The Nutley boys bowling team poses together after winning the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 state tournament championship. (Photo Courtesy of Nutley head coach Frank Sasso).
NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School boys bowling team enjoyed a banner season.
The Raiders captured the state sectional tournament championship, before finishing as Group 3 state runners-up.
The top-seeded Raiders defeated Mount Olive, Scotch Plains–Fanwood and Chatham, all by 2-0 scores, to capture the championship of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 state tournament.
NHS defeated No. 8 seed Mount Olive in the quarterfinals on Feb. 12.
The following are the NHS scores: sophomore Gavin Cerniglia-Rapavi: 149; senior Patrick Markey: 158, 221 (379 series); senior Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi: 222, 196 (418); sophomore Benjamin Johnson: 215, 177 (392); junior Jackson Veneziano: 231, 215 (446); and freshman Jacob Capalaran: 193.
NHS defeated Scotch Plains–Fanwood in the semifinals on Feb. 18. The following are the NHS scorers: Veneziano: 268, 234 (502); Capalaran: 216; Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi: 193, 203 (396); Markey: 155, 221 (376); Gavin Cerniglia-Rapavi: 144; and Johnson: 181, 204 (385).
In the championship, Nutley defeated No. 2 seed Chatham on Feb. 21 at Lucky Strike in North Brunswick. The following are their scorers: Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi: 219, 223 (442); Gavin Cerniglia-Rapavi: 194, 156 (350); Markey: 155, 137 (292); Johnson: 250, 234 (484); Veneziano: 207, 212 (419).
Nutley defeated Toms River East 2-0 in the Group 3 semifinals at Lucky Strike in North Brunswick on Feb. 27 for its eighth straight win. Gavin Cerniglia-Rapavi rolled 218 and 183 (401) series, Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi rolled 146 and 171 (317), Johnson rolled 150 and 156, Markey had 121 and 164 games, and Veneziano rolled 198 and 197 (395) series.
Later in the day, Nutley lost to St. Joseph (Metuchen) 2-0 in the Group 3 state final. Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi had 115 and 236 games, Veneziano had two 182 games (364 series), Gavin Cerniglia-Rapavi rolled 177 and 152 (329 series), Markey rolled 119 and 203, and Johnson rolled 148 and 154.
The Raiders finished the season with a 16-3 record.
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