nj.com story is here. Full results are here. I don't have bowler-level detail for all teams, so sorry if some of this is cursory. I will say, that of the eight sectionals, this is the one where my preview commentary was the furthest off. It didn't help that due to an editing error, my preview paragraphs on Bergenfield and Ridgefield Park were accidentally combined and rendered nonsensical.
GROUP I
Our first group is our first big upset. Hasbrouck Heights winning the three-team battle was only a mild surprise, but Becton stealing spot #2 from North Arlington is certainly noteworthy. Justin Rinaldi picked a great time for his season-high series, 644 (he averages 180), which earned him Group I's only spot in the individual TOC, and earned his team a tight 15-pin victory over the favorites.
GROUP II
The two favorites are moving on, but Fort Lee bowled fantastic and flipped the order to take the sectional with an impressive 2945. We knew how great David Grant was, so his qualifying 646 was no shock, but Luke Athanassapoulos shooting 658 on his 182 average? Very nice. Dumont leapfrogged a couple to finish solidly in third behind Kyle Schellberg's 694 (third overall).
GROUP III
In this sectional's marquee event, the favorites are moving on, but oh boy was it close. #14 Indian Hills was brilliant, posting a sectional-best 3103 behind Jared Duncan's 702 and Ryan McGuire's 664, as well as solid numbers from Jon Mormando, Jack Miller and Andrew Smolenski. This group has a real chance to compete for a state title on Friday. #18 Pascack Valley didn't have their best day, but managed to secure a TOC spot with a solid 2857 because Henry Tipping was great, shooting 268/675. Ridgefield Park and Demarest each made a strong run at the upset, coming up just 66 & 67 pins short, respectively. RP's Derek Lewandowski secured an individual spot with a 642 set.
GROUP IV
Of the 32 sectionals in 2017, I think this one carried the biggest upset of them all. I dismissed Northern Highlands with one line, calling their numbers "just a little shy", and the Highlanders simply went out and blew the Group IV field away, shooting 2925 and besting second-place Ridgewood by 151 pins. How the heck did they do that? Well, Emily Mamunes was a bit over average with a 567. Miles Halpin was a little over his average, 547. Jacob Lucibello did well, shooting 593 on his 182 average. Shane Bendit was right at his average. And Junior Will Cunningham bested his average by TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY PINS. 237-300-209=746 on a 172 average. That's.... that's amazing. Matt Myers' 680 helped Ridgewood win an extremely close 3-way battle for second over Fair Lawn (by just 28 pins) and Bergen Catholic (by 46).
INDIVIDUALS
Only twelve spots available in North 1A, with the cutline coming at 642. Only a handful of surprises in the individual qualifiers, and we covered just about all of them: Cunningham, Duncan, Schellberg, Myers and Tipping were the top five. We mentioned McGuire, Athanassopoulos, Grant, Rinaldi and Lewandowski. That leaves Nick Greco of Fair Lawn, who shot 648 and is obviously an established great bowler. And Junior Eric Weiss of Bergenfield, who destroyed his 166 average and his 603 season-high series by carding a fantastic 646.
Two hundred and thirty pins over average. Damn.
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