SPORTS

S. Brunswick's Sorge is Home News Tribune Boys Bowler of the Year

Andy Mendlowitz
Staff Writer
South Brunswick's Alex Sorge bowls in the boys NJSIAA Group bowling finals at Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick.

Alex Sorge became a video star, of sorts, this bowling season.

South Brunswick High School coach Kelly Forthun would show footage of the senior to the team during practices. There was no better Example A when it came to proper mechanics and technique.

“You watch Alex bowl, and you want to bowl like him,” Forthun said. “That’s for sure. It’s almost to perfection. He’s got it down so well that he’s just so consistent.”

For the second season in a row, Sorge led the Greater Middlesex Conference with the highest average. And Sorge, once again, is the Home News Tribune Bowler of the Year. The senior captured the GMC Individual title and finished with a 234.54 average. That beat his 227.41 average from 2015.

Sorge’s picture-perfect bowling went viral among his Viking teammates as he experienced a role change. South Brunswick won consecutive Group IV titles in 2014 and 2015. But as the inexperienced team entered a rebuilding stage, Sorge embraced being a mentor

“To be in that role of having to teach the younger guys how to cope with the varsity sport,” Sorge said. “It’s quite an honor, actually, because to be able to teach somebody to get to the level that I want them to be, and what we want the team to be — it’s a great position I want to be in.”

The Vikings finished 9-6-1 despite returning two varsity starters in Sorge and junior Tyler Kohutanycz. Sophomore Noah Li went from a 70 average when he first started to 185 this season. Freshman Anthony Fama (188.61) and senior Harry Salam (188.65) also helped pick up the slack.

Individually, Sorge’s highlights included an 833 series against East Brunswick on Jan. 7, in which he bowled a 245-299-289. Another moment came out of the spotlight. During a practice game, Sorge rolled a 300 with his grandparents watching.

“The first person I ran up to was my grandma, and I gave her a big hug,” Sorge said. “I was like, ‘There you go, grandma. I did one for you.’ So it was very touching to me.”

Sorge first got the bug when he attended bowling parties in elementary school. Aside from the music and fancy lights, he took to the actual bowling part and soon did a league with his dad. At the time, Sorge wasn’t strong enough to lift up the ball, so he developed his two-handed style.

As a freshman, he debated bowling or playing basketball for South Brunswick. The 5-foot-9 Sorge opted for the narrower lanes and his bowling hook shot turned out better than his hoops hook shot. He steadily increased his average from 201 as afreshman to 207 as a sophomore to his breakthrough as a junior.

This season, South Brunswick had three other two-handed bowlers. Forthun flashed Sorge side-by-side other bowlers on an iPad program, in which you could see the differences in technique. Even the one-handed bowlers benefitted from seeing Sorge’s consistency.

Aside from the mechanical aspects, Sorge and Forthun both said that Sorge can shake off bad shots and not get frazzled.

“I think the biggest part of bowling is the mental game because it’s just such a grind,” Sorge said. “Like you can see bowlers around you get flustered very easily, but you have to stay focused no matter what the aspect is. No matter what the environment is. And it’s very tough.  A lot of non-bowlers don’t really see the mental aspect of the game, but it’s very difficult. It’s not easy to accomplish.”

Forthun added: “He’s really changed that part of his game, which I think, in turn, helped with getting his average up there and being more focused on his bowling.”

Sorge’s bowling career isn’t over yet. He intends to attend Wichita State and attempt to walk on the bowling team. Think the equivalent of Alabama in football. Wichita State won the 2015 men’s NCAA championship and took three in a row from 2008-2010.

Sorge said the vigorous tryout process includes physical tests of two minutes of pushups, situps and a two-mile run. The bowling portion contains making difficult shots and picking up specific spares. So they’ll be many more hours spent this spring and summer working on his game, from entering state and national tournaments to lonely practice sessions.

He wouldn’t want it any other way.

“I chose bowling because I knew that I would fall in love with the sport,” Sorge said. “And that it can take you many places. It was one of the best choices I ever made in my high school career. Bar none. I created a great family. My teammates have been wonderful. My coach has been wonderful. And it was a great choice. I don’t regret any decisions that I’ve made.”

ALL-GREATER MIDDLESEX CONFERENCE BOYS BOWLING

(as selected by the league’s coaches)

ALL-CONFERENCE

Alex Sorge, South Brunswick; Thomas Leone, Edison; Sam Bortnick, East Brunswick; Lloyd Padmore, Carteret; Kyle Bilawsky, Woodbridge; Danny Whelan, J.F. Kennedy; Daniel Lenk, East Brunswick; Chris DeOcampo, Sayreville; Mark Kozinski, Sayreville.

Coach of the Year: Doug Spishock, East Brunswick

ALL-RED DIVISION

Alex Sorge, South Brunswick; Thomas Leone, Edison; Sam Bortnick, East Brunswick; Kyle Bilawsky, Woodbridge; Daniel Lenk, East Brunswick; Chris DeOcampo, Sayreville; Mark Kozinski, Sayreville; Ryan Johnson, Sayreville; Jason Smith, Edison.

Coach of the Year: Doug Spishock, East Brunswick

Sportsmanship: Edison

ALL-WHITE DIVISION

Lloyd Padmore, Carteret; Danny Whelan, J.F. Kennedy; Joe Chrobak, St. Joseph; Angelo Salici, South Plainfield; Cameron LaPlant, J.P. Stevens; Billy Milligan, St. Joseph; Jason Belanger, South Plainfield; John Hoban, St. Joseph; Louis Folgore, Monroe.

Coach of the Year: Russell Thomsen, St. Joseph

Sportsmanship: J.F. Kennedy

ALL-BLUE DIVISION

Matt Wulster South River; Chris Wilton, Bishop Ahr; Corey Romano, Middlesex; Edward Diaz, New Brunswick; Dan Burke, South River; Nick Petroski, South River; Jarrett Leandro, Middlesex; Zach Adams, Middlesex; Gary Cruz, New Brunswick.

Coach of the Year: Christine Brasno, South River

Sportsmanship: Middlesex

Staff writer Andy Mendlowitz: amendlowit@gannett.com