3/10/11 Big North-Patriot Division results

The old Northern Bergen Interscholastic League was one of The Messenger's favorite leagues to recap back in the day, in part because the final statistics packet put together by league commish/Bergenfield head coach Howie Conklin was a veritable statman's paradise.

Well, the good news is, Coach Conklin is still the commish of the new Big North-Patriot Divison, so the stat pack lives on... even if the new league is a random amalgamation of old NBIL-1, NBIL-2 and BCSL-American teams.

The Ramsey boys claimed their second consecutive outright league title (third in a row overall), holding off Pascack Valley in a fierce race that came down to a scant few points. This may have been the strongest division in North Jersey, given that both squads won their respective Group championships at the Bergen County tournament, both advanced to the State team finals, and both fielded the two top shooters in Bergen, seniors Kyle Landau (Rams) and Brian O'Flaherty (PV).

Meanwhile, the Bergenfield girls did as TM quasi-predicted in this very corner of the blogosphere last season — the Bears won their seventh straight league championship, with the last three all coming in different conferences (NBIL-2, NBIL-1, Big North-Patriot). Again, Pascack Valley played a pretty mean second fiddle... in fact the Indian girls finished with the exact same divisional record as the boys, which is a slightly eerie coincidence.

And now, for the tasty tidbits from the "Odds & Ends" page of the stat pack: River Dell junior Max Barnett finished the season with 9 straight 200-plus games... In 16 matches, Kyle Landau opened up with a 200 game on 13 occasions... the list of most 200 games on the season — (boys) Bergenfield junior Brian DiMarco 26, O'Flaherty 24, Landau 23; (girls) Bergenfield juniors Sarah Esmenda (7) and Cassidy Fiore (4) and Indian Hills junior Emily Ostapczuk with 4... and, always a fan favorite, the highest "low games" of the year belonged to Landau and O'Flaherty (tie, 160) and Esmenda (133).

Final random nuggets: Pascack Valley junior Tim Frantin rolled a 300 against Tenafly on Jan. 11, becoming the first Big North-Patriot bowler to do so (although DiMarco bowled a perfecto in this leagues quote-unquote "predecessor", the NBIL-2, last season)... although Mahwah struggled this season, junior Kevin Knapp had the team's high average (155) and their lone 200-plus game, a 214. Senior Esther Kim and freshman Allison Homler tied for the Lady T-Birds' high game (184)... nickname of the year may have to be Ramsey freshman Tyler Suser, who goes by "Doc" on the overhead screen (a play on the pronunciation of his last name — think Dr. Seuss). The Landau twins' handles of "R-Lanny" and "K-Lanny" seemed to be fan favorites as well, so much so that Indian Hills dubbed junior anchor Bridget Pyryt "B-Lanny". Go figure...

At any rate, congrats to coach Bill Chesney and the Rams, and to coach Conklin and the Bears, for claiming the inaugural Big North-Patriot titles. The stats:

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

Patriot Div. - Boys	W	L	Avg.
Ramsey	55	5	957
Pascack Valley	52	8	952
Indian Hills	40	20	881
Tenafly	28	32	861
Bergenfield	20	40	836
River Dell	13	47	774
Mahwah	2	58	714

Boys high game: Tim Frantin (PV), 300
Boys high series: Brian DiMarco (B'field), 566 (2 games)
Boys All-League 1st Team w/averages: Brian O'Flaherty (PV), 225.93; Kyle Landau (Rams), 225.81; Brian DiMarco (B'field), 220; Max Barnett (RD), 211; Sam Fogelgaren (T'fly), 203; Marc Solangon (B'field), 199; Ryan Landau (Rams), 198.
Boys 2nd Team w/averages: Joe Farinelli (PV), 197; Tim Frantin (PV), 195; Jerry Azzolini (IH), 188; Andrew Wierzbicki (IH), 185; Jarrett Floyd (Rams), 184; Graham Mulligan (IH), 182; Ethan McGowan (T'fly), 176.31; Andrew Trinidad (B'field), 176.22; Pat Mercogliano (IH), 175.54.
Boys Honorable Mention: Josh Burke (B'field); Eliot Sackler (T'fly); George Kim (RD); Perry Starr (Mah.); Mike Shine (PV); Ronny Wagner (IH); Bryan Boyd (Rams).

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Patriot Div. - Girls	W	L	Avg.
Bergenfield	56	4	742
Pascack Valley	52	8	686
Indian Hills	38	22	643
Tenafly	25	35	610
Ramsey	15	45	585
Mahwah	14	46	570
River Dell	10	50	538

Girls high game: Emily Ostapczuk (IH), 268
Girls high series: Emily Ostapczuk (IH), 447 (2 games)
Girls All-League 1st Team w/averages: Sarah Esmenda (B'field), 176; Emily Ostapczuk (IH), 173; Cassidy Fiore (B'field), 168; Bridget Pyryt (IH), 159; Claire Reiser (PV), 154; Emma Taylor (T'fly), 146; Samantha Griffenkranz (B'field), 144.
Girls 2nd Team w/averages: Danielle Volpe (PV), 139.93; Danielle Hayes (B'field), 139.56; Sky Davenport (PV), 139.18; Ashley Delaney (PV), 132; Jodi Iannantuano (RD), 131.93; Nicole Schielzo (B'field), 131.00; Carolyn Donnelly (Rams), 129.
Girls Honorable Mention: Melissa Schielzo (B'field); Melissa Ehrlich (T'fly); Sarah Lee (RD); Alise Strauch (Mah.); Maggie Campbell (PV); Harveen Kaur (IH); Laura Dosch (Rams).

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.

3/10/11 Big North-American Division results

Finally, a league where The Messenger doesn't have to get used to some drastic name change. What remains of the old BCSL-American Division has become the Big North-American, which this winter bowled at various houses and typically had crossover matches with the Big North-Patriot.

In the boys division, Dumont emerged as champ behind seniors Austin Bonacum and Marc Reimann — both left-handers, and therefore both sure-fire Parker Bohn III All-Stars. Although give credit to Ridgefield Park... the Scarlets not only made the league a close race, they also finished higher at sectionals and had senior Sean Carmody place 12th in the State individually. Come to think of it, third-place Westwood finished higher than both its chief rivals at Counties, so basically all three of them can claim some sort of bragging rights.

For the girls, Westwood brought home the title in a division that was rife with Q-power... the Cardinals had junior Chelsea Qualliu in their rotation, and runner-up Dumont featured senior Qynn Pascual. (See? This is what happens when TM can't get to any league matches and all he can comment on are his favorite letters). And hey, Cliffside Park hung in there too, thanks to league average leader Nicolette Brenner — who, incidentally, placed 6th at Counties for the second straight year. *Those* are the types of random factoids you'll find only on the NJBB!

Anyhow, congrats to coach Mark Ferrara and the Huskies, and to coach Dan Rattacasa and the Cardinals, for claiming the inaugural Big North-American crowns. The stats:

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

American Div. - Boys	W	L	Avg.
Dumont	30	10	875
Ridgefield Park	28	12	888
Westwood	25	15	856
Fort Lee	15	25	735
Cliffside Park	2	38	598

Boys high game: (TIE) Sean Carmody (RP) & David Daniels (FL), 278
Boys high series: Carmody, 492 (2 games)
Boys All-League 1st Team w/averages: Sean Carmody (RP), 216; Austin Bonacum (Dum.), 203; Christian Sontag (WW), 197; Nick Keim (RP), 193; Marc Reimann (Dum.), 191; Andrew Cirillo (WW), 181; Ryan Perez (Dum.), 178.
Boys 2nd Team w/averages: Nick Cytowicz (Dum.), 177; David Daniels (FL), 175; Kei Kase (FL), 174; Mike Benaquista (WW), 171; Dakota Krokus (WW), 170; Dan Buttacavole (RP), 165; Kerlyn Cortinas (RP), 164.
Boys Honorable Mention: Eric Blakeman (Dum.); Ammad Quirashi (FL); Vinnie Bucceri (CP); Ian Woods (RP); Bobby Grimaldi (WW).

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American Div. - Girls	W	L	Avg.
Westwood	37	3	690
Dumont	26	14	667
Cliffside Park	25	15	651
Fort Lee	10	30	586
Ridgefield Park	2	38	529

Girls high game: Mary Schneider (WW), 254
Girls high series: Nicolette Brenner (CP), 490 (2 games)
Girls All-League 1st Team w/averages: Nicolette Brenner (CP), 177; Mary Schneider (WW), 166; Yeliz Inalman (FL), 154; Kirsty Flores (Dum.), 142; Kristen Bonacum (Dum.), 140.18; Kelsey Nobile (WW), 140.14; Chelsea Qualliu (WW), 137.
Girls 2nd Team w/averages: Kristen Connolly (WW), 134; Melissa Reimann (Dum.), 133; Kamber Chaiken (Dum.), 131; Kristen Fernandez (Dum.), 128; Qynn Pascual (Dum.), 124.92; Tiffany Ebanks (WW), 124.88; Sarah Ann Martello (CP), 121.
Girls Honorable Mention: Justine Valdez (FL); Sabrina Johannemann (CP); Chin-Kyong Kim (RP).

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.

3/7/11 Big North-National Division results

In Peanuts-speak, The Messenger would use the rubric: "It's an NBIL reunion, Charlie Brown!" For all intents and purposes, the old NBIL Division 1 reformed as the Big North-National, minus Bergenfield and Wayne Hills.

Fair Lawn rejoined the others after a one-year "exile" to the stopgap NJTCC and came back with a flourish, winning the girls division title. For the boys, Northern Highlands added to its banner year, bringing home a league title for the first time since– we're not really sure. The Highlanders had a bowling team back in the 1970s, dropped it somewhere along the line in the early '80s, then resurrected the program about eight years ago. So, to borrow a page from TMQ's book of nomenclature, we can say it's the first league championship for Northern Highlands Release 2.0.

Congrats to coach Matt Markman and the Cutters, and to coach Rich Smith and the Highlanders, for claiming the inaugural Big North-National crowns. The stats:

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

National Div. - Boys	W	L
No. Highlands	36	4
Ramapo	32	8
Fair Lawn	21	19
Old Tappan	10	30
Demarest	0	40

Boys All-League 1st Team w/averages: Mike Carr (R'po), 221.5; Billy Olszewski (NH), 211.1; Kevin Macchia (R'po), 203.8; Ben Schuckman (FL) 195.2; Eric Sibbald (NH), 195.1; Josh Taylor (NH), 187.8; Nick Rossi (NH), 187.7.
Boys 2nd Team w/averages: Matt Brown (FL), 182; Victor Stickna (R'po), 174.7; Ray Geller (OT), 172.7; Tyler Kammen (R'po), 171.8; Nick Fasolo (R'po), 170.9; Scott Royse (OT), 169.6; Brendan LoDolce (FL), 168.1.
Boys Honorable Mention w/averages: Chris Keane (NH), 166.5; Joe Haverilla (OT), 155.6; Ian Wiese (Dem), 143.3; Shawn Kerestes (FL), 142.3.

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National Div. - Girls	W	L
Fair Lawn	38	2
No. Highlands	20	20
Demarest	17	23
Ramapo	15	25
Old Tappan	10	30

Girls All-League 1st Team w/averages: Denise Marain (FL), 157.84; Nicole Munczinski (FL), 153; Ellie Schuckman (FL), 144.87; Tiffany Lee (Dem), 142.38; Shannon Rossi (NH), 140.58; Chelsea Lawlor (FL), 131.50; Carly Bonsignore (R'po), 129.03.
Girls 2nd Team w/averages: Jen Do (R'po), 128.91; Cassandra Weisman (NH), 127.04; Yoojung Kim (Dem), 119.63; Kristina Barila (OT), 115.93; Emily Sposa (OT), 115.83; Cari Gaynes (Dem), 114; Trisha Gregory (NH), 114.
Girls Honorable Mention: Jessica Oviedo (FL); Lauren Scheck (R'po); Amanda Mamunes (NH); Shannon McBride (OT); Mina Choi (Dem).

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.

3/7/11 Big North-Freedom Division results

Made up primarily of former NNJIL/NJTCC-Bergen denizens, the Big North-Freedom featured a good, close race on the girls side and a not-so-close one on the boys side. Most everyone in this division called Bowler City home, but again, with the amorphous mass that is the new Big North Conference, almost everybody bowled in at least two or three different houses this year.

Anyway, The Messenger was a bit surprised to see Hackensack mixing it up with the big boys at tournaments this year since, well, he was under the impression that the Comets had lost a few key components to graduation. Having observed facts to the contrary, he is not surprised that they are the inaugural boys champs of the Freedom Division.

The girls league chase featured a great battle between Bergen Tech and Ridgewood. The latter got the best of the former at Counties and State sectionals, but the Knights eked out the division title in perhaps the most literal sense — they won both meetings, 3-2, and according to the Maroon folks, the first match-up between the two was decided by something like 8 pins.

Again, with the Big North's decentralized bookkeeping this year, the NJBB was unable to accrue quite the depth and breadth of stats it so ardently pursues. Also, please note that all BN standings we have will include ONLY intra-division matches and *not* crossovers. Nonetheless, TM is happy to be able to present the All-League selections along with the standings:

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

Freedom Div. - Boys	W	L
Hackensack	34	6
Ridgewood	20	20
Teaneck	20	20
Paramus	14	26
Bergen Tech	12	28

Boys All-League 1st Team w/averages: Rob Gilbert (H'sack), 205.91; Dean Edwards (BT), 193.07; Dylan Laloo (Tea), 190; Dalton Dupree (Tea), 190; John Draney (H'sack), 189.94; Justin Stumpf (Tea), 188.3; Kevin Skettini (R'wood), 185.25.
Boys 2nd Team w/averages: Gordon Chen (Par), 185.1; George Steffani (BT), 184.3; Shane Sassone (Par), 183.5; Kevin Muldoon (R'wood), 180.5; Justin Morin (Tea), 180; Kevin Hamza (H'sack), 177.78; Takuya Tokunago (Par), 176.6.
Boys Honorable Mention: Christopher Cannon (H'sack); Jordon Kotellos (R'wood); Michael Vacarro (Tea); Yuki Ito (Par); Kevin Toledo (BT).
Boys Coach of the Year: Bob Lotz (Hackensack)

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Freedom Div. - Girls	W	L
Bergen Tech	36	4
Ridgewood	34	6
Hackensack	20	20
Teaneck	5	35
Paramus	5	35

Girls All-League 1st Team w/averages: Belle Estee Dante (BT), 184.3; Nyasia Williams (BT), 181; Shelby Taylor (R'wood), 179.83; Nicolette Maggiolo (R'wood), 171.19; Jesmarie Reyes (BT), 163.2; Kelly Skettini (R'wood), 162.83; Kendall Tinston (R'wood), 160.67.
Girls 2nd Team w/averages: Rachel Healy (H'sack), 158; Sarah Chirichella (BT), 153.4; Brittany Hovan (Par), 153; Kim Ercolino (BT), 152.43; Brenda Griepenberg (Tea), 150; Stacie Harewood (H'sack), 149; Kelsey Sarro (H'sack), 142.
Girls Honorable Mention: Alex Ptak (BT); Gwen Widicus (R'wood); Cindy Navaro (H'sack); Marissa Guilianti (Par); Billie Jean Kureck (Tea).
Girls Coach of the Year: Joe Prenenski (Bergen Tech)

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.

3/3/11 NJIC-Patriot Division results

As promised, both NJIC divisions that call Wallington Lanes home have been given their own unique season-recapping entries. Rest assured, The Messenger is and always has been a team player... but, as anyone who's ever grown up in a house with multiple siblings knows, it's nice to get some individual attention every once in a while.

Again, quick overview the current Patriot Division residents and where they finished in their 2010 leagues: Bogota (5th in BCSL-Olympic), Hasbrouck Heights (6th, Olympic), Hawthorne Christian (8th, Olympic), North Arlington (3rd in BCSL-National), Palisades Park (9th, Olympic), Park Ridge (3rd, Olympic), St. Mary of Rutherford (2nd, National), Wallington (4th, National) and Wood-Ridge (1st, Olympic). Sadly, Ridgefield dropped its program this season, and just after TM moved into the borough... to avert future occurrences of such an unfortunate circumstance, he plans never to move back to his old home towns of Franklin Lakes or Midland Park for any reason — or, to any other town with a high school bowling team in this state.

As with our NJIC-Colonial review, all of the NJIC-Patriot's top scorers for the season are listed below, but we will reserve this paragraph for the top shooters on their respective teams that did not make any of said lists... HASBROUCK HEIGHTS: Mark Robinson, 186. HAWTHORNE CHRISTIAN: Isaac Marcinuk, 161. NORTH ARLINGTON: Matt Glarner, 182. PALISADES PARK: Kevin Lee, 160. WOOD-RIDGE: Craig Jasionek, 179... special 180-plus mention also for St Mary's Evan Downey (180 even)... special random mentions for Hasbrouck Heights' Matt Marinelli (171), whose father just celebrated a milestone birthday (39 was it?), *and* for the almost-aptly named Giuseppe Tartaglione of Wood-Ridge — yes, he only bowled one game in the league (142) and two in the North 1A sectional tournament (167, 165), but c'mon, how often do reporters get to cover athletes that have (almost) the exact same name as we? Or, at least a similar name to TM's alter ego.

Anyway, congrats to head coach Blair Boscarino and the Park Ridge Owls for swooping up the inaugural NJIC-Patriot championship. The stats:

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

NJIC - Patriot	W	L	Avg.
Park Ridge	78	2	754.7
St. Mary (Ruth.)	67	13	772.3
Wallington	52	28	703.9
Wood-Ridge	51	29	682.6
North Arlington	32	48	612.4
Hasbrouck Hts.	31	49	622.4
Hawth. Christian	22	58	595.7
Palisades Park	14	66	584.2
Bogota	13	67	544.7

High game: Dan Wuhrman (Park Ridge), 290
High series: Dan Wuhrman (Park Ridge), 510 (2 games)
Boys high average: 1. Dan Wuhrman (PR), 212.68; 2. Mike Wuhrman (PR), 205.33; 3. Stephen Marciniak (SMR), 202.34; 4. Nikko Deliantis (SMR), 195.68; 5. Chris Ferrara (Wall.), 195.56; 6. Rey DeJesus (SMR), 193.34.
Girls high average: 1. Jaclyn Yurus (HC), 148.65; 2. Leeann Butterfield (HC), 128.29.
Joe Fiegel Sportsmanship Award: Chris Ferrara (Wallington)

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.

3/2/11 NJIC-Meadowlands Division results

Wallington Lanes was home to this reincarnation of the old Bergen County Scholastic League — in fact, the erstwhile BCSL National and Olympic divisions essentially became the NJIC Meadowlands and Patriot divisions, with only slight modifications.

Granted, both new leagues still bowl together and have their stats kept by the same folks, but The Messenger decided to shake things up a bit and give each one their own recap.

Before we get into this year's final numbers, a quick review the current Meadowlands Division residents and where they finished in their 2010 leagues: Becton (6th in BCSL-National), Harrison (7th, National), Leonia (4th in BCSL-Olympic), Lyndhurst (5th, National), New Milford (2nd, Olympic), Queen of Peace (whoops, they came over from the BCSL-American, couldn't find the standings), Rutherford (also BCSL-American) and Secaucus (1st, National).

As with our NJIC-Colonial review, all of the Meadowlands' top scorers for the season are listed below, but we will reserve this paragraph for the top shooters on their respective teams that did not make any of said lists... LEONIA: Robert Zimbaldi and June Park, 180. NEW MILFORD: Matt Trento, 168. HARRISON: Robert Archibald, 160 (boys) and Adrienne Middleton, 142 (girls)... special mention also for Becton's Seif Fahmy (191) and Paul Kuprat (188), Lyndhurst's Paul Ulrich (184), Rutherford's Brandon Moore (190) and Secaucus lefty Austin Masser (196 and automatic induction into the Parker Bohn III All-Stars) for averaging over 180.

Congrats to head coach Marc Caprio and the Becton Wildcats for claiming the inaugural NJIC-Meadowlands championship. The stats:

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

NJIC - Meadowlands	W	L	Avg.
Becton	63	7	778.9
Lyndhurst	53	17	759.4
Rutherford	47	23	726.6
Leonia	39	31	690.2
Secaucus	38	32	689.2
Queen of Peace	30	40	693.3
New Milford	7	63	587.8
Harrison	3	67	527.1

Boys high game: Austin Masser (Secaucus), 279
Boys high series: Dean Hansen (Becton), 502 (2 games)
Boys high average: 1. Hansen, 208.53; 2. Max Gruttaduria (Ruth.), 204.41; 3. Dante Iyer (Sec.), 199.86; 4. Joe Bocage (Bec.), 199.48; 5. Kyle Bonser (Lynd.), 198.57; 6. Bryan Valentin (QP), 198.25.

Girls high game: Lexus Lopez (Lyndhurst), 278
Girls high series: Nikki Villani (Lyndhurst), 463 (2 games)
Girls high average: 1. Lopez, 196.53; 2. Villani, 179.94; 3. Taylor Maurer (QP), 171.13; 4. Katherine Lee (Leo.), 161.42; 5. Krystal Toledo (NM), 147.21; 6. Sarah Schrenzel (NM), 146.42.

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.

3/2/11 NJIC-Colonial Division results

The NJIC-Colonial brought varsity bowling back to Parkway Lanes in Elmwood Park this winter. Once upon a time, an Official Brother of The Messenger bowled for Indian Hills (circa 2000-03) when the old NBIL was stationed at Parkway and lane conditions were often, um, subpar.

In recent years, the lanes at Parkway have been redone, and it sure looks like the scoring has gotten a boost, at least for some. *And*, point of order, an Official Cousin of TM bowled for the Midland Park JV there this season — although the general NJBB rule of thumb is that if you carry an average lower than The Messenger (127... ish), we'll "spare" you (ahem) the indignity of being so noted. Sorry, Joe — if you really want a name drop, try starting your own blog and challenging TM to some kind of showdown, a la his pal Hanna Jane.

Anyway, this division is basically the former Bergen-Passaic Scholastic League, plus the addition of a first-year program at former B-PSL member Glen Rock, plus NBIL expatriate Pascack Hills. And wouldn't you know it? Head coach Glenn Priddy's Cowboys ran away with the first-ever NJIC-Colonial championship, winning every match and dropping just one game all year to runner-up Pompton Lakes, which had its streak of four consecutive league titles come to an end.

All the season's top scorers are listed below, but for the benefit of those teams whose top bowlers did not make any of said lists, here are the top shooters from said squads... POMPTON LAKES: Nick Oddo, 179. MANCHESTER: Justin Floyd, 171. ELMWOOD PARK: Chris Meyerhoffer, 157. MIDLAND PARK: Kyle Cairns, 139.

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

NJIC - Colonial	W	L	Avg.
Pascack Hills	88	2	912.2
Pompton Lakes	70	20	847.2
Glen Rock	67	23	811.3
Garfield	60	30	792.4
Hawthorne	49	41	738.1
Manchester	48	42	724.9
Eastern Christian	27	63	614.8
Elmwood Park	24	66	644.0
Midland Park	12	78	588.4
Mary Help	5	85	566.3

Boys high game: Jason Prezant (Pascack Hills), 300
Boys high series: Bryan Kist (Pascack Hills), 556 (2 games)
Boys high average: 1. Kist (PH), 228.06; 2. Tyler Blind (Glen Rock), 215.19; 3. Jake Rollins (Glen Rock), 204.87; 4. Prezant (PH), 204.44; 5. Peter Bruinooge (Hawthorne), 182.83; 6. Shaun Dunning (Garfield), 181.46.

Girls high game: Elizabeth Mulcock (Eastern Christian), 246
Girls high series: Elizabeth Mulcock (Eastern Christian), 391 (2 games)
Girls high average: 1. Mulcock (EC), 144.70; 2. Natasha Edwards (Garfield), 142.90; 3. Marla Auslander (Glen Rock), 135.46; 4. Sarah Butera (Manchester), 128.84; 5. Paula Redmon (Mary Help), 128.31; 6. Tiffany Badawy (Glen Rock), 128.22.

E-mail any and all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.

Raiders of the lost league standings

Forgive the title, The Messenger was watching the first film of the Indiana Jones franchise last week and... well, keep reading. You'll get it.

One of the big issues with North Jersey league realignment this year was that, in some cases, it meant teams would not be bowling their entire league season at one house. And that not every match a team bowled would count toward its division standings (Big North, we're looking in your direction). And, with divisions spread out over multiple home alleys, it meant that stat-keeping became somewhat decentralized.

In light of all this, it has taken the NJBB longer than usual to track down the league standings that we normally like to post around this time of year. Fortunately, an Official Colleague of TM (known around these parts as Reporter Guy Vince) passed along the final numbers from the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, which bore much more resemblance to the old B-PSL and BCSL National/Olympic and therefore pretty much just carried on the business-as-usual of its predecessors... although, for scheduling purposes, it does help to have solely co-ed teams.

So, over the course of the next week — before we get into postseason accolades and such — the NJBB will review all the league results we could obtain, starting with the NJIC and working our way to whatever Big North division standings come down the 'pike. TM hesitates to put a schedule on things, since ideally he'd like to get it all done as soon as possible, or at least post everything he has by Sunday evening. However, to avoid confusion (there's been enough already), he'll give each division of each league its own blog entry, even if multiple entries are filed in a given day.

FYI, N.B. & ALL THOSE OTHER GOOD ACRONYMS: The All-Bergen County meeting was held yesterday, and teams have been selected. It seems to be the trend of the local media to wait on publishing the teams for suspense-related purposes, but for TM's own purposes, he'll at least give it a week or two, so that the honorees have had the opportunity to receive the good news. Hey, far be it from this blog to deprive coaches from delivering the smiles to their bowlers' faces.

Let the recapping begin...

2/18/11 NJSIAA Team Finals - Boys

As already detailed on Tuesday's annual WGHT Sports Overtime Bowling Extravaganza, this was a big year for boys squads in The Messenger's general coverage area. Four from the GHT listening area qualified for the State team finals, which TM believes is the most in his nine years on the job. AND, a couple posted the best *finishes* by any of the locals in quite some time.

Ramapo took fifth in Group 3 by shooting 3,035, which is believed to be the first time a GHT-area team has cracked the 3,000 barrier since Clifton in 2002 (the Mustangs, incidentally, shot 3,044 that season to win the State championship, five years before the NJSIAA instituted group titles). Anyhow, the Green Raiders will return 4 of 5 starters next year, with Victor Stickna being the only senior on this year’s squad. Juniors Kevin Macchia (234-243), Mike Carr (213-236), Nick Fasolo (217) and Tyler Kammen (213) all rolled deuces in a 1,084 second game, and their best showing in the "Game 3" Baker series was 233. Plenty more to come on the fellows from Franklin Lakes in an upcoming edition of Suburban News.

In its first-ever trip to Carolier Lanes, Northern Highlands fired a pair of "10-handles" (as coach Rich Smith called them) en route to a sixth-place 2,924 in Group 4. The most interesting storyline for the Highlanders — and this was a deal that began in the Bergen County tournament — was that even though the team won the Big North National Division title, it somehow always struggled in tournaments at Bowler City. So, for the last two games at the Counties, Smith told his charges that whoever had the lowest score in the next game would get subbed out, since they have 6 pretty good bowlers... TM thought that was a neat motivational tool (which his alter ego did not have space to mention in today's Town Journal article), and it really seemed to work at both sectionals and States: Highlands was over 1,000 in each of the 1st two games last Friday before they stumbled in the Baker round. However, they do have the entire team coming back next year, including juniors Eric Sibbald (225-233) and Billy Olszewski (182-255) and sophomore Josh Taylor (218-224).

As far as the other GHT teams went, Clifton (2,615) ended up 10th in Group 4, while West Milford (2,364, 10th in Group 3) made its first appearance at Carolier since TM was on the Highlanders beat for the Suburban Trends in 2005. (Something about those newspapers in the 'burbs keeps drawing me in...)

As far as the other North section teams went, things weren't all that bad — if you're from Hudson County. Secaucus finished runner-up in Group 1 with nice efforts from Dante Iyer (225-236) and Darnell Winters (233-213)... Bayonne had a monster 1,151 in Game 2 (for the record: Joe Picarelli 174, Frank Iasparri 227, Nicholas Wisniewski 266, Chris Kim 205 and Jerel Rodriguez 279) and was within 30 pins of the Group 4 lead before winding up 3rd. Hey, it's tough when Jackson, Brick Memorial and East Brunswick are all posting 1,000s in the Baker games... Pascack Hills (5th in Group 2) didn't do too bad, either, and Cowboys lefty Jason Prezant deserves a little extra pop, because he threw a 300 earlier in the winter and got the same one-line treatment as PC's Nikki Vucak. Prezant had a 414 series with a high game of 233, and he will return next season along with junior classmate Bryan Kist (213-220) to help keep PH formidable... Sparta (4th in Group 3) shared lanes with Ramapo, and put on quite a show in Game 2, although the Spartans had the upper hand with an 1,123 (Sarah Rhodes 200, Alex Tamian 225, Cody Spector 219, Nicole Chanin 224, Scott Wilcox 255).

OTHER THOUGHTS NOT ALREADY TWITTERED BY TM: Jackson Memorial was the big winner in the high-stakes Group 4 bracket and did not throw a Baker game under 200... but if you thought that was impressive, how about Woodbridge? The Barrons basically laid seige to the Group 3 title with a Baker series of 1,118: 213, 278, 168, 225, 234. How'd that 168 get in there? Regardless, that signaled the end of Sayreville's three-year run as Group 3 champs... Ocean Township won its first-ever Group 2 crown, and yes, the Spartans' Kenny Ryan did bowl opposite of Manchester Township's Ryan Kenny for the entire day. I love word play... and of course, hail to the champs from Keansburg, who rolled nine consecutive strikes in Game 3 of the Tournament of Champions finals to turn the tide in their favor.

Actually, in TM's mind, K-burg's turning point came on the ball before the nine-bagger. Senior Shaun Moran left a 4-6-7 split and almost converted it, with the 6 falling forward to wobble the 7 ever so slightly. Being a sucker for the "hidden plays", TM asked the mop-topped Titan about the near-miss, and he basically said hey — if the bowler with the lowest average on the team can almost make a shot like that, then they all should be able to step up and make big shots. (BTW, I'm paraphrasing his words, and incidentally, having the lowest average on the State champs still is nothing to sneeze at).

So Moran, senior Ryan Schoentube and juniors Dylan Jordan, Korrie O'Hanlon and Dale Barshewsky ride off into the sunset as the first Group 1 school to win the overall State title since... who knows? As mentioned, the NJSIAA didn't start dividing into groups until 2007, and TM has no concept of school sizes prior to starting on the varsity beat 10 years ago. After conferring with venerable Star-Ledger bowling reporter Mike Moretti (and the NJSIAA's tournament program), we concluded that the last time it happened was with Harrison in 1959. A.L. Johnson Regional of Clark won it all in 1985 but was probably a Group 2 at the time, and Pope Pius XII was the 1962 State champ... yet, not only is the latter school no longer open, I have no idea what group it may have been in OR where it might even have been located.

FINAL FINAL THOUGHTS: Now, given that he has spent nearly the entirety of the past decade trekking down to North Brunswick for the State finals every February (the lone exception being in 2003), The Messenger is compelled to share the one desire that has tugged at him more and more each year. The itch to stick around after all the varsity tournament action is done and bowl a game for his ownself at Carolier begged to be scratched... and at long last, on Friday Feb. 18, it was.

At the behest of one of his fellow Blogspot colleagues — Hanna Jane of the perspicacious Veritas & Vignettes — TM finally quit putting it off and rolled at Carolier, challenging Hanna to a 10-frame, winner-take-all showdown. (In case you were wondering: Yes, HJ does share a name with a Hootie & the Blowfish tune of old, and yes, TM still owns a copy of "Cracked Rear View" on cassette tape. No, he will not pay the slightest bit of attention to any snarky comments on the subject.)

Guess there really must be something to the whole North Jersey/Carolier hex, as TM (a Bowler City regular) managed only three marks, and HJ (a product of Hy-Way Bowl in Union) emerged with a 31-point victory. HOWEVER... my lone goal was to get a single strike in the game, and sure enough, it came after I salvaged hope with a 7-spare to start the 10th and got to throw one final ball: it was an ugly backdoor job that involved the 3-pin taking down the 1 at the last minute, but it was a strike nonetheless! Never mind the final score (it's listed below if you really need it), or the fact that TM nearly tumbled over backwards in excitement — knowing what it's like to knock down all 10 on a single shot, on the last roll of the day, on the lanes where the PBA's 68th annual U.S. Open is stationed this week... well, that was more than enough to make The Messenger smile.

What a way to cap off the season.

NJSIAA Boys State Team Tournament scores

GRP 4	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Jackson Memorial	1094	1054	1085	3233*
2nd	Brick Memorial	1112	1043	1015	3170
3rd	Bayonne	1017	1151	951	3119
4th	East Brunswick	1081	974	1050	3105
5th	Livingston	1096	1098	829	3023
6th	Northern Highlands	1009	1057	858	2924
7th	Paramus Catholic	878	978	904	2760
8th	Hunterdon Central	908	1017	798	2723
9th	Union	862	865	986	2713
10th	Clifton	849	904	862	2615
GRP 3	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Woodbridge	1090	1013	1118	3221*
2nd	Sayreville	1046	1104	1041	3191
3rd	Jefferson	1124	1030	1022	3176
4th	Sparta	956	1123	993	3072
5th	Ramapo	982	1084	969	3035
6th	Nutley	972	895	1025	2892
7th	Brick Township	922	972	897	2791
8th	Pascack Valley	1013	873	893	2779
9th	Burlington Township	929	852	848	2629
10th	West Milford	816	782	766	2364
GRP 2	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Ocean Township	1075	1040	951	3066*
2nd	Wall Township	1039	982	1037	3058
3rd	Manchester Township	1123	896	952	2971
4th	A.L. Johnson	1087	993	887	2967
5th	Pascack Hills	867	1026	915	2808
6th	Morris Hills	982	925	882	2789
7th	Deptford	901	944	899	2744
8th	Hopatcong	942	908	837	2687
9th	Wallkill Valley	868	834	810	2512
10th	Ramsey	765	870	837	2472
GRP 1	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Keansburg	1007	1150	1082	3239*
2nd	Secaucus	989	993	950	2932
3rd	Bordentown	997	961	897	2855
4th	Becton	838	1005	966	2809
5th	Sussex Tech	990	925	863	2778
6th	Roselle Catholic	944	933	840	2717
7th	Middlesex	905	913	871	2689
8th	Monsignor Donovan	886	845	954	2685
9th	Science Park	892	834	820	2546
10th	St. Mary (Rutherford)	859	862	821	2542

*Group champ, advanced to Tournament of Champions

T of C - SEMIFINALS	BAKER 1	BAKER 2	BAKER 3	BAKER 4	BAKER 5
1) Keansburg	200	217	227	204	237
4) Ocean Township	173	218	203	216	235
2) Jackson Memorial	185	225	226	165	232
3) Woodbridge	216	203	216	218	202
T of C - FINALS	BAKER 1	BAKER 2	BAKER 3	BAKER 4	BAKER 5
1) Keansburg	179	244	255	215	-
2) Jackson Memorial	235	200	199	177	-

_______________________________________________
Unofficial Season-Ending Blogspot Bowling Challenge

Hanna Jane (V&V) def. The Messenger (NJBB), 122-91

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com. Please, no corrections for the Blogspot Challenge...