MATTYDALE – Taking full advantage of a format change and displaying plenty of poise and perseverance, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys bowling team are now Section III Division I champions.
The Northstars emerged from a long battle to win the sectional tournament Sunday at Strike-N-Spare Lanes, ultimately outlasting East Syracuse Minoa for the title.
In years past every team in the sectional tournament rolled six games and total pinfall determined who would advance to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament in March.
Now, though, they would bowl four games, and the top four teams in both Division I (large school) and Division II (small school) would advance to two elimination rounds to determine the ultimate winner.
One added twist in 2025 was that Section III would get an at-large state tournament bid, so whoever made it to the finals would advance regardless of the ultimate result.
C-NS was among the leaders from the outset, rolling 1,121 in its opening game led by Cameron Miller’s 254 just behind Auburn’s 1,133. Then it had a 1,032 in the second game as ESM used a 1,200 total to go into first place.
During the third game Garrett Arnold, who had already rolled two 300 games this winter for C-NS, nearly did it again, getting 11 consecutive strikes before a seven-count on his final ball left him with 297, the best individual game of the day.
All told the Northstars got a 1,102 in the third game which, along with a fourth-game 1,022, left it with 4,284, third behind ESM (4,341) and Baldwinsville (4,289) with New Hartford (4,197) in fourth place.
Now all four of these teams went to the semifinals under the “Baker” format where, instead of individual games, the team bowls together, with no individual getting more than two frames.
C-NS faced B’ville, the two sides having split their regular-season meetings. In a best-of-five series the Northstars won the opener 202-131 and dropped the second game 186-172, but in the pivotal third game pulled it out by a single pin 211-210 and then finished off the Bees 220-212 in a tight fourth game.
Meanwhile, ESM swept New Hartford three in a row, so the final was set, and even though C-NS and ESM both knew they were state tournament-bound, it still would prove a classic.
The Spartans dominated the first game 225-161, but the Northstars absorbed that blow and, over the next two games, shot 208 in both of them to beat ESM’s totals of 176 and 191.
Then in the fourth game it was the Spartans staging its own comeback 205-176, setting up a decisive fifth game where C-NS strung together enough marks and won it by a score of 200-162.
Despite Arnold’s 297 it was Nehemiah Bachmann leading the Northstars in the four-game tournament with a 921 total to Arnold’s 917. Bachmann rolled 258 in his third game as Cameron Miller got an 881 total and Terry Miller a 754 aggregate. Hunter Baciuska had games of 235 and 233 and Jayson Gilchrist rolled 190 in his lone game.
Liverpool finished seventh in Class A and ninth in Division I, led by Kyle Lake, who opened with a 258, also had a 247 and posted 900 for four games to finish 12th among individuals. Mykey Hatherill had a 245 in his 810 series as Jahkir Jackson had a 747 series.