In the mid-1990s, Ed Frader was the No. 1 man on the Bordentown Regional High School bowling team. His son knew all about it, and wanted nothing more than to keep the family tradition alive.
Thus, when the time came, Bordentown Middle School student Lucas Frader was in the front row.
“When I was in eighth grade they came over and gave out forms to sign up for bowling,” Lucas recalled. “I was right there, ready to sign up.”
It’s easy to see why.
Frader went on to enjoy a solid four-year career with the Scotties, which he capped this season with a 160 average to lead the team. He had a high game of 211 against New Egypt and rolled his best set of the year at the sectionals with a 616, which missed the state cut by just 30 pins.
“Over the four years, Lucas has progressed and progressed and progressed and progressed,” coach Ron Jones said. “He kept it going. He was the consummate bowler. As with any bowler he had good days and bad days, but he was never too high, never too low.”
The veteran coach was just happy Frader hung around long enough to keep progressing.
“As a freshman he was solid,” Jones said. “We just expected ‘OK we’re gonna have him for four years, let’s make sure he’s happy and doesn’t decide to go do something else like run track or something, like we’ve had some kids do.”
There was probably no danger of that happening, as Frader was a bowler from the start.
He began at 10-years-old, playing with Ed in a Fathers-Son League at the now defunct Papp’s. Ed served as his son’s mentor, and Lucas began to slowly improve each year.
“Bowling was a way for me to spend more time with my dad,” Frader said. “I wanted to be like him because he was the best bowler on the team when he bowled here.
“My dad helped me out a lot, he was my main coach. I liked bowling right away. It took me a little while to get the hang of it. I didn’t start bowling serious until I got a good bowling ball, an expensive one. I was about 13 or 14. That’s when I started understanding how to bowl.”
He got that bowl midway through his freshman year, and ended up raising his average to near 140. His goals were simple for that first season.
“It was just a way for me to show I was good and wasn’t just another random person,” Frader said. “I was very happy. They liked me, they knew I could bowl well and it just went from there.”
He ended up making All-Division his next three years, prompting Jones to say with a smile, “That’s what we like, all stars.”
The coach feels Frader’s biggest strength was his consistency.
“You could always count on him,” Jones said. “Would I have liked to see him with a higher average? Yes. But that’s the way things go. Averages are averages because one day you’re bowling 190 and the next day you’re doing the same thing and its 150, and you get that happy medium.”
Frader was relatively happy with his senior season, although he felt he struggled early in the year before getting another new ball—his third in four years.
“I think that was the problem,” he said. “I started bowling really well with it. I used it for the sectionals.”
And while he was happy with that 616 series, he felt a tinge of disappointment at not advancing.
“I never made states,” he said. “It would have been cool to make it once.”
Aside from his skills as a bowler, Frader also had strong leadership abilities. He was made team captain this year and, during matches that weren’t going too well for the Scotties, Lucas would make requests to his coach.
“He was ready to fill up the roster sheet, it was ‘OK, who do you want and where?’,” Jones said. “Lucas would come to me occasionally halfway through a match and ask ‘Anybody over in the JV match doing good that we can use?’ He’d ask for someone, and more often than not he got what he wanted because when Lucas came looking for somebody else, the person he wanted out was under-performing.”
Away from high school competition, Frader still bowls in a league with his dad at Hamilton Lanes. He would love to gain a bowling scholarship for college but says “I don’t think I’m good enough to do it in college.” He will, however, continue to do it for fun, “for a long time.”
As far as college academics go, Frader has high expectations as he hopes to be an architect. He currently has an internship at an area firm, and a recent drawing he did for a survey received praise from the bosses.
“That was one of my dreams when I was younger but I never thought I could do it,” said Frader, who sports a 3.4 grade point average. “Now that I’m getting the experience I think I would be able to do it if I tried.
“When I was younger I liked building stuff. My mom said it would be a cool job. So I’ve tried to do everything I could to get close to architecture.”
He is planning on visiting Drexel, which has a touted program. And while his future looks bright, he will miss his time on the lanes wearing a Scotties’ shirt.
“I think our team did well this year,” Frader said of the 10-7-2 squad. “We have a couple of young bowlers who have grown. I’ve gotten so close with so many of the guys on the team, it’s kind of sad to see that’s over.”
Jones feels the same way.
“He’s just been a great person, a great student and a great athlete for the four years that I’ve known him,” the coach said. “It’s been a real pleasure.”
Bordentown bowling coach Ron Jones calls Lucas Frader a “consummate bowler.” (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
