Bowling Team Falls to Union, Breaking 9-0 Streak

In a long-awaited matchup between two of Union County's bowling powers, Scotch Plains-Fanwood fell to Union 7-0, handing the Raiders their first loss of the season after starting the campaign 9-0.

"Union's a very skilled team, they're very young," said Raider Peter Citera, who bowls in the leadoff spot. "They have a promising future. We looked to beat them because they are very competitive bowlers, but we didn't have it in us today."

"Union's a good team," added SP-F coach James Mason. "In two games, they were 100 pins over their average, in another they were 75 over their average, we ran into a very hot team. We didn't bowl that badly, we were right around our average. It's just one of those days."

Citera, who was sidelined Monday with a neck spasm, was back in form Wednesday, rolling a 201 and a 202 in his first two games, on his way to a 586 series. Mike Tufaro led all Raiders bowlers with a high-series of 595 pins, topped off by a 237 middle game.

"It's great having a resurgence like this," Citera said. "I like to do my part and try to contribute to the team in any way possible. Unfortunately, Union is a team known for its very skilled bowlers. Their first bowler, Brandon (Burwall) is, in my mind, one of the better bowlers in the state. He's young, and he looks to have a promising future ahead of him."

Indeed, Burwall was impressive, rolling a 735 series for the Farmers, starting off with a 255 and finishing with a 261 as Union amassed 2,984 total pins to edge the Raiders by a narrow 130 pins.

"He was just on fire," Mason said of Burwall. "He was just locked in, to throw a 700 series, my hats off to him."

Burwall, who averages 198, averaged a 245 in his three games vs. SP-F. Along the way, there seemed to be little doubt he would turn out to be pretty good at this game. After all, his mother, Terry Thomas, was talented enough to be on the Women's Professional Bowlers Tour.

"My mom was going on the pro tour, she's a lefty too, she taught me a lot of stuff and that's when I started to progress," Burwall said. "She still shoots 300's. I bowl with her a lot. We practice a lot of things, especially my seven pins, because that's my weakest point."

While SP-F bowled their average, Union had the hot hand up and down the lineup, helped by anchor Sharif Warden, who finished with a solid 609, Anthony Wachler's 579, Andrew Guillen's 547 and John Stigall's 534.

"We're very good this year," said 11th year Union coach Jim Jeskey. "We've been up in all the tournaments, today was a good day for us. Scotch Plains is a very good team. It looks like it's going to be a very fine county tournament. Roselle Catholic is the cream of the crop. They may not drop one stick this year. They just overpower everybody. But I'm very pleased with the showings all our players have had so far this year."

As for SP-F, Nick Stawicki had a pair of 200-plus games, Katerina Nier bowled a 201, and Greg Budis rolled a 208 and 212 on his way to a 579 series. Those numbers are good enough to beat almost any other opponent. They remain confident they'll be a team to contend with at the county tournament, which is just two weeks away.

"I'm sure we won't have a problem," Citera said. "We fell off on that one, but I'm sure we'll be able to climb right back up."

"Like I said all season, we have been very consistent, we were consistent today, I can't argue with that" added Mason. "It's the nature of the game. A lot of teams seem to be bowling their best series against us, but when you're a good team, you expect that. I'm confident we'll bounce back."