Bowling teams prepare for new challenges

Jess Abrecht leads a veteran Brick Memorial girls bowling team and Katarina Kiseli spearheads a battle-tested defending Group III state champion Brick Township team, while both boys teams unveiled many new faces when high school bowling began this week.

And it started with a bang for both schools in the township, whose teams went head to head in their Shore Conference A South openers at Ocean Lanes.

Abrecht, with a 212 average, and Kiseli finished atop A South individually in average last season.

Brick Township surged into second place in the league standings and went on to win the Shore Conference Tournament before adding the South Jersey sectional title and state championship.

"We had many close losses but bowled our best at the end," said coach Linda Sarraf after claiming her fourth state title in her 11-year tenure.

Kiseli, a junior, anchors a lineup of seniors Nicole Nardiello, Caitlin Dorey and Lisa Francaviglia and junior Ashley Lane. But the team is missing the leadership and inspiration of D'Anna Farmer, who graduated along with Kayla Salerno, whom Sarraf said "came on strong at the end as a big contributor to our tournament success. They all contributed at some time to our success."

Also expected to make her contributions as the season goes along is junior Tamara Martinez. "She came on strong at the end on jayvee (junior varsity), and I think she'll do really well. She's throwing a beautiful ball. I hope to get her into some varsity matches," said Sarraf. Freshman Kaitlin Nardiello, Nicole's sister, also is expected to play a meaningful role this season.

But Sarraf said the team does not feel the pressure as defending Shore Conference and state champion.

"I don't think we reflect on what we accomplished, but we go forward," the coach said. "We have a strong tradition but we look forward to what we can do. It's a positive thing."

Abrecht, meanwhile, is eager to lead a team that did well in A South with a first place 43-11 record but struggled in most tournaments. It won the Bishop Ahr Tournament, which it will defend on Saturday when all four township teams compete at Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick.

"We seemed to do well as a team over the long haul (in the league) but in tournaments, we were playing catch-up," said coach David Thompson. "We never had enough for the titles. In tournaments, it was a disappointing year. Finishing third in the sectionals was very disappointing."

But this is a new year with renewed optimism. The captain and anchor Abrecht is joined by senior Kim Icker, juniors Jordyn DeMont and Katelyn Christie and sophomore Brittany Morris. Icker recently won the Joe Goetz Memorial Tournament Junior Gold at Ocean Lanes with a 1591 total wood, a 199 average. Abrecht was second with a 186 average and eighth-grader Amanda Nardiello was third with a 184.

"I'm extremely excited about the season ahead," said Abrecht. "Kim has come a long way. Brittany has had a lot of high games and Katelyn is good in low ball games with a lot of spares." Even seniors Kirsten Mazurek and Kelsey Mulvaney and sophomores Chelsea Kusner and Johna DeMont (Dordyn's sister) look solid to fill in as needed. Senior Becky Sherman chose not to return and Carolina Maher is out for the season because of injuries from a car accident. Thompson praised Maher's determination in

raising her average from 140 as a sophomore to 180 last year. She'll keep the team scores this season. Her sister, Corrine, leads four freshmen on this year's team.

"I'm not surprised with how well we're doing right now," said Thompson. "We have a couple of freshmen who would be bowling varsity on a lot of teams but instead on a team like ours, they're sitting and developing and waiting their turns.

"As for Jess, I expect her this year to be competing with kids on her own team," said Thompson, as no one on Memorial was close to her average last season. "She does not get upset when she throws a great ball and one pin is left standing or when she throws a couple of spares. She still bowls a great game."

Brick Township's boys, meanwhile, had four senior starters last season that included Travis Breitenbruck and Jay Lane, who carried the highest averages in A South at 230 and 228, respectively. Mike Mellon, a senior, is the lone returnee. T.J. Contino, a junior, also returns and had a shining moment when he shot a 297 as the sixth man to help carry Brick Township to its fourth straight Brick Tournament title as the team reset its own tournament record for total wood. This year's Brick Tournament is on Jan. 17 because the first Saturday of January is in the midst of the holidays and the following Saturday would conflict with the Winter Classic at Carolier Lanes.

The Green Dragons also won the Group IV sectional title and finished fifth in the Group IV state championships.

"They've been practicing well but the season has come on fast," said coach Cara Lukosius. "We have all juniors and one senior, so we won't be dominant but definitely competitive."

Juniors Matt Finley, Doug Scelfo and Joe Vescio are the other starters who played on the junior varsity the past two seasons, but sophomores John Boor and Matt Barros are ready to step in as needed.

Brick Memorial must replace three starters on the team that last season won the Shore Conference but fell short of advancing out of the state section. Senior Kyle Murphy and sophomore Domenick Luongo, who both bowled just under 215, are back and tri-captains along with junior Dominick Romano, who saw spot action last season.

"We're young, just a few seniors and a couple of guys with a decent amount of varsity experience," said coach Mike Russomano. "We hope to get competitive. We hope to hold our own in the first go-round because once we get experience, we'll be right there."

Converting spares is the key for Russomano, and Luongo showed that as a steady player anchoring the team. Sophomores Brandon Barboza is the leadoff bowler, and Franklin DiGiacomo "is looking real strong and improved from last year" when both players bowled on the junior varsity. Romano and DiGiacomo are left-handed bowlers. Tom Morris, a senior, is expected to see a lot of action and Robert Sirks, a junior, completes the roster.