At the start of the Marisa Tufaro Classic, the Saint Joseph High School of Metuchen boys bowling team found itself in an unfamiliar position.
The defending state champions, who went undefeated without losing a single game last year after opening that season with a third-place finish in the Westfield Blue Devil Classic, learned from the public address announcer at Majestic Lanes on Saturday morning they were in second place following their second game.
Please click HERE to watch video highlights from the tournament
“Our turnaround today was after Game 2,” Saint Joseph head coach Rusty Thomsen said. “After they made the announcement that we were in second place, they threw like 15 strikes in a row. It was like they needed to hear that. These kids are built different. They are so competitive that once you say they are losing, they don’t have to hear another word. They get it together and all of sudden they were in first place and they didn’t look back and got the job done.”
The Falcons, who qualified as the top seed for the baker format finals with a three-game pinfall of 3,156, defeated host and third-seeded Woodbridge 3-1 in a best-of-five series to claim the boys tournament team title.
All proceeds from the event, which also served as a toy drive, benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, a nonprofit that assists pediatric patients and children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County.
The foundation designated Hands of Hope for the Community and Hackensack Meridian Health JFK University Medical Center, both of Edison, as the beneficiaries of the hundreds of toy donations the tournament generated.
Please click HERE to view a photo gallery from the tournament
Woodbridge head coach Amanda Small founded and runs the tournament, which over its first two years raised more than $6,000 for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation. Jim Gano of Crown Trophy in Flemington generously donated all of the championship plaques.
“This was just the perfect way to start the season,” said Thomsen, noting that in addition to facing a field that included five of the Top 15 teams in the state, according to NJ.com’s preseason rankings, the event also assists pediatric patients and children in need.
“What we do to help the foundation is the best part of it,” Thomsen said. “We look forward to it. Everyone was pumped to bring toys. I said nobody is allowed to be in a bad mood today. This is for a good cause and that was their attitude.”
The event featured some of the state’s top individual bowlers including two-time defending Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament champion Jonathan Applewhite of Carteret, who posted the highest game with a 290.
Defending individual state champion Kai Strothers of Saint Joseph rolled the highest series (740) and second highest game (269), while reigning Shore Conference Tournament champion Jake Diaz of Howell had the second-best series (699).
Two-time state qualifier KC Campbell of Seton Hall Prep and Aditya Hedge of South Brunswick tied for the third highest game (258), while Toms River East’s Matt Baxter had the third highest series (694).
The deep field lived up to its billing with four of the state’s Top 10 teams qualifying for the baker format round. Toms River East and Seton Hall Prep advanced to that round with Saint Joseph and Woodbridge, which gave the juggernaut Falcons a run.
Saint Joseph returned all but one bowler from last season and for the second consecutive year two talented freshmen bolster its lineup. They are twins Joey and Jeffrey Lamoreaux.
Last season, current sophomores Will Cunningham and Strothers finished first and second in the entire state among regular-season average leaders. State individual runner-up Devon Kiessling and EJ Chin round out what Thomsen calls Saint Joseph’s “core four.”
“We plugged in two freshmen and if anything we are probably even better than last season,” said Thomsen, whose Falcons steamrolled their way to the Greater Middlesex Conference, Central Group I, NJSIAA, and unofficial Tournament of Champions titles.
“We are at as good a starting point as we can be. They are going to get better somehow. They haven’t hit their stride yet. Everybody is getting used to bowling with each other. The freshmen are learning their tricks. Our returners are just better than they were, so it’s exciting to think that somehow they are going to be better than a season last year when they lost zero games and won every tournament but one.
“But I keep telling them – trying to keep them humble, keep them grounded – you’ve got a bullseye on your back and everybody wants to beat you, so you are going to get the best version of every team that you bowl.
“I told them that’s what happened today with Woodbridge because they know they’ve got to bring their best to beat you guys.”