Scotch Plains Bowlers Finish 2nd in Union County Tournament

They were confident, but realistic. Thursday at the Union County Tournament, reality almost turned into a dream.

In the midst of one of their best seasons ever, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High varsity bowling team came within 22 pins of capturing the coveted championship, but in the end, they couldn't catch the powerful Roselle Catholic Lions, who were ranked No. 2 in the entire state coming in.

The Raiders, who won the crown back in 1981, were the runner-ups for just the second time in program history, a feat that did not go unnoticed by long-time head coach James Mason.

"I'm going to tell you the truth, I'm really not disappointed," he said. "I'm just proud of the way the kids bowled. We got down in that third game a little bit, missed a couple of easy ones early, we got some splits. But the last three frames, when they knew they had to do something, they really rose to the occasion. To lose by 22 pins to R.C. is no disgrace."

The day began with just six teams vying for the team title after finishing fifth in Monday's qualifiers. It came just one day after Peter Citera and Mike Tufaro made Raiders history by placing fourth and fifth respectively in the individual championships.

The Raiders are the epitome of team, a well-balanced group that has been within the top four in Union County bowling all season. With a large crowd of onlookers, SP-F gave the fans as much excitement as a Pro Bowlers Tour finale, battling pin for pin against the county buzzsaw.

Going into the third and final game, the Raiders had Roselle Catholic on the ropes with a 40-pin lead, but to the Lions credit, they battled back, led by U.C.T. individual champion Joe Gramiak, who rolled an impressive 266 in the final game to lead the comeback.

"The difference between Roselle Catholic and ourselves is only a couple of spares," Citera said. "That hurt us knowing it was only a few simple spares, but that's the game of bowling."

"It was one heck of a run for us," said Nick Stawicki. "Roselle Catholic just came out of absolutely nowhere and I wish them the best of luck. They were great bowling today and they deserved it."

Tufaro led the way in the third game with a 206, while Katarina Nier had a 201 and Citera a 185.

"Pete's the senior captain and he bowls No. 1 and he really sets the tone for us," Mason said. And today, he did that great for us."

The Raiders totaled an impressive 2,054 pins after two games, and finished just 14 pins shy of 3,000 for the day. High series went to Citera, who finished with a 649, Nick Stawicki rolled a 617, and Katarina Nier, who was fourth in the girls individual championships, bowled a 597.

The Raiders flew out of the starting gate in the first game with four bowlers rolling over 200. Leadoff man Citera rocked the house with a 228, with teammate Greg Budis right behind with a 227 game. Stawicki was at 215, Nier at 205 and Tufaro rolled a 193, which certainly got the attention of the other five teams at Jersey Lanes.

In the second game, Citera led the group by bowling a 236 with the team posting 984 pins. Still, they couldn't hold that momentum in the last game, but their efforts made it a memorable day for all involved.

Although disappointed to have come so close, bowling's version of the Fab Five knew that a second-place finish in the counties moved them up quite a bit on the respect meter.

"I think we got some of that respect back that maybe we had lost when we lost a match earlier in the year," Mason said. "But I've never lost respect for my team. I think they've worked very hard and what they did today is a product of that hard work."

"A loss is a loss," added Stawicki. "We could lose by one pin, 30 pins, a couple hundred pins, it's still the same. Hey, it's second place. It's good for all of us and next year we'll be on top."

Next for the Raiders is the state tournament where they'll go in riding a wave of confidence.

"The underdog came through today," Citera said. "It was a party. The high-fives were thunderous. It was good to have some fan support today and we just created our own momentum and kept it going. We're energized going into states right now."