Boys Rankings at the Break

I think I have the vast majority of data current, a handful of stragglers aside, so let's try this again.

THE TOP 20 BOYS BOWLING TEAMS IN NEW JERSEY

1. East Brunswick
GMC   GA: 217.4
Not a whole lot of debate here: Daniel Lenk, Sam Bortnick, Armen Shamim, Andrew Mai and Jack Deruvo are all still bowling great. Last match before the break was a huge 3259 in a win over a very good St. Joseph's team.

2. Toms River South
Shore-South-A   GA: 206.1
Plenty of debate here, though.  23-1 in SSA and a sweep of Brick Memorial on Monday.  Five guys over 200 in conference:  Kevin DiBernardo, Kyle Oliveri, Nick Brescia, Andrew Xiques and Jim Breslin.

3. Woodbridge
GMC   GA: 207.9
32-4 with the only loss coming to East Brunswick.  Put up 3320 & 3321 in matches last week: the Barrons are definitely on the upswing and their depth is asserting itself, with Alex Silva joining James Stoveken, John Drost and Jason Bilawsky as constant threats to post a big number.

4. Brick Memorial
Shore-South-A   GA: 207.1
Took the RWTI title after excelling in the Baker playoffs and put up a season-high 3271 in a sweep of Brick Township on Friday. Another team with all 200+ starters: Alec Hehir, Michael Guzman, John Boughton, Cameron Waldheim and Andrew Varela.

5. Monroe
GMC   GA: 204.4
Another pair of 3000 sets last week, on the heels of a strong 2nd in the Baker challenge. Ryley McKiernan put up a monster set of 780 and has his average up to 215, while Louis Folgore remains in the stratosphere at 226 and Zac Waynor is right at 200 as well.

6. South Plainfield
GMC   GA: 205.0
Still sitting with an excellent 29-3 GMC record and featuring an awesome top three of Angelo Salici, Shaun Boffard and Mike Menkin, these guys are the clear state title favorites in Group II.

7. St. Joseph-Metuchen
GMC  GA: 203.1
Finished the calendar year off with very strong sets of 3168 and 3134, this team is basically the same as last year's state title contenders: very deep, very balanced, and capable of giving anyone a match.  John Hoban leads  the way with a 204 conference average.

8. St. Rose
Shore-Central-A   GA: 194.8
Leading the very tough SCA at 14-4, put up 3000 sets seemingly at will.  Jarrett Toth and David Schuld are over 200 in-conference, and Joey Chiusano has broken out in a big way, currently sitting at 222.

9. Wayne Hills
Big North   GA: 200.2
At this point, the clear choice for top team in the Big North, despite a 4-3 loss to West Milford in which WH shot a 4-man 2425. Dylan Heinold, Nick Kent and Tom Luchetta are all over 200 on the young season, and this is that rare Big North team that looks like it goes a legit 5-deep.

10. Brick Township
Shore-South-A   GA: 198.5
A click behind the top two in SSA, there's still a world of talent here, led by 3 200+ bowlers in Chris Shymanski, Andrew Masi and Nick Gross.

11. South Brunswick
GMC   GA: 197.4
Season-high 3221 in a big win over South Plainfield last week. Anthony Fama is sailing along at 208, with a bunch of guys that can shoot 600 on any given day behind him.

12. Pascack Valley
Big North   GA: 199.3
Only question mark here might be 5-man depth: the top four are just fantastic, with the all-junior quartet of Scott Morris, Brian Biml, Henry Tipping and Trevor Lauber going as high as a 4-man 2608.

13. Hudson Cathollic
HCIAL   GA: 197.3
Some really good bowling happening up in the HCIAL, and while St. Peter's has the best record by a bit, HC has put up the best numbers, led by a high-quality top two: Geoffrey Origenes and Jivan Persaud.

14. Manasquan
Shore-Central-A   GA: 195.6
3rd at RWTI, 2nd in conference standings and a huge high set of 3196.  Juniors Kyle Bauter and Dylan Wolfe are keeping Manasquan right near the top with averages over 215.

15. Sussex Tech
NJAC-North   GA: 192.5
Facing arguably their toughest conference competition, they put up a season-high 3048. I'm convinced we won't know just how good these guys are until tournament time, but for now they are very, very good, led by Joey Steele's 219 average, with Matt Grey and Pat Danielson just a hair below 200.

16. Morris Knolls
NJAC-South   GA: 195.8
The class of the conference, chugging along at 40-2, and led by what at this point we must say is the best top-two in the state this side of Bortnick/Lenk: Rob Murray and Joey Lamont are each over 220 in conference matches.

17. Seneca
Olympic   GA: 194.5
Olympic tournament champs put up 3032 in a sweep of Lenape, probably their toughest conference competitor.  Zachary Malcolm has emerged as their top gun, averaging 208 in-conference.

18. North Brunswick
GMC   GA: 198.8
Just a little slippage the last week or two, but the season-long numbers are still strong enough to easily justify a top-20 ranking, and David Burrows' 209 average remains one of the best in the GMC.

19. Demarest
Big North   GA: 196.6
Daniel Lenk has maybe two competitors in the "hottest start" category, and one of them is Jordan Tse of Demarest, who has two 300 games and a 238 average.  Nick Allegro leads a group of quality bowlers behind Tse, making this team a very viable contender.

20. Linden
Union-Watchung   GA: 192.6
This spot could have gone to any of a half-dozen, but Linden leads their conference, won the Baker Challenge, and has an emerging star I've never written about in James Fitz, who's averaging 205.

FIVE THAT JUST MISSED

Clifton
Edison
Fair Lawn
Ocean Township
Union

This is just impossible; harder than last year, it seems.  Generally, what separates the top 10 and these teams fighting for spots between like 15 & 25, is depth.  There is obviously, plenty of top-line talent on every one of the squads, from Johann Gamo and Joe Paolillo at Clifton, to Jason Smith & Wyatt Buchany at Edison, Nick Greco and Tyler Nappi at Fair Lawn, Matt Redbord and Mark Butler at Ocean Township, and Kiara Powell at Union.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Indian Hills
Lenape
Montville
St. Peter's
West Milford

Usually, I restrict "keep an eye" teams to those not mentioned the previous week, but Lenape dropped from #20 all the way past "just missed" through zero fault of their own and deserve a mention.  West Milford put up a monster 4-man 2610 on Thursday.  St. Peter's is ahead of Hudson Catholic in their league, and the reports of the demise of last year's dominant teams in Indian Hills and Montville were certainly premature, with IH's Ryan McGuire lighting things up and Montville's Jamie Paddock putting up the sixth-highest girls set in the state at 713.