18th Annual North Jersey Singles Championships

RYAN MONAHAN, RHIANNA SMITH NORTH JERSEY H.S. SINGLES CHAMPS

Lodi, NJ – 12/09/17 – Mike LoPresti and his Fairleigh Dickinson bowling squad conducted a smooth transition to Lodi Lanes in hosting the 18^th Annual North Jersey Singles Championships. Despite the snowfall which began shortly after the start of the tournament, all eyes were on the 166 entries, 62 of whom were girls, representing thirty-three schools. Skyland Conference’s Warren Hills showed why they’re arguably the best squad in Northwest Jersey, advancing three boys and two girls to the playoff rounds. Of those, sophomore Ryan Monahan, whose 598 set was fifteenth in the qualifying round, fired playoff scores of 221-247-234: 702 to advance to the final against Clifton junior Johann Gamo who looked unbeatable after his torrid posts: fifth qualifier with 635 followed in the playoffs with 255-259-256: 770; There is no defense in the sport of bowling and Monahan knew he couldn’t worry about what Gamo might do. When Johann made his one error, missing a seventh frame six-pin, Ryan put him away with five consecutive strikes, taking the title 239-216.

Warren Hills’ Kelcie Mannon advanced to the semi-finals before bowing out to Toms River North’s Paige Peters, who, like Gamo, appeared unstoppable and 2016 North Singles winner Rhianna Smith, the Mt Olive senior. Peters, after lighting up the telescores with a remarkable leading qualifying post of 267-222-278: 767, seemed to be the clear favorite entering the final round after continuing her torrid streak with 254, but came up short against Smith, 214-171.  After starting her qualifying round with 278, Rhianna cooled off but still earned a bye by placing third with a 685 set; although not sharp, she rolled well under pressure in advancing to the championship round with games of 187 and 186 when she made the necessary adjustments to earn her second North Singles Crown in three years.

In addition to the finalists, other trophy recipients were: [boys] North Hunterdon’s Francis Vitelli, Park Ridge’s Joseph Mahoney, Clifton’s Sean Cruz and North Bergen’s Christopher Lopez; [girls] Warren Hills’ Kelcie Mannon and Holy Angels’ Alexa Hernandez; medals were given to those who reached the quarter-finals.

Other superb qualifying scores included South Plainfield’s Lanasia Neal 233-289-232: 754, North Hunterdon’s Francis Vitelli 209-237-299: 745, Park Ridge’s Joseph Mahoney 686, Clifton’s Joe Paolillo 685, Leonia’s Gabrielle Capalad 269: 665, Toms River North’s Kamerin Peters and North Bergen’s Nicholas Dominy 645. For complete qualifying and playoff stats, go to Greg Tartaglia’s fine write-up at: http://www.northjersey.com/sports/hs-sports/winter-sports/