With only 10 days and a handful of practices between the start of the preseason and its season opener at Dumont, North Arlington head bowling coach Dan Farinola knows there isn’t the luxury of easing into the new year.
But with the top four bowlers from last season’s NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 championship team back, Farinola knows that this is a veteran group capable of handling it as well as any other challenges that may come along the way as it seeks to be one of the state’s top teams.
“In the preseason, because it’s so short and especially when we have a veteran group come back, we just focus on just getting the body ready to bowl that many days in a row,” said Farinola.”They do look good. They’re picking up spares and they look sharp. So I’m happy with what we’ve seen so far.”
Leading the way for North Arlington is senior Rohan Patel, who rolled a 205.17 average last season and qualified for both the Bergen County and State individual tournaments. It was a fine season, highlighted by a 259.5 two-game average in the sectional semifinals against rival St. Mary’s of Rutherford.
“He takes the anchor position pretty seriously, so he knows he’s got to be that clutch and perform,” Farinola said. “He’s a smart kid and he’s a motivated kid. He practices hard and he takes it seriously.”
Slotted behind Patel are junior Alex Garcia (193.85 average) and his young brother, sophomore Jonathan Garcia (175.04 average). Senior Trevor Waters is also back after rolling an average of 168.65.
All four are capable of putting up big scores at any time, as Alex Garcia and Waters showed when they bowled a 236 and a 235 respectively in the second game of its North 2, Group 1 final against Belvidere.
“When one guy’s rolling, it’s just easier for the whole group to get into the mix,” Farinola said. “They really feed off each other.”
While Farinola’s starting four for NJIC league matches is basically set, in both the Bergen County and NJSIAA State tournaments, teams bowl five players, so creating opportunities for other bowlers who could slide into the No. 5 spot is paramount.
Juniors Ibrahim Arshad and Matt Higgins as well as sophomore Xavier Lopez are all vying for that spot after strong seasons on JV a year ago.
Last year, despite a stellar 21-5 overall record, the Vikings finished just third in the NJIC Meadowlands Division with a 16-4 mark. With defending champion Lyndhurst as well as Becton, St. Mary’s of Rutherford and Rutherford all in the mix, it creates a schedule that, while challenging, Farinola believes will benefit his team in February.
“Last year, I anticipate the same thing this year, we really benefit from a tough league,” said Farinola. “We finished third in the league and we were a couple of points behind first place and St. Mary’s is right behind us and they could have easily won the league. You really don’t get a day off. There’s really no soft spots in the schedule. I think that benefits us more than anything.”
Lyndhurst should once again be a strong contender in the NJIC and in Group 2 as it welcomes back senior Mark Rigano (206.79 average), an All-County selection from a year ago, along with senior Patrick O’Rourke (185.98 average)..
In Essex County, Nutley looks to defend its SEC American Division title with a strong returning core led by senior Jackson Cerniglia-Rapavi, a state qualifier, who rolled an average of 201.47. Sophomore Jackson Venezian (175.14 average) and junior Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi (167.16 average) look to build off of very solid seasons a year ago.
Belleville should also be in the mix for an American Division with seniors Ayden Carrero (188.62 average) and Dominick Cappelletti (181.58 average) leading the way.
Bloomfield should also be a factor in the division and county as it returns most of last year’s lineup, including Jayden Padilla (179.20 average), who bowled a 290 in the Essex County Tournament before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Kearny graduates all-state bowler Ryan Valli, but hopes to remain in the mix with a young group led by junior Wesley Furbino (168.94 average).
On the girls side, Nutley, despite the graduation of Essex County runner-up Gabrielle Lucivero, is one of the favorites to win the Essex County Tournament with starters Gabriella Botti, Brooklyn Robinson and Karen Fukuoka-Schreiber all set to return. Juniors Roslyn Almodovar, Daisy Rodas and Rykel McFarlane lead the way for Belleville. Senior Isaella Bille is set to lead the way for Bloomfield and is poised to be one of the best in Essex County.
Madison Szymanski is set to lead the way for Kearny, which graduates its top top two bowlers from last year’s 14-5 team.
Learn more about the writer ...
Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)