by James Dunn

On February 13th, the Woodbridge High School boys bowling team, led by Coach Small, won the Central Jersey Group 3 Sectional Championship behind their two best bowlers, capping a successful 2015-2016 campaign.

Junior Kyle Bilawsky and freshman James Stoveken led their team to a 13-5-1 record while combining for four perfect—a game consisting of eleven strikes—300 games during the regular season.

During the state championship match, Stoveken and Bilawsky posted the first and third highest totals, 779 and 751 respectively, while Bilawsky narrowly missed his second 300 after pumping out a match high 299. “It’s a great feeling. This is what every team sets their goal as, to become state champions. We had a goal, and focused in on trying to achieve our goal, and we got the job done,” Bilawsky said.

Aside from guiding their team to a state title, Stoveken and Bilawsky also combined for an unprecedented four 300 games, three from Stoveken and one from Bilawsky. Coach Small had never seen such an occurrence before.

“This is my fifth season coaching and, before this year, I’ve had two players bowl a 300. [However] I have not seen a bowler shoot more than one in a season,” Coach Small said.

On December 6th, 2015, Stoveken bowled the first 300, and exactly a month later, Bilawsky bowled his first 300 and the second of the season against East Brunswick. “It was really exciting to bowl a perfect game in the high school atmosphere. [It is] different than anything else I’ve ever bowled in,” recalled Bilawsky.

The last 300 of the season, and third by Stoveken, was bowled on January 25th against North Brunswick. “Bowling my third 300 game of the season really shocked me because I was already satisfied with two that season. It definitely felt excellent to add another 300 to my bowling career, but it never feels as good as the first,” Stoveken said.

Despite the impressive statistics produced by Stoveken and Bilawsky, they were supported both on the scoreboard and mentally by their teammates, including seniors Adam Trabalka and Michael Bocra. “My teammates are there every shot of the way and I always can look back at them when I bowl a strike and [they] give me a high five which feels great,” said Stoveken.

After starting their season without a win in their first 3 matches, the team finally got into a groove late in the season, ending with five straight wins and a state championship. “I believe the boys really started piecing everything together towards the end of the season,” said Coach Small.

The team, with their two stars returning next year, will look to carry that momentum into next season, hopefully to another title.