Bowling: Bilawsky's 22 strikes in row lift Woodbridge

NORTH BRUNSWICK - For a while, it seemed like Kyle Bilawsky couldn’t miss. The Woodbridge High School junior rolled 22 strikes in a row Saturday at the NJSIAA Central Group sectional championships. He just missed perfection with scores of 290 and 299.

Bilawsky, who bowled a 300 earlier in the season, knew how to handle the pressure.

“It seems like the opposite for this, but adrenaline actually helps focus you,” he said. “When you’re bowling that good, it feels like the team is there but nobody else really matters. It’s you and your team going out to get something done.”

And Woodbridge did. The Barrons rolled a 3351 to hold off Sayreville by 88 pins to win the Central Group III title at Carolier Lanes. The Greater Middlesex Conference excelled at the meet, in which the top two teams from each group advanced to Friday’s NJSIAA Group championships at Carolier Lanes with a shot to make the Tournament of Champions. The top 12 bowlers qualified for Wednesday’s NJSIAA Individual Finals.

East Brunswick won the Group IV title with a 3348. In Group II, St. Joseph and South Plainfield finished first and second.

Woodbridge set the tone with a 1246 in the first game, meaning each bowler averaged an incredible 249. Bilawsky rolled a nine on his first shot followed by a spare, and then 11 strikes. Freshman James Stoveken matched him with a 290. Adam Trabalka kicked in a 247, followed with a 236 from John Drost and a 183 from Michael Bocra.

Woodbridge kept the pressure with a 1146 and a 959 to claim the title. Stoveken finished with the meet’s highest three-game series with a 779. Bilawsky placed third with a 751 after rolling a 162 in his final game. As a team, Woodbridge bowled loose, joking and encouraging each other on the lanes.

“Everybody showed up today,” Bilawsky said. “This is the day that you need everybody to be there. And today, all the guys decided, ‘Hey, here’s the day. Got to go get it done.’ We had one goal and we accomplished it. … I don’t know about the other guys, but for me it was a little bit more pressure, per se, than a usual day because there’s a lot more riding on this then there usually is.”

Bilawsky attracted attention in his second game with nine straight strikes. He said it felt like a long wait from the ninth frame to the 10th, but he cheered on his teammates and didn’t seem frazzled. As the alley got quiet, he rolled two strikes with opposing fans watching. On his final roll, he left the far right pin standing.

“It wasn’t a bad shot,” Bilawsky said. “But I think just got a little bit unlucky. It was a little off balance.”

In Group IV, East Brunswick won its second title of the week. Monday, the Bears captured the GMC title. Saturday, they took the sectional title by 289 pins over second place Bridgewater-Raritan. While East Brunswick didn’t have a bowler finish in the Top 12, the deep team had four bowlers in the Top 23.

“The goal is to move on to the state finals, but it’s definitely an added goal to win and do it by bowling so well,” Bears coach Doug Spishock said. “They’ve been consistently doing well all season. Then this, especially, to bowl this well when you don’t get a drop score—only having five bowlers and all scores count. Everybody did exactly what they should.”

Freshman Daniel Lenk threw a 290 his first game and finished with a 682 series. Teammates Sam Bortnick (691), Brandon Berdoff (683), Ryan Cumber (665) and Stephen Evans (627) rounded out the lineup.

In Group II, St. Joseph held a 3070-2913 edge over second-place South Plainfield. It was quite a turnaround from last season, in which St. Joseph’s averaged 170 as a team. This year, the Falcons had a 197 average with the same lineup.

“They put a lot of hard work in,” St. Joseph’s coach Rusty Thomsen said. “They have just gotten better every day. These kids have never really been coached before. So it kind of opened their eyes last year. I’m all about maximum capabilities. I’m showing them, ‘Hey you perform to your capabilities, good things happen.’”

Joe Chrobak led the way with a 706 series and finished 12th overall, which qualified him for the individual championships. The junior went out for the bowling team as a sophomore after he was cut from the school’s basketball team as a freshman. Good move. Chrobak averaged 165 last season, but increased his average to 208 this winter.

“It just shows you how good of an athlete he is,” Thomsen said. “He just picked it up out of nowhere. … He hasn’t even peaked yet.”

Saturday, he rolled a 191 in his first game then went to the bullpen. He switched balls to get a better hook. It worked, as he followed with games of 259 and 256. His teammates also finished strong with a 1117 after games of 965 and 988. Billy Milligan (625), John Hoban (615), Ryan Broderick (566) and Chris Quigley (558) rounded out the starting five.

The GMC had two other bowlers finish in the Top 12 as Carteret’s Lloyd Padmore finished fourth with a 750 and Sayreville’s Chris DeOcampo placed fifth with a 741. In a highlight of the day, Middletown South’s Brandon Lynch rolled a 300 in his first game.

CENTRAL

GROUP I

1. Keansburg 1039-1114-1106-3259; 2. Manasquan 1022-999-1050-3071; 3. Carteret 1019-956-923-2898; 4. South River 939-929-936-2804; 5. Matawan 903-984-785-2672; 6. Bishop Ahr 891-892-826-2609; 7. Middlesex 798-858-923-2579; 8. St. John Vianney 894-776-766-2436; 9. South Hunterdon 739-829-777-2345; 10. Keyport 717-775-837-2329.

GROUP II

1. St. Joseph 965-988-1117-3070; 2. South Plainfield 892-1006-1015-2913; 3. Middletown South 993-939-944-2876; 4. J.F. Kennedy 884-891-905-2680; 5. Ewing 823-926-929-2678; 6. Colonia 875-865-831-2571; 7. Wall 786-840-812-2438; 8. Ocean 794-799-841-2434; 9. Neptune 650-679-871-2200; 10. Long Branch 711-770-689-2170.

GROUP III

1. Woodbridge 1246-1146-959-3351; 2. Sayreville 1033-1154-1076-3263; 3. CBA 1077-1008-954-3039; 4. Edison 948-1039-958-2945; 5. New Brunswick 1065-923-941-2929; 6. Monroe 838-875-1053-2766; 7. Freehold Township 925-884-940-2749; 8. Middletown North 923-871-896-2690; 9. Manalapan 816-820-884-2520; 10. North Brunswick 731-804-793-2328.

GROUP IV

1. East Brunswick 1175-1106-1067-3348; 2. Bridgewater-Raritan 1027-973-1059-3059; 3. Piscataway 961-998-1065-3024; 4. South Brunswick 938-1019-1039-2996; 5. Howell 941-1070-937-2948; 6. Franklin 935-890-862-2687; 7. Hunterdon Central 808-902-813-2523; 8. J.P. Steven 742-751-811-2304; 9. Watchung Hills 733-738-812-2283; 10. Old Bridge 913-887-1060-2860; 11. Perth Amboy 793-834-737-2364.

INDIVIDUAL FINALISTS

1. James Stoveken (Woodbridge) 779; 2. Tom Moeller (Bridgewater-Raritan) 768; 3. Kyle Bilawsky (Woodbridge) 751; 4. Lloyd Padmore (Carteret) 750; 5. Chris DeOcampo (Sayreville) 741; 6. Tyler Wolfe (Manasquan) 737; 7. Matt Gibney (Keansburg) 721; 8. Zachary Giampaolo (CBA) 715; 9. Matt Schwartz (CBA) 710; 10. Ryan Carlisi (Steinert) 710; 11. Brandon Lynch (Middletown South) 709; 12. Joe Chrobak (St. Joseph) 706.