Rankings explanation here. There's a new section at the bottom - here's the tl;dr version: I have a new tool, the T5 score, which approximates the strength of the team's top 5 bowlers, and is meant to balance out some of the weaknesses of Game Average.
THE TOP 20 BOYS BOWLING TEAMS IN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
1. Woodbridge
LW: 1 T5: 1050 GA: 213
Fantastic performance in winning the Brick Tournament (3267) seals it for the Barrons, after two 4-0 wins, including one over Sayreville. James Stoveken & Kyle Bilawsky continue to lead the way with conference averages in the mid-220s, but the truly scary thing about this team is its depth: NINE different bowlers have shot 600 for Woodbridge this year.
2. Brick Memorial
LW: 4 T5: 1068 GA: 210
Matched Woodbridge all week, with 3141-3036-3236 in true 5-man matches, and without their top bowler. Alec Hehir & Cameron Waldheim have taken turns as the star. Memorial had probably earned #1. And the Mustangs' performance in their tournament was great, too: 3212. But Woodbridge beat them, in the same house at the same time, for the second time this season, so #2 is where they sit.
3. Shawnee
LW: 2 T5: 1058 GA: 209
Two 4-0 wins, 2991-2831. Seemingly on cruise control until their showdown with Brick Memorial in South Group IV. Andrew Abbonizio & Chris Pagliuso, on paper, are the top 1-2 punch in New Jersey, with both averaging about 228.
4. East Brunswick
LW: 3 T5: 1034 GA: 207
3-1 wins, scoring 2832-3093 keep EB in the mix at the top. Another team with excellent depth, as there are 4 different guys they could run out there behind Sam Bortnick, Daniel Lenk & James Reitano on any given day.
5. Brick Township
LW: 9 T5: 1051 GA: 200
3121 in a 3-0 win, 2913 in a 2-1 win, 3207 in a 3rd place finish at the Brick Tournament. T5 showed me that I had BT too low: their depth is intimidating, Jordan Malizia & Kyle Chirichello are a dynamic top two, and I don't envy Coach Seidelmann a bit trying to figure out which 5 to start any given day; the Dragons are leaving a 200 average bowler on the bench every time they hit the lanes.
6. Toms River South
LW: 5 T5: 1033 GA: 203
3007-2938 in a pair of wins, 3038 at Brick tourney (4th place). Ho hum, another Shore-South-A team with six 200 average bowlers (plus 2 more in the high 190s). Chris Swindell & Kyle Oliveri are the best of a very balanced attack. Seriously, the Ocean Lanes youth coaches should write a book.
7. Ocean Township
LW: 7 T5: 1024 GA: 203
3105 in a win, 3117 in a loss to Manasquan (OT had a higher total). Matt Redbord leads the way with a 217 average, but the Spartans firepower runs deep, including Douglas Rhodes who has a 300 this season. Nip and tuck conference battle with Manasquan should go right to the end.
8. Manasquan
LW: 6 T5: 1016 GA: 200
Consistent week: 2986-2913-3095-2829, 3 wins over good teams and 7th at the Brick. Austin Devereux is having an all-state level season, and Chris Heilos and Kyle Bauter are over 200 as well. Easily the top Group I squad in the state.
9. South Brunswick
LW: 10 T5: 999 GA: 200
The Vikings reached their season high this week (3271) and added a pair of wins (3007 & 2833). Maybe a bit under the radar in the GMC, this is a group of bowlers that as individuals aren't especially consistent match to match, but it seems like at least one or two go big every time, so it all works out. The possibility of 3 or 4 of them going big (Tyler Kohutanycz, Chan Woo Ang, Nick Delacruz & Anthony Fama have all shot 690+) should be terrifying.
10. Cherry Hill East
LW: 8 T5: 1009 GA: 200
Just one result reported since the break, 2917 in a win over Cherokee. Anthony Mathis is the top freshman bowler in the state, while Emerson Levy is a little inconsistent but can fire huge numbers with anyone. If they're both on, South Jersey Group IV (CHE, Shawnee, Brick Memorial) is gonna be a bloodbath.
11. Pascack Valley (LW: 12 T5: 1027 GA: 198)
12. Indian Hills (LW: 13 T5: 970 GA: 203)
13. Montville (LW: 15 T5: 1002 GA: 193)
14: Sayreville (LW: 14 T5: 996 GA: 193)
15: Seneca (LW: 17 T5: 978 GA: 194)
16. Sussex Tech (LW: un T5: 984 GA: 193)
17. St. Joseph-Metuchen (LW: 16 T5: 961 GA: 196)
18. Warren Hills (LW: un T5: 968 GA: 195)
19. Pompton Lakes (LW: un T5: 958 GA: 194)
20. Livingston (LW: un T5: 964 GA: 191)
Pascack Valley vs. Indian Hills really illustrates the two ways to look at things. Indian Hills has as intimidating a top-4 as anyone (4-man 2766 last Monday), and since the Big North is a 4-man league, they're the top team. Pascack Valley seems to almost flaunt their depth, switching up bowlers constantly as they have so many good ones and it's tough to get them all in action. Strictly by results, IH is a top-5 team; by projected strength, PV is top-5. But we're trying to balance things, so they're both right here.
Montville & Sayreville have had some lineup jumbling, but both have superstars (Erik Katterman & Chris DeOcampo) and the strength to make a postseason run. No results this week from Seneca. St. Joe's had 2 scores of 3067+ this week. All the new teams come in on the strength of recent scores. Sussex Tech's Joey Steele & Pompton Lakes' Nick Cilento are well-known top bowlers, and Livingston's Michael Liu is a freshman phenom, but Warren Hills' Eric Lawson may be the best unrecognized bowler in New Jersey.
FIVE TEAMS THAT JUST MISSED
Monroe
Lacey
Egg Harbor
Central
St. Rose
Nothing bad to say about any of these programs - it's just really close at the back end of the top 20.
FIVE TEAMS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
Fair Lawn
Howell
Edison
North Arlington
Caldwell
Fair Lawn fired 3 scores of 2349+ this week (4-man) and look to have outstanding depth. Howell came in 2nd in the FDU team challenge and have a great top 5. Edison's 2909 at Brick beat some of the teams ranked above and may signal some real improvement. North Arlington's got their GA up to 190. Caldwell gets recognized here because I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't have any SEC-Colonial data before this week. They have a genuine star in Colin Dromgoole.
Ok, we'll have girls rankings tomorrow.
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