Season in Review - Final Boys Rankings

This was fairly brutal.

A few notes.  I got some reasonable criticism last year for not respecting winning quite enough in the final rankings, particularly the winning of championships.  While I continue to try to respect season-long accomplishments, championships certainly matter. I'm trying to balance regular season accomplishments, tournament performances - particularly involving teams with similar resumes in the same event, postseason scores and overall stats.  It's complicated.  I took a shot.

Some rankings are substantially different than regular season, and it's not just sectional and state results.  During the season, I look at Game Average and T5, because T5 gives us an idea of how the team will perform when it's just the best five bowling in a tournament.  Now that the tournaments have happened, the predictive nature of T5 isn't really all that relevant; now it's about what you did.  Also, I always do the rankings from scratch without looking at past rankings; I never think in terms of "dropping" teams.

Finally, I want to say that I love Baker-style bowling.  It's been a great thing for competitive bowling, particularly in college, where it's 2/3 of the action.  It's exciting, it's team-oriented, it's spectator friendly.  It's a great way to decide a champion that doesn't take another three hours.  It's also like 3% of high school bowling, so one very close Baker result is never going to be more important than the hundreds of games that came before it, even if it's how we decide who gets the biggest trophy.  You can probably guess where I'm going with this.

THE TOP TWENTY BOYS BOWLING TEAMS IN NEW JERSEY FOR 2017-18

1. EAST BRUNSWICK
GMC    Central Group IV Champs   State Group IV Champs
GA: 218.7   Postseason: 217.8
THE dominant force in New Jersey bowling.  It's not close. Biggest sectional score in the state, best GA by over nine pins and best postseason average by over five.  Won the Bob James to open the season and states to end it.  Shot 3258 to finish second at CJWC.  Put up a state-best 3542 match score, which wasn't even the only time they broke 3500.  15-0-1/56-6 against a brutal GMC schedule. Led by an insanely talented 1-2-3, all lefties: Daniel Lenk (242! overall average), Sam Bortnick (225) and Armen Shamim (208), and also got huge numbers from Jack Deruvo (over 200 in tournaments), Andrew Mai (217 in tournaments) and Matt Mai. Yes, the Bears were upset in the GMC semifinals and the TOC. They also went 5-0-1 against other top-15 teams in the regular season. This is 2018's time capsule team.

2. WOODBRIDGE
GMC   Central Group III Champs   State Group III Champs
GA: 209.4   Postseason: 211.8
Pretty good year at the top of the Greater Middlesex Conference, huh? The Barrons were absolutely loaded: a top three of James Stoveken (228 conference average), Jason Bilawsky (212 overall) and John Drost (209 in GMC)  can hang with anyone, Alex Silva and Giovanni Santiago averaged over 200, and Joe Palmer, Nicholas Simone and Jeremy Soto all threw multiple 600s.  Woodbridge's B-team would be in the top 20. 2017 had ended in disappointment, falling short at both sectionals and states, but that sure didn't happen in 2018, with huge sets of 3170 and 3185 to take out very strong postseason Group III fields. Woodbridge also won the Wheeler, finished 3rd at CJWC, put up a top set of 3426, went 15-1-1 in conference play with the only loss to East Brunswick, and survived an epic TOC final four to win the overall state title.

3. SUSSEX TECH
NJAC-North   North 1B Group II Champs   State Group II Champs
GA: 198.1   Postseason: 212.4
I will never question Sussex Tech again.  I though about just repeating that like seven times as the whole comment.  I knew they were talented coming in, but I let the relatively low scores affect me.  When you are much, much better than the rest of your conference (they went 119-0), it's hard to have the whole team at the top of their game for every match, and you can freely substitute to give more bowlers a chance. But when there's real competition, or when there's something really on the line, the Mustangs are as good as anybody.  Won the Sparta NYE tournament with a 3118, easily.  Won the Falcon Frenzee, easily.  Won the HWS with a 3092, easily. Joey Steele had a fantastic season, averaging over 221.  Pat Danielson was just over 200, Matt Grey just under, with Matt Danielson improving all season and Danny McNeilly (671 at Team States) putting up huge tournament scores. Any lingering questions were answered with a massive 3294 at sectionals, the highest mark in the state, before what now seems inevitable, another state title, holding off an impressive field.  I will never question Sussex Tech again.

4. BRICK MEMORIAL
Shore-South-A   South Group IV champs   State Group IV Runnerup
GA: 206.4   Postseason: 207.8
The Mustangs have a pretty solid argument to be ranked #2 here; they sure had a hell of a season. Five starters claim averages over 200 - Alec Hehir (215), John Boughton (208), Michael Guzman (206), Cameron Waldheim (203) and Andrew Varela (206). Boughton in particular was deadly in tournaments, winning a RWTI and Snowball. The whole team was great in tournaments, truly: wins at RWTI, Brick, Snowball, and CJWC (season high 3352 set to beat Woodbridge). Comfortably regained their sectional crown and staged an inspired comeback in the state finals that came up just 40 pins short, but still gave them a 207  Postseason average.  They did finish behind TRS in conference play, but outperformed them at seven of eight tournaments, so they get the spot.

5. TOMS RIVER SOUTH
Shore-South-A   South Group III runnerup   State Group III runnerup
GA: 205.1   Postseason: 203.4
The "these guys are as good as anyone" cliche definitely extends at least to here. A deep talented lineup including Jim Breslin (197), Nick Brescia (203), South Jersey Singles champ Andrew Xiques (207), Kevin DiBernardo (209) and Individual stepladder finalist Kyle Oliveri (215), the Indians were never outgunned and seemed to break 3000 effortlessly.  Winning the Shore-South-A is as big an accomplishment of anything outside a state title, and TRS made it stick by winning the Shore Conference tournament as well. They finished in the top three of seven tournaments in total, every one of them a strong field, including second at RWTI, Bayshore, Sectionals and States, where they fell to Woodbridge despite a strong 3079.

6. ST. ROSE
Shore-Central-A   Central Group I champs   State Group I champs
GA: 197.5   Postseason: 207.0
It was a hell of a year for the senior-laden Purple Roses.  They won the SCA with a 39-9 record against very, very strong competition.  They put up a division-record 3337 in a dual match. The numbers were great (true GA is probably about 203; long story), the bowlers were great: David Schuld (201), Carter Vanderslice (208), Jarrett Toth (209), and Joey Chiusano (216) formed a deep and powerful core, and the emergence of Vinny Mastria (203) helped them to another level.  The only thing missing was a signature tournament performance after finishing behind some of the Shore big boys early in the season.  So, the Roses finished the season with a runnerup finish in the Shore Conference tournament, won the Monmouth (3146), won at Sectionals (3073) and won their first ever state Group I title (3138).  So... no more holes in that resume. Fantastic season they've been building toward for a few years.

7. ST. JOSEPH - METUCHEN
GMC   Central Group II champs   State Group II runnerup
GA: 206.0   Postseason: 202.6
You really need to have (at least) five big threats in your lineup to earn a ranking this high.  That's been St. Joe's whole game for the last few years: insane depth, and whoever's in the lineup is going to deliver.  In 2018, John Hoban (207 overall) was probably the best, but there were six more options on any given day: Conor Quigley (202), Brendan Sosinski (201), John Reggio (201), Justin Biancamano (199), Joey Maurer (195) and Zack Abbey (192). The Falcons were good coming in, but the performance at CJWC - 3213 for third place - served notice that they weren't just deep, they could throw big numbers with the best, which they continued to do all season, including a season-high 3320 set.  Five of the top seven are seniors, and they had a fantastic run.

8. BRICK TOWNSHIP
Shore-South-A   South Group III champs   State Group III 3rd place
GA: 197.0   Postseason: 204.5
An immensely talented group whose only problem was consistency.  When the Dragons were on, they were really on, and could compete with absolutely anyone.  They won the Mustang, won the Bayshore, fired a 3200 set, and won the South Group III sectional going away at 3165. I tend to put that to youth, as the starting five includes just one senior, Nick Gross, who averaged 202 and shot 759 at the Shore Individual.  The younger ones, juniors Chris Shymanski (208) and Stephen Spirio (198) and sophomores Kyle Chirichello (198) and Andrew Masi (201) all have scoring ability, and will all be back to make this one of the state's very best next year. That's not to gloss over how good they were this year, taking third in Group III on an off day.

9. MONROE
GMC   Central Group IV 5th place
GA: 206.9   Postseason: 190.2
It can be really tough to rank a team that had a good season but didn't qualify for the state TOC, but I have absolutely no doubt that Monroe belongs in the state top 10.  First, look at the numbers: the Falcons had a really great year, getting so many huge scores from juniors Louis Folgore (226) and Ryley McKiernan (217), as well as Zac Waynor (202), not to mention Joseph Hoehler, Tyler Kresan and Devin Maddox. Monroe shot as high as 3403, went 52-12 in GMC matches, took 2nd at the Baker Challenge and 12th at CJWC.  They had an off day at Sectionals, shooting 2853 against a very deep and talented field.  But two days later they swept future TOC champ Woodbridge in the GMC tournament semis and the next day they swept Edison to take the GMC tournament championship.  This is a damn good team.

10. HUDSON CATHOLIC
HCIAA   North 1B Group I champs   State Group I 3rd place
GA: 198.4   Postseason: 198.8
If Hudson Catholic bowled in any tournaments before sectionals, I haven't seen results.  Because of that, I really had no idea if their performance would match what were really fantastic numbers in the regular season, including winning their league and having an excellent starting five: Geoffrey Origenes (217), Jivan Persaud (223), James Pabalonia (190), Ashook Persaud (188) and Steven Beck (196).  Would their game translate to the postseason?  Some teams can only really score at home.  Not these guys, not by a longshot.  Jivan Persaud shot 730 and the Hawks made it to states easily, where they finished a strong 3rd.

11.  SOUTH BRUNSWICK
GMC   Central Group IV 3rd place
GA: 198.6   Postseason: 204.9
Soccer's World Cup has its 'group of death', last year we had South Group IV.  This year it was Central Group IV, and South Brunswick didn't get a return trip to the TOC despite shooting 3073. A damn shame, 'cause the Vikings had a great season, finishing 3rd in the Baker Challenge, 2nd at James, 6th at Brick and 11th at CJWC. Anthony Fama (208) and Nick Delacruz (203) led the way, both excelling in regular matches and  tournaments. Chris Germain (195), Matt Marich (190) and Noah Li (185) all contributed as well.

12.  EDISON
GMC   Central Group III 5th place
GA: 199.2   Postseason: 194.9
Another sectional casualty, despite a solid 2924.  The Eagles were better than that all season, putting up really good numbers behind a spectacular top two in Jason Smith (220) and Wyatt Buchany (213), and tremendous depth highlighted by Joe Banwer (197), Raleigh Gough (186) and Jose De La Barrera (183). Not a great tournament team for much of the season, until they took first in the Woodbridge and, fresh off their sectional struggles, swept the #1 team in the state to advance to the GMC finals behind amazing bowling by Smith and Buchany. Love the resilience.

13.  HOWELL
Shore-Central-B   Central Group IV 2nd place   State Group IV 3rd place
GA: 188.0   Postseason: 210.3
This is tough; the season-long GA is good, not great.  The postseason average is tremendous, #4 in the state.  They had some really good tournament showings - 5th at James, 4th at Bayshore, 13th at CJWC, 8th at Snowball. They had some damn fine bowlers, led by Robbie Wetzel, who was at 196 in the regular season but 206 in tournaments, and Brian Garofano, who was also at 196 in conference play but brilliant in tournaments, averaging 211 and making the TOC stepladder. Behind them were a bunch of guys in the 180s, all good bowlers: Jake Hager, Gus Horvath, Joe Inserra, Mike Kortenhaus... any of them could win you a match.  I don't think the GA fairly represents how good they are; the state results may well be closer.

14. SOUTH PLAINFIELD
GMC   Central Group II runnerup   State Group II 8th place
GA: 200.5   Postseason: 189.2
Inconsistent in tournaments, but there's no denying the ability on this squad; that GA is absolutely legitimate. Shaun Boffard (208), Angelo Salici (207) and Mike Menkin (207) are a powerhouse top three, while Chris Lacasale, Tyler & Ryan Berardi took turns joining them with strong scores of their own.  The Tigers were dynamite in conference play, going 53-7, and traveled north to win the Irwin tournament in December.  A subpar day at states doesn't erase any of that.

15. NORTH BRUNSWICK
GMC   Central Group III 3rd place
GA: 198.6   Postseason: 198.7
So many good teams in Middlesex County; don't make the mistake of overlooking this one.  Fantastic numbers all season, and exceptional depth provided by David Burrows (209), Zachary Leinwohl (195), Gavin Lugo (195), Nicholas Farah (192), Mathew Liguori (188) and Alex Bursac (191).  10-6-1 against their schedule is actually pretty impressive.  Tenth at the CJWC, beating a number of very good teams showed they can compete with the best.  Unfortunately, Central Group III is brutal, and the Raiders came up a bit short despite a strong 2980 set. Still a successful season, and all but Burrows return for next year.

16. LINDEN
Union-Watchung   North 2 Group III champs   State Group III 4th place
GA: 193.1   Postseason: 193.6
Winning a fairly loaded North 2 Group III sectional was eye-opening, as was defeating a fantastic field at the Baker Challenge.  Third at the Wheeler, too.  3270 high set?  Good stuff.  James Fitz (204), Anthony Golabek (204), Matt Soto (193), Justin Peters (190) and Darius Lewis (184) are obviously a talented group.  But the most impressive thing the Tigers did this season, to me, is dominate the Union-Watchung, taking first place by 26 points.

17. PASCACK VALLEY
Big North-National   North 1A Group IV runnerup   State Group IV 4th place
GA: 195.2   Postseason: 198.1
Pascack went 14-0 in the Big North regular season behind four very talented juniors: Scott Morris (205), Henry Tipping (201), Brian Biml (209) and Trevor Lauber (205), and then became one of the best stories of the postseason when, despite losing Morris to an injury, they raised their game at states, shooting 3023 to take 4th in Group IV, with Tipping in particular bowling great.

18. UNION
Union-Watchung   North 2 Group IV champs   State Group IV 6th place
GA: 190.1   Postseason: 201.9
The Farmers had a good season, highlighted by 2nd at the Wheeler, then put on a tremendous postseason show, winning sectionals with a 3043 set and putting up a more-than-competitive 3015 at states.  Samantha Valle (180), Lacey Beall (188), Nick Melchionna (196) and Kevin Oliveira (194) formed a strong core, and anchor Kiara Powell was deadly effective in tournaments, averaging 208.

19. ST. PETER'S PREP
HCIAA   North 1B Group IV champs   State Group IV 5th place
GA: 191.3   Postseason: 199.4
Very few teams can match the firepower at the anchor position that St. Peter's had with 225-averaging Jared Ammugauan, but the Marauders needed plenty of help to put up such excellent numbers and to make a postseason run. Maverick Lindo (196), Zack Oswald (195) and Jordan Veverka (188) were very good all season and St. Peter's finished 5th in Group IV at Bowlero.

20. SENECA
Olympic   South Group II runnerup   State Group II 5th place
GA: 192.8   Postseason: 195.8
The Olympic tournament champs had a fantastic regular season at 15-1 and cracked 3000 to survive and advance in a deep South Group II sectional. Zachary Malcolm (200), Cole Ludwikowski (194), Mitch Tippin (191), Jake Walters (195) and Eddie Cashwell (190) formed a exceptionally balanced lineup that could get a big number from any position.


Alright, as you'll see, I just kept going for a while.  I think it's fair to say that the level of precision drops a bit from here out, but I tried to be as accurate as possible.


21. MANASQUAN
Shore Central A   Central Group I 3rd place
GA: 192.3   Postseason: 195.5

22. LENAPE
Olympic   South Group IV runnerup   State Group IV 7th place
GA: 191.0   Postseason: 196.0

23. WAYNE HILLS
Big North-Independence   North 1B Group III runnerup   State Group III 6th place
GA: 197.8   Postseason: 188.4

24. JACKSON LIBERTY
Shore Central B   South Group II champs   State Group II 4th place
GA: 186.3   Postseason: 199.7

25. MORRIS KNOLLS
NJAC-South   North II Group III runnerup   State Group III 8th place
GA: 194.5   Postseason: 185.5

26. SOUTHERN
Shore-South-A   South Group IV 4th place
GA: 190.9   Postseason: 197.5

27. MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP
Shore-South-B   South Group II 3rd place
GA: 191.4   Postseason: 195.9

28. MATAWAN
Shore-North-A   Central Group I runnerup   State Group I 3rd place
GA: 183.8   Postseason: 201.4

29. OCEAN TOWNSHIP
Shore-Central-A   Central Group II 5th place
GA: 193.4   Postseason: 186.2

30. WEST MILFORD
Big North-Independence   North 1B Group III champs   State Group III 7th place
GA: 189.6   Postseason: 192.2


Sure, thirty more.  Why not?


31. Freehold Township
32. Egg Harbor
33. Toms River North
34. Ridgewood (N1A, Group IV champs, 8th in state)
35. North Arlington (N1A, Group I champs, 4th in state)
36. Lacey
37. Colonia
38. Fair Lawn
39. Mahwah (N1A, Group II runnerup, 3rd in state)
40. JP Stevens
41. Cherry Hill West
42. Montville (N2, Group II runnerup, 9th in state)
43. Demarest (N1A, Group III champs, 5th in state)
44. Washington Township
45. Manalapan (Central Group III runnerup, 9th in state)
46. Clifton (N1B, Group IV runnerup, 10th in state)
47. Wall Township
48. Indian Hills
49. Toms River East
50. West Deptford
51. Iselin Kennedy
52. Neptune
53. Westfield
54. Livingston (N2, Group IV runnerup, 9th in state)
55. Warren Hills
56. Middlesex
57. Hunterdon Central
58. Jackson Memorial
59. Ridgefield Park (N1A Group II champs, 6th in state)
60. Scotch Plains-Fanwood