Monday, February 12 at Bowlero Carolier, North Brunswick
Forty of the best boys bowling teams in New Jersey will gather on Monday morning. Four of them will walk out of the building as state champions, and one of those four will be the Tournament of Champions winner as well. Let's meet the teams.
Team score in parentheses is score from sectional tournament. GA is season-long Game Average. Bowlers listed are projected starters. Bowler averages are overall if available, conference otherwise. Some of these averages, especially those from nj.com, may be slightly out of date (a week old, perhaps two). More detailed commentary on most teams appears in the applicable sectional preview.
GROUP I
defending champ: Manasquan
#7 ST. ROSE
1st in Central (3073) GA: 196.4
Joey Chiusano (210), Jarrett Toth (207), Carter Vanderslice (205), Vinny Mastria (201), David Schuld (198)
#13 HUDSON CATHOLIC
1st in North 1B (3031) GA: 198.6
Geoffrey Origenes (216), Jivan Persaud (202), Steven Beck (195), James Palalonia (190), Ashook Persaud (188)
MATAWAN
2nd in Central (2995) GA: 183.0
Ryan Nesbitt (182), Steven Ferrera (169), Aaron Reingold (195), Chris McShane (173), Zachary Grillo (193)
NORTH ARLINGTON
1st in North 1A (2973) GA: 185.7
Eric McKenna (199), Brandon Barth (185), Liam Henkel (181), Kenny Bennett (172), Trent Petito (154)
ROSELLE (ABRAHAM CLARK)
2nd in North 2 (2746) GA: 172.7
Luis Torres (211), Joshua Loeb (182), Brandon Patterson (178), Austin Torres (183), Zuri Simmons (142)
BISHOP EUSTACE
1st in South (2830) GA: 171.4
Zach Young (201), Anthony Berna (170), Bryce DiMedio (168), Matt Turnipseed (170), Chase Turner (143)
ARTHUR L. JOHNSON
1st in North 2 (2783) GA: 169.3
Andrew Beach (201), Tom Le (169), Brandon Laraway (151), Nick Kelly (159), Evan Galli (167)
POMPTON LAKES
2nd in North 1B (2546) GA: 166.4
David Neil (193), Noemi Martinez (142), Michael Milligan (183), Mostafa Saleh (159), Mackenzie Ryan (128)
COLLLINGSWOOD
2nd in South (2750) GA: 159.9
Christopher Bunnell (174), Nick Cole (141), Alijah Fontanez (187), Jonathan Hahn (163), Hieu Tran (141)
LEONIA
2nd in North 1A (2746) GA: 157.5
Gabrielle Capalad (184), Sun Jae Park (152), Andy Hong (173), Michael Kang (132), Emma Selleck (124)
St. Rose and Hudson Catholic look to be on a different level from the other teams, though Matawan has proven a few times that it's capable of coming together for a run at teams with bigger numbers. North Arlington and Roselle are reasonable darkhorse candidates, too. At the end of the day, my instincts say the Roses may have too much for anyone to handle, but so many guys on the top two have shot big sets this year that whoever gets one really hot bowler may be the champ.
GROUP II
defending champ: Sussex Tech
#5 ST. JOSEPH - METUCHEN
1st in Central (3089) GA: 206.3
John Hoban (207), Brendan Sosinski (202), Conor Quigley (202), John Reggio (200), Justin Biancamano (200)
#9 SOUTH PLAINFIELD
2nd in Central (2917) GA: 201.3
Shaun Boffard (206), Mike Menkin (204), Angelo Salici (204), Ryan Berardi (191), Chris Lacasale (188)
#11 SUSSEX TECH
1st in North 1B (3294) GA: 198.4
Joey Steele (222), Pat Danielson (202), Matt Grey (200), Matt Danielson (176), Danny McNeilly (188)
#20 SENECA
2nd in South (3002) GA: 192.8
Zach Malcolm (198), Cole Ludwikowski (193), Eddie Cashwell (188), Mitch Tippin (191), Jake Walters (195)
MONTVILLE (just missed)
2nd in North 2 (2701) GA: 189.1
Adam Gelvan (204), Zach Kirschner (192), Jamie Paddock (187), Ben Sherman (196), Andrew Donnelly (183)
JACKSON LIBERTY
1st in South (3106) GA: 186.0
Gerard Chidichimo (187), Preston Williams (195), Justin Bohn (213), Brian Dalmar (182), Kevin Schenkenberger (168)
MAHWAH
2nd in North 1A (2883) GA: 185.8
Liam Barron (193), Shane Graynor (185), Tyler Klein (189), Eric Grunblatt (187), John Picciano (197)
UNION CATHOLIC
1st in North 2 (2841) GA: 170.5
Goldera Surles (201), Kaitlyn Lowey (182), Owen Quinn (170), Dan Nocera (163), John Iannaccone (159)
RIDGEFIELD PARK
1st in North 1A (3027) GA: 168.4
Derek Lewandowski (229), Roberto Martinez (183), Jesse Kim (182), Brandon Voorhees (182), Chris Estupian (146)
HARRISON
2nd in North 1B (2523) GA: 156.6
Kenyi Vivanco (148), Josh Vinanzaca (154), Luis Quito (172), Louis Palomino (147), Kenny Vivanco (140)
I'm tempted to call this one "wide open", but it seems very unlikely that at least one of those top three, or possibly Jackson Liberty, will go nuts and put up 3200+, which is probably out of the range of most of the field. Just a gut feeling, but a two-team battle between St. Joe's and Sussex Tech feels like the way this might end, and we all should have learned last year to never underestimate those Mustangs. If the scoring conditions are tough, Seneca and Ridgefield Park could be surprises.
GROUP III
defending champ: Monroe
#3 WOODBRIDGE
1st in Central (3170) GA: 209.2
Jason Bilawsky (211), John Drost (207), James Stoveken (226), Alex Silva (198), Jeremy Soto (197)
#4 TOMS RIVER SOUTH
2nd in South (3023) GA: 205.0
Kyle Oliveri (213), Kevin DiBernardo (208), Andrew Xiques (206), Nick Brescia (203), Jim Breslin (194)
#8 BRICK TOWNSHIP
1st in South (3165) GA: 196.9
Nick Gross (200), Kyle Chirichello (198), Stephen Spirio (196), Chris Shymanski (209), Andrew Masi (202)
#12 WAYNE HILLS
2nd in North 1B (2905) GA: 198.8
Dylan Heinold (205), Tom Luchetta (208), Steven Neri (197), Nick Kent (195), Matt Klarberg (190)
#18 MORRIS KNOLLS
2nd in North 2 (2842) GA: 195.1
Rob Murray (222), Joey Lamont (212), Chase DiMare (194), James Benjamin (181), Zak Van Riper (175)
#19 LINDEN
1st in North 2 (2996) GA: 192.7
Anthony Golabek (203), Matt Soto (194), James Fitz (204), Darius Lewis (184), Justin Peters (192)
WEST MILFORD ("good argument")
1st in North 1B (3021) GA: 189.3
R.J. Utter (199), Andrew Finke (208), Tyler Nicol (192), Nicholas Michael (185), Amanda Finke (173)
DEMAREST ("good argument")
1st in North 1A (2819) GA: 189.6
Jordan Tse (220), Nick Allegro (188), Ben Nelson (179), Lucas Mattes (177), Peter Iovine (170)
BERGENFIELD
2nd in North 1A (2807) GA: 177.9
Peter Bondy (197), Derek Weigl (191), George Ferguson (186), Eric Weiss (158), Ian Punla (153)
MANALAPAN
2nd in Central (3106) GA: 177.9
Justin Korman (198), Adam Natoli (167), Dan Rose (175), David Korman (176), James Quagliariello (166)
Woodbridge and TRS are the best bets to run away and hide, of course, but Brick, Hills, Knolls and Linden all have the chops to hang in a shootout, at least for a while. And West Milford... well, they just thrive in a tournament setting, so that's our best darkhorse. After what Monroe did to this field last year, we know anything's possible, and there are a few genuine potential surprises out there, but I think Woodbridge probably gets it done this time. with TRS and Brick pushing them all the way.
GROUP IV
defending champ: East Brunswick
#1 EAST BRUNSWICK
1st in Central (3355) GA: 219.0
Daniel Lenk (242), Sam Bortnick (226), Andrew Mai (207), Jack Deruvo (196), Armen Shamim (211)
#2 BRICK MEMORIAL
1st in South (3093) GA: 206.3
Michael Guzman (206), Andrew Varela (203), Cameron Waldheim (202), Alec Hehir (214), John Boughton (209)
ST. PETER'S PREP (just missed)
1st in North 1B (2962) GA: 190.7
Jared Ammugauan (220), Maverick Lindo (196), Zack Oswald (195), Jordan Veverka (188), Nick Cocciadiferro (176)
LENAPE (just missed)
2nd in South (3052) GA: 191.1
Devan Patel (201), Jayen Patel (187), Ryan Delozier (186), Brendan Kelly (186), Amar Patel (198)
PASCACK VALLEY (good argument)
2nd in North 1A (2921) GA: 194.1
Scott Morris (202)**, Brian Biml (199), Henry Tipping (198), Trevor Lauber (196), Jake Murad (172), Evan Murad (177)
**injured
UNION (good argument)
1st in North 2 (3043) GA: 191.0
Nick Melchionna (199), Kiara Powell (200), Lacey Beall (185), Samantha Valle (178), Kevin Oliveira (194)
RIDGEWOOD (good argument)
1st in North 1A (2992) GA: 189.0
Matt Myers (206), Brian Skettini (206), Jayden Fraiman (177), Anthony Mayer-Aschhoff (182), James Schimmel (164)
HOWELL (good argument)
2nd in Central (3238) GA: 187.1
Robbie Wetzel (201), Brian Garofano (198), Gus Horvath (184), Mike Kortenhaus (182), Jake Hager (187), Quentin Horvath (180)
CLIFTON
2nd in North 1B (2853) GA: 189.3
Joe Paolillo (211), Johann Gamo (214), Sean Cruz (202), Jacky Cheng (154), Tyler DeBenedetto (121)
LIVINGSTON
2nd in North 2 (2881) GA: 180.8
Michael Liu (218), Louis Farer (184), David Poesi (179), Daniel Aromando (175), Max Ramer (166)
St. Peter's Prep is capable of a run. So is Union. Howell could repeat what they did at sectionals. But #1 vs. #2 for the championship seems more likely, and the sky's the limit on the scores. If somehow neither superteam fires, it's absolutely anybody's game, and in a lower-scoring state final, I like balance, and that makes Lenape the darkhorse.
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