salem stood in ninth place out of 24 teams after day one with a score of 6,166 pins prior to its big move on the second and final day of competition. The Wildcats finished with a final score of 12,538 pins as they trailed only state champion Tinley Park, which had a score of 12,588, and runner-up Edwardsville at 12, 574. Henseler helped Salem reach its lofty position as he led the Wildcats at state and finished sixth overall with a score of 2,620 pins. Denzik also cracked the top 20 as he was 19th at 2,559. Sheehan took the No. 3 position for Salem at state with 2,541 pins followed by Goostree at 2,533, Sweney at 2,519 and Angeloni at 366.

The other varsity members for Salem in the 2005 season were Kyle Pruden and Jacob Steele.