Nutley HS girls bowlers are 5-peat county champions

The Nutley High School girls bowling team poses at the Essex County Tournament.

NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School girls bowling team won the Essex County Tournament championship for the fifth consecutive time that the tournament has been contested.

At the ECT on Thursday, Feb. 15, at North Arlington Lanes, Nutley, under head coach Frank Sasso, had a team score of 2,147, among the seven scoring teams.

Senior Gabriella Lucivero had the tournament’s high series at 557 to lead the Raiders. Junior Gabriella Botti was seventh with a 444, sophomore Brooklyn Robinson was eighth with a 408 and sophomore Karen Fikuoka-Schreibern tied for 10th with a 403.

The NHS girls have won ECT titles in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023, in addition to this season. The 2021 ECT was not contested.

On the boys side, Nutley finished in fourth place in the team standings with a 2,598 score, among the 16 scoring teams. Sophomore Kaiden Cerniglia-Rapavi finished in fifth place overall with a 665 series to lead the Raiders. Junior Jackson Cerniglia-Rapavi, Kaiden’s brother, was sixth with a 656. 

Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Nutley girls team defeated fifth-seeded Cliffside Park, 2-0, Wednesday, Feb. 14, at Bowlero Belleville Alley in Belleville in the quarterfinals of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 state tournament. Lucivero had games of 164 and 193 for a 357 series, Robinson had games of 147 and 170 for a 317 series and Botti had games of 141 and 141 to lead Nutley. 

The Raiders unfortunately lost to top-seeded Warren Hills, 2-0, in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 23, at Oakwood Lanes in Washington to finish with a stellar 16-2 overall record. Nutley clinched the Super Essex Conference–American Division title with a 13-0 record.

The Nutley boys team also won the SEC–American Division title with a 15-1 record.

The fourth-seeded Raiders unfortunately lost to fifth-seeded Fort Lee, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 state tournament on Monday, Feb. 19, at Bowlero Belleville Alley to finish with a 15-2 overall record.

Photo Courtesy of Nutley High School Athletics