This was, with no exaggeration, the hardest thing I've tried to do all year, bar none. Final rankings are always inherently difficult, as we try to find the balance between regular season accomplishments and performance in postseason tournaments, mindful of differences in competition level. But when the team that wins the toughest Group Final, and does it with the highest TOC total in the state, was unranked coming into sectionals? When the #1 team in the state doesn't make it to the TOC because of a crazy-loaded sectional field? This was tough. I have no doubt that my conclusions will find little agreement, but I've looked at this extensively and tinkered more than I care to admit. Hell, I made at least three minor changes while writing this up. Anyway, here's what I came up with. Fire away.
THE TOP 20 BOYS BOWLING TEAMS IN NEW JERSEY
FOR THE 2017-18 SEASON
1. EAST BRUNSWICK
State TOC champs, State Group IV champs, Central Group IV champs
Well, this one was easy, at least. The Bears hung in the top five all season, sporting a huge 207 GA (3rd in NJ) doing well at the James (2nd), CJWC (3rd) and GMC team (1st, going 8-1 in games). Sam Bortnick (224 avg) and Daniel Lenk (216) were excellent all season; when James Reitano and Jack Deruvo got hot at sectionals, we all saw just how dominant a group this could be when it counted. They made a huge comeback to overtake South Brunswick and win the state title, and looked virtually unbeatable in the Baker playoffs. Just an extraordinarily talented group that peaked at the exact right time.
2. SHAWNEE
State Group IV 3rd place, South Group IV champs
When a team with top-flight numbers (#5 in GA, bowling in true-5 format) wins the toughest sectional under the sun and shoots 3103 to finish third at states, I think that's enough to be #2. Excellent regular season, going 14-1-1 in a very tough Olympic, winning the Olympic tournament, and putting up a 3404 season-high set. This senior-laden group, including the state's very best 1-2 punch in Andy Abbonizio and Chris Pagliuso, came up just short on their state-title quest, but certainly had a season to remember.
3. WOODBRIDGE
State Group III runnerup, Central Group III runnerup
This is where things get sticky. I know Monroe beat the Barrons at both sectionals and states. But I can't discount this whole season, in which Woodbridge averaged a state-best 212, won the James, Wheeler, and Brick Tournaments, came in second at CJWC, put up a state-best 3536 series, and went an absurd 17-1 / 66-6 in GMC play, based on a couple of bad games in the postseason. This insanely deep group (nine different bowlers shot 600 at some point) was led by two of the best, James Stoveken and Kyle Bilawsky, got huge contributions from John Drost, among many others, and earned their lofty ranking all season long.
4. BRICK MEMORIAL
South Group IV third place
Everything I said about Woodbridge applies here, too. Before you start howling, note that this is literally the only team in the top 20 that did not make the TOC. They were just too damn good to rank any lower, even if they were beaten by two top-10 teams at sectionals. Another crazy deep squad, the Mustangs won the CJWC and the Shore Conference tournament, went 17-1 in regular season matches against the toughest division in NJ, finished 2nd at Snowball, 3rd at James, 2nd at Brick and 1st at RWTI. I'm sure Andrew Lazarchick, Alec Hehir, John Boughton and the rest are disappointed that their season ended early, but we're going to recognize an amazing season with a high ranking.
5. TOMS RIVER SOUTH
State Group III third place, South Group III champs
Yes, one more squad whose brilliant regular season can't be discounted because of a disappointing state final. First (and second) at RWTI, 3rd at Snowball, top qualifier at the Shore tournament, and a fantastic 205 GA (as a true-5 team). Mike Laycock, Chris Swindell and Kyle Oliveri were one the most fearsome top threes in the state. The Indians never quite found their rhythm at Bowlero, but I'm sticking to my belief that they were as good as anybody in 2017.
6. SOUTH BRUNSWICK
State Group IV runnerup, Central Group IV runnerup
I noted a few weeks ago that I may be underrating and undercovering the Vikings this season; they sure went out and proved it in the postseason: Second in the GMC tournament (topping Woodbridge in the semis), second in the sectional, second at states, and all three times were only defeated by the #1 team, East Brunswick. It's impressive what a well-balanced, talented team can do: Kohutanycz, Li, Fama, Ang and Delacruz were all capable of leading the team, and the team was greater than its parts at states, nearly pulling off the upset. Three of those starters return next year to try to finish the job.
7. MANASQUAN
TOC runnerup, State Group I champs, Central Group I champs
Tough as nails, this team. Made up a 40-pin deficit with a huge 1083 game to take a state title, hung tough in a brutal Baker semifinal win over Monroe, defeated a very talented Ocean Township team in winning their Shore Conference division. Great tournament resume even before states: 2nd at RWTI, 4th at CJWC, 2nd at Shore. The Warriors rely heavily on superstar Austin Devereux, but their success at this level is also due to huge contributions from Chris Heilos, Dylan Wolfe and Kyle Bauter.
8. SUSSEX TECH
State Group II champs, North 1B Group II champs
Hard to believe I had this team out of the rankings at Christmas; they've been nothing short of great ever since. 91-7 in winning the NJAC North, won the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex tournament by a fair margin. Came back from 169 pins down after 1 game to win their second straight state title. Really wonderful season for the Mustangs; Joey Steele and Tim Zayac may have been the top two bowlers in their conference. It shouldn't be forgotten that Sussex Tech bowled extremely well in the TOC semifinals; there's just not much you can do when your opponent fires damn near 800.
9. CHERRY HILL EAST
State Group IV 4th place, South Group IV runnerup
Only 69 pins away from a state title after a rough first game. CHE had a great postseason, starting with a huge 3149 to deny Brick Memorial a TOC slot. The Cougars were impressive right from the beginning this season, taking 3rd at the Olympic, 5th at the Snowball, and going 12-1-1 in conference matches, including a straight-up win over Shawnee. Anthony Mathis is one of the best freshmen to come along in a long time; he and Kyle Winter will anchor next year's team after graduation takes Adam Crognale and Emerson Levy.
10. BRICK TOWNSHIP
State Group III 7th place, South Group III runnerup
Impossibly deep roster seemed on the verge of jumping into that group at the very top but never quite got there: 4th at James, 4th at Wheeler, 3rd at Brick, 4th at Shore... I think we have to call it luck, 'cause it certainly wasn't lack of talent. Jordan Malizia was among the best in the Shore Conference, best in the state, all season long, and bowlers like Nick Gross, Kyle Chirichello and Nick Kafarski all showed the capability of going big. When you have a whole bunch of great teams at a tournament, somebody's going to have an off day. Dragons return a metric ton of talent for 2017-18.
11. MONROE
State Group III champs, Central Group III champs
The most surprising team result of the entire postseason, by a huge margin. Monroe just missed each of my last two state rankings, finished 11th in their only in-season tournament (CJWC) lost in the GMC quarterfinals, and carried a GA just outside the top 20 despite being in a 6/5 league. Then the Falcons went out and beat Woodbridge to win the sectional. Then they flat-out whipped the most loaded state final field in the state, running away with the championship by 137 pins with a state-best 3227, crushing their season-high by 100 pins. Louis Folgore is a legitimate star and Ryley McKiernan is very good, but this was something else. Zack Volkman and Zac Waynor beat their averages by a combined 240 pins, for goodness sake. I can't put them any higher than this without making the regular season look pointless, but this was an extraordinary performance.
12. MONTVILLE
State Group II runnerup, North 2 Group II champs
Three pins away from a state title has got to be a tough pill to swallow, but this group of Mustangs, mostly seniors including Peter Ho and superstar Erik Kattermann, who wrapped up a remarkable career, has a lot to be proud of. They went 98-0 against a pretty good league in the NJAC South, won the New Year's team challenge, placed 2nd at the Irwin, took the Morris County tournament and finished with a 197 true-5 GA after a tough start.
13. OCEAN TOWNSHIP
State Group II 4th place, Central Group II runnerup
One of the best teams in the state all season, by the numbers, OT finished with a fantastic GA of 201.6, took the LB Wave tournament and finished a strong 5th at CJWC. Things just didn't fire during the postseason: 3rd at Monmouth, 8th at Shore. They beat some good teams just to make states, and looked like their old selves, only 34 pins back after 2 games, but had a tough game 3. Very strong lineup included juniors Matt Redbord and Douglas Rhoades, who will return to give it another run in 2018.
14. ST. JOSEPH - METUCHEN
State Group II 3rd place, Central Group II champs
Strong regular season (13-4-1 in tough GMC division); lack of tournament resume pre-NJSIAA is the only knock against them. One of those fun, balanced teams that's capable of scoring big just because they all rise up together. Joe Chrobak is a 210-average stud, and he had a bunch of guys in the 190s throwing numbers and making this a dangerous tournament team, capable of beating teams like Ocean Townshp. Next year, Hoban, Biacamano, Santiago & Reggio will have to find a way to do it again without Chrobak, and I'm not betting against them.
15. POMPTON LAKES
State Group I runnerup, North 1B Group I champs
Manasquan shot past them to snatch the state title, but this was a damn fine team all season long. They went 14-0 / 96-2 in the NJIC-Colonial, had three different bowlers (Cilento, Garcia, Neil) shoot 300, and won the Passaic County tournament before becoming sectional champs and state runnersup. Former state individual champ Nick Cilento finished off a wonderful career with a 224 regular season average.
16. PASCACK VALLEY
State Group III 4th place, North 1A Group III runnerup
17. INDIAN HILLS
State Group III 9th place, North 1A Group III champs
The two best teams in the Big North have been linked in my mind all season. They go about things in different ways: Indian Hills has four great bowlers (Jared Duncan [218] and Jon Mormando [212] led the way, Ryan McGuire and Jack Miller both also excellent), and they bowl every single game. Pascack Valley rotates in six good bowlers, topped by Brian Biml's 200 and Henry Tipping's 198. Both had phenomenal regular seasons: IH was 97-8, PV was 112-14. Each had only one loss, and each was kind of inexplicable. IH had the better GA, but PV looked more tournament-ready. I had Valley ahead most of the season, but Hills' GA lead grew to ten pins, so they took the lead in the last rankings. They were in the same sectional, same group, because of course they were. IH smoked PV at sectionals by 246 pins. PV returned the favor at states, winning by 170 and taking 4th. The final ranking comes down to this: they bowled in the same event five times, and Valley came out ahead in four of them (including winning both the Irwin and the Bergen). If they bowled each other ten more times (and I'd buy a ticket to that), they would go 5-5, but this is where we're at,
18. SENECA
State Group II 8th place, South Group II champs
Postseason scores were a bit underwhelming if we're being honest, but this was a very talented team, from Jacob Boris (216 avg) on down. The four-game 4341 these guys put up at the Snowball was one of the very best performances by any team all season. That, a strong 9-2-1 regular season against a tough schedule, and the #14 GA (197.3) earn the Golden Eagles a top-twenty ranking without question.
19. WARREN HILLS
State Group III 8th place, North 2 Group III champs
This team shoots 3000 more often than you would expect, looking at the averages. Eric Lawson (211) is excellent, and Darryl Price (199) is very good, but after that it's several in the 180s. No matter, they come together into an impressive whole pretty regularly: 62-1 in conference play, strong 6th at the CJWC and the best team score at the entire North 2 sectional. Bad final game at states did them in, but this was a worthy top-20 team all season long.
20. WAYNE HILLS
State Group III 3rd place, North 1B Group III champs
As it was happening, Wayne Hills finishing 3rd at states was just as surprising to me as Monroe winning the thing. It shouldn't have been though; the Patriots were pretty good all season long, and they found another gear when freshman Tom Luchetta started getting playing time (Nick Kent and Patrick Mayer had the two high averages among season-long regulars). Wayne Hills' 187.5 GA doesn't reflect how good they became late in the year. Only eight teams in the entire state managed to crack 3000 at both sectionals and states, and these guys were one of them. That'll get you a top-20 spot.
THE NEXT TWELVE (ALPHABETICALLY)
Bishop Ahr (Central Group I runnerup)
Central Regional
Dickinson (North 1B Group IV champs)
Egg Harbor
Hawthorne (North 1B Group II runnerup)
Hudson Catholic (North 1B Group I runnerup)
Lacey (South Group II runnerup)
Lyndhurst (North 1A Group II runnerup)
Old Bridge
Sayreville
St. Rose
Toms River North
SPECIAL MENTION OF TEAMS THAT MADE STATES
AND/OR BROKE 3000 AT SECTIONALS
Livingston (North 2 Group IV champs)
Jackson Memorial
St. Peter's Prep (North 1B Group IV runnerup)
Ridgewood (North 1A Group IV runnerup)
Lenape
Scotch Plains (North 2 Group III runnerup)
Fort Lee (North 1A Group II champs)
Cinnaminson (South Group I champs)
Roselle Park (North 2 Group I champs, State Group I 3rd place)
Union (North 2 Group IV runnerup)
Sparta (North 1B Group III runnerup)
Hasbrouck Heights (North 1A Group I champs)
Maple Shade (South Group I runnerup)
Northern Highlands (North 1A Group IV champs)
Becton (North 1A Group I runnerup)
Jefferson (North 2 Group II runnerup)
Dayton (North 2 Group I runnerup)
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