East Brunswick bowlers saving their best for last
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — When the East Brunswick High School boys and girls bowling teams walk into Monday’s state finals, they’ll be doing so facing two different levels of expectations.

The boys, who have already claimed a trio of championships this year — the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, the Central Jersey Winter Classic and the NJSIAA Central Jersey Sectional Championship — will be among the favorites to claim the top spot. In fact, the Bears are currently the top-ranked boys team in the state.

But head coach Jeff Elias warns against looking too deeply into that distinction.

“[The ranking] is nice, but the only ranking that means anything is the last ranking of the year,” he said.

Meanwhile, the East Brunswick girls are currently ranked 13th in the state, and are not among the favorites to claim the state title on Monday. Teams like Woodbridge (which lost its first game all year in the recent GMC finals), Brick Township and Jackson are the expected vie for the top spot.

But Elias said that both teams will enter Monday’s event with high expectations — to put forth their best efforts of the season.

For the East Brunswick boys, such an effort would likely result in the team title. They have stepped up on numerous occasions this year, posting a 20-7-2 record and claiming the three tournament titles, where they have excelled against the best competition the state has to offer.

The Central Jersey Winter Classic was held in January and the boys defended the title that they won last year against more than 40 of the best teams in the state. Then, during the GMC tournament, the boys defeated North Brunswick, Monroe, Carteret, and then Piscataway in the finals for their first GMC title since 1995. And on Friday, the boys defeated 41 other schools in the Central Jersey Sectionals.

While competing in a large-tournament setting is challenging, this year’s Bears team seems to thrive under the format.

“It’s so hard, because you’re not competing against one another,” Elias said. “There’s no defense in bowling, and you have no control over what the other teams do. And more often than not, you have no idea what the other teams are doing.”

However, Elias’s squad knows that if it bowls to its potential, it will certainly be in contention for the title.

“We can compete with anybody,” the coach said. “And we fully expect to compete for that championship.”

The Bears success has come as a bit of a surprise for some, considering the Bears graduated three of the top five bowlers from last year’s squad — a team that made it to the GMC finals, finished fourth in the sectionals, and had the lead going into the final game of last year’s state final, but struggled late to finish fourth overall.

Elias, however, is not among those surprised with the Bears success.

“Having Matt Hage and Adam Pawlowski back was the foundation, and we also returned Adam DellaValle, who was the team’s sixth bowler last year,” Elias said. And [senior] Jose Serrano was our seventh guy last year, when he had a tough year, but was the second-best bowler on the team as a sophomore.”

And each member of the squad has stepped up at some point of the year in a big spot.

Hage, a sophomore, has been the team’s top scorer, with a 207 overall average, the high game (287) and the high series (757). He was not, however, the top bowler at the Friday’s sectional.

That distinction belonged to sophomore Jeremy Cimino, whose 682 series, off games of 190, 246 and 246, was good enough for third overall, and earned him a berth in the individual state final. He was the only Bear to make the top 12.

“Jeremy is a guy who bowled jayvee last year to about a 165 average,” Elias said. “We hoped he would step it up this year, and he has, with a 185 average.

“Midway through January, his high game was 599, and he was stuck there,” the coach continued. “But at the Winter Classic, he bowled a 671 (the second high series of the tournament) and has taken off from there. And his series at the sectional was amazing — it’s huge to get that from your fifth bowler.

“With your top guy now bowling great, you shouldn’t be able to win the sectional title, but we did.”

DellaValle (196 avg.), a senior, and Pawlowski (194 avg.), a junior, also put forth strong efforts at the sectionals, with series of 636. And Serrano, who holds a 200 average this year, helped get things rolling for the Bears with a 265 in the first game.

“His game gave us a huge lift,” Elias said. “

Among the other bowlers who have helped the East Brunswick boys team this year are senior James Cardazone, Mike Hearon, Ryan Pavlick and Drew Quadrel.

As for the East Brunswick girls, they too head into Monday’s final looking to compete with the elite teams in the state.

“The girls have it a little more difficult,” Elias said. “Not to say that they can’t do it, but it’s going to be very tough. Woodbridge and Brick Township are the favorites, as both have eclipsed 3,000 pins on several occasions. Our high series as a team is 2,729 pins, though we have plenty of room for improvement.”

The East Brunswick girls have struggled with inconsistency at times this year, something that could hurt their chances at Monday’s event, where low scores are not dropped as they are in other tournaments.

One bowler whose consistency is a given is senior Dana Taurek, who has led the Bears with a 194 average this year, and has also recorded the high game (290 — also a school record) and high series (652).

“I’ve been blessed to have her for four years,” Elias said of Taurek. “I remember when I was coaching her brother, Craig, when he was an 11th-grader, and he told me about his sister, who was in eighth grade at the time. One day I watched her bowl, and I said to myself ‘I’ve got a kid here who’s going to be a great bowler.’

“She’s been the team’s MVP for the last four years and a captain for the last two, and is one of the best bowlers in the state.”

Taurek may be heading to New Jersey City University next years, which features one of the top collegiate bowling teams in the nation, and routinely attracts some of the GMC’s top kegglers.

“They have a phenomenal team, and she would certainly fit in well there,” Elias said.

The Bears’ other senior, Rachel Weisbrod, has also put together a solid season, bowling to a 147 average.

Sophomore Caitlyn Timson has been the team’s second-leading bowler with a 172 average, and has come on strong of late.

“Caitlyn could not eclipse the 600 mark for a series all year, but went out and bowled a 211-189-203 — 603 series at the sectional,” Elias said. “So, she was saving her best for last.”

Timson’s efforts helped lead the Bears to a third-place team finish, and also qualified her as an individual, where she’ll join Taurek.

Sophomore Marissa DellaValle bowled to a 159 average this year and continues to improve, while fellow sophomore Jackie Langer holds a 145 average, but came up big in the sectional for the Bears.

Junior Skye Serrano (158 average) is still working to rebound from an injury, but is among the Bears most consistent bowlers, when healthy.

“Skye was unable to bowl for the first half of the year, and we certainly missed her, but her injury also gave the opportunity for some of our younger bowlers, like [freshman] Katherine Torok [135 avg.] and [junior] Corinna Liu [130 avg.] to get some experience,” Elias said. “They both took advantage of Skye’s injury to contribute, but Skye came back and gave us her high series for the year [527] in the sectional.”