Sayreville wins TOC bowling championship
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer
The Sayreville High School boys bowling teamentered theNJSIAACentral Jersey Group III Tournament as the 12th seed, but the Bombers went on a roll that took them all the way to the Tournament of Champions (TOC) title.

In the Group III championships, coach Mike Weinert's team got better with each successive game, rolling totals of 1,090, 1,098 and 1,180 to finish 200 pins higher than runner-up Brick.Woodbridge finished in third place, 290 pins off the pace.

Woodbridge was sitting in first place after the first game, with Sayrevillemoving into the lead following game two. With Woodbridge faltering, Brickmoved into contention. Sayreville and Brick went shot-forshot in game three until the fifth frame. Fourteen of Sayreville's next 15 rolls went for strikes and the Bombers pulled firmly ahead.

"That was one of our best games of the season," Weinert said. "Our guys got hot at the right time, and that really sank Brick's hopes. After the seventh frame, you could see that Brick knew it couldn't win."

Marcin Golebiowski led the way for Sayrevillewith a 730 series, including a pair of 240-plus games. Matt Walczak posted a 690 series with a 269 high game in the finale, Sayreville's top score in the tourney.

Brian Nicholas and Matt Wasielewski both had 660 series, and Cameron Nieves posted 605 pins over the three games. As they did throughout the season, all five Sayreville starters averaged more than 200 pins in the Group III competition.

The victory set up ameeting with Group II champ Ewing in the first round of the TOC,whichwas bowled in a "baker" format. The five bowlers fromeach teamrotate and roll two frames per game. Each series was a best three out of five games. The Bombers took a 3-0 win to move on to the finale against Group I titlist Roselle Catholic, which had defeatedWestfield (Group IV).

Sayreville won the first game easily but was trailing in game two heading into the seventh frame. Following a Roselle Catholic split, both Nieves and Wasielewski threw strikes to give theBombers the lead and propel them to a 2-0 lead in the series.

"That was a huge win for us because Roselle Catholic won game three," Weinert said. "Had we lost that second game, we might have been in trouble.Once again, our guys came up big when they had to."

Weinert's team came back to take game four and win the series 3-1 and bring home the team's first TOC crown.

"This is a great reward for all of the hard work and practice our guys have put in," Weinert said. "It all paid off for them; that's a great thing to see."

With just two players graduating- Walczak andGolebiowski- the future remains bright for Sayreville's kegglers.Weinert has several talented bowlers remainingwhowill vie for starting spots, including juniorMike Savarese, who averaged 202 pins, playing roughly half of the Bombers' games.

"This year we really put the name out there for Sayreville bowling," said Weinert, nowin his fourth year at the Bombers helm. "We don't want to stop there. Our goal is to be a contender every year."