With the calendar closing in on February, it is close to decision time in area high school bowling.
And it gets underway next Sunday at Flamingo Bowl in Liverpool with the Section III girls team championships, to be followed a week later by the boys sectional tournament at Utica’a Pin-O-Rama.
The Christian Brothers Academy girls team has flourished this winter. When the Brothers swept Weedsport 7-0 Wednesday at Strike-N-Spare Lanes, it clinched the program’s first Onondaga High School League regular-season title.
Eliana Occhino led thew way for 10-1 CBA, opening with a 201 and continuing with a 192 and a 178 to produced a 571 series.
Cadence Malicek had a second-game 185 during a 469 series, while Rachel Farella finished with a 183 in her 457 set and Sophie Schultz added a 404 series.
A day earlier, CBA beat Chittenango 5-2 as Occhino shot a 524 series with a 193 high game. Farella closed with a 197 in her 505 set as Malicek’s second-game 191 was part of a 502 series. Schultz added a three-game total of 466.
CBA’s boys battled Chittenango and had Tavish Johnston shoot a 427 series to lead the Brothers. A 5-2 defeat to Weedsport followed on Wednesday, Garrett Bowman shooting a 429 series.
East Syracuse Minoa met Oswego Tuesday afternoon and won despite the Buccaneers’ Eric Carson dazzling with games of 247, 268 and 234 in his 749 series at Lighthouse Lanes.
More consistent, the Spartans had Brett Smith shoot a pair of 221 games, plus a 210, in his 652 series, while Chris Bayly closed with a 220 in his 605 set.
Ryan Buffum opened with a 217 and ended up with a 596 series, just ahead of Tyler Talarico, who had games of 226 and 222 in his 590 set.
The ESM girls got its second win of the season when it topped Oswego 4-1. America Carhart closed with games of 215 and 205 in her 573 series as the Spartans had a 2,084 pinfall to the Bucs’ 1,949.
Jessica Weaver chimed in with a 403 series, just ahead of Julie Weaver’s 380 set as Emily Blakeman (369 series) and Olivia Nissen (359 series) followed.
In a Thursday rematch with Oswego at Strike-N-Spare, ESM’s boys lost 2-1, watching as Weaver started with a 257, ended with a 276 and recorded a 756 series. Talarico shot 215, 213 and 229 in his 657 series,
The girls Spartans also lost 2-1 though Carhart had, by far, the best individual series, her 589 featuring games of 216 and 205 well clear of the top 437 set from the Bucs’ McKenna Cleary.
This week for the ESM boys was capped by beating Fulton 3-0 on Friday, Talarico opening with a 257 and moving on to a 688 series. Smith had a 618 series, with Buffum’s 238 opening a 615 set and Bayly’s third-game 245 part of a 605 series.
Fayetteville-Manlius visited Baldwinsville last Tuesday, unable to earn a point in either match against the Bees.
Kevin Winschel shot games of 226, 205 and 223 in his 654 series at B’ville Sports Bowl as Adam Koss added a 590 series and Dan Fiumara a 498 series. For the Bees, Tanner Rozyczko shot 224, 244 and 237 to earn a 705 series.
The F-M girls totaled 2,313 to B’ville’s 2,465, but still lost 3-0. Shelby Miner had games of 204 and 200 in her 555 set to lead the Hornets.
Kendra Elliot finished with a 467 series, with Hannah Smith adding a 439 set. On the Bees’ side, it was Jenna Spiech leading with a 572 series and Amelia Ponto contributing a 502 set.
Moving to Thursday’s match against West Genesee, F-M’s girls won 3-0 helped by Miner’s 497 series and a 450 set from Smith.
But the boys Hornets lost 2-1 to the Wildcats despite Winschel’s 617 series. No one else did better than Dan Fiumara’s 457 set as four WG bowlers matched or topped that series, led by Bobby Bidwell’s 549 set
Bishop Grimes split a match with Chittenango last Wednesday, winning 7-0 on the boys side as Matt Rogers shot a 543 series and Louis Pelose contributed a 514 set. Joe Belton had a 489 series. The Grimes girls lost again to Chittenango a day later in another 7-0 decision.
