Surprising Vikes roll into boys GMC bowling finals

By: Tyler Dey
   It might not be worst-to-first, but the South Brunswick High School boys bowling team has already completed quite a turnaround.
   In fact, by the time this article is printed, that turnaround might be even more spectacular.
   The Vikings squared off with Edison on Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday, in the final of the Greater Middlesex Conference Team Tournament at Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick. The event ended after the Post’s deadline.The Vikings split their two regular-season meetings with the Eagles, a fact coach Tara Burniston said gave her team confidence going in.
   "The boys like that they’re playing Edison because they’ve beaten them already," Burniston said yesterday morning.
   South Brunswick became an unlikely finalist by sweeping Carteret 2-0 in a semifinal match Monday night. The 11th-seeded Vikings used a full team effort, spearheaded by senior Ross Winiarz’s 406 and sophomore Robby Kohutanycz’s 402 two-game series. South Brunswick beat Carteret 942-829 in the first game and 1,001-980 in the second, when the Vikings put three bowlers over 200 and five over 180.
   Entering the tournament, teams might have been forgiven for overlooking the Vikings, who finished seventh in GMC Red Division with a 6-11-1 conference mark.
   In their own school, the Vikings have been overshadowed by their female counterparts, who count among their accomplishments a GMC individual championship (Cyndi Fregoni), two state championship qualifiers (Fregoni and Lauren Sohmer) and a third-place finish (11-4-1) in the Red Division.
   But the start of the GMC Tournament sounded the start of the turnaround for South Brunswick’s boys. The team dropped its final regular-season match, a 4-0 decision to St. Joseph and hasn’t lost since. The Vikings have beaten Bishop Ahr (2-0 on Feb. 4), John F. Kennedy (2-0, Feb. 6) and Carteret in the tournament.
   "I think they didn’t have as much pressure on them being the 11th seed," Burniston said while trying to explain her team’s postseason surge. "Without the pressure they were mentally more into it."
   Edison, the fifth seed in the tournament, reached the final by defeating Piscataway, which upset top-seeded, and Central Jersey champion, Woodbridge in the second round last week.
   STRIKES & SPARES: The fifth-seeded girls team fell to Woodbridge, 2-0, in the tournament semifinals Monday. … Sohmer and Fregoni will compete in the state championships Friday. The two also qualified for the GMC Individual finals and Burniston said she liked their chances at that time. Fregoni went from 20th to the title that day. What does Burniston have to say this time? "They definitely have a good chance," Burniston said. "They have as good a chance as they did at GMCs." … The boys finished 24th at the NJSIAA Central Jersey Sectionals Saturday. None of the boys qualified for the state championships.