By: James McKeever
Monroe boys and girls bowling coach George Packard looks at numbers. Not wins and losses. He looks at team scores, total pinfall. Packard’s feeling: Keep your scores consistently competitive, and the wins will fall into place.
With the 2005-06 season barely a week old, Monroe’s scores have been a bit more erratic than Packard would like.
It hasn’t impacted the Falcons’ records, however. Going into matches Thursday (yesterday) against South Plainfield, the boys team owned a 3-0-1 record while the girls were 3-1. But Packard says the Falcons will need more consistency if they intend to hang with the big teams of the Greater Middlesex Conference.
The boys season started with a strong showing in the Bishop Ahr Holiday Classic last Saturday at Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes. Thanks to a 695 series from Mike Leatherwood and a 622 from Dan Seyfried, the Falcons knocked down 2,981 pins for a fourth-place finish in a 51-team field.
"That’s a pretty good number, and we were only 11 pins out of second place," said Packard, referring to No. 2 Edison’s 2,992 score. Jackson (3,059) won the team title and J.P. Stevens (2,984) was third.
One day before the tournament, Monroe opened the season with a 4-0 victory over New Brunswick. But the team pin total was 2,591, a big difference from the Falcons’ tournament score.
On Monday, Monroe scored 2,721, below the Falcons’ capabilities, but good enough to earn two victories in a tri-match against Middlesex and Perth Amboy.
"Scores like that are not going to be good enough when we play the top-tier teams in the GMC," Packard said. "We need more consistency. We can’t be 2,700, 2,900, 2,500, like that."
Tuesday’s match ended in a 2-2 tie with Colonia, as the Falcons pushed their team score to 2,945. Monroe won the first game 1,063-977 and game two 1,089-1,004. But a big drop-off in the third game 793 allowed Colonia, which scored 1,022, to win the game and overall pins 3,003-2,945 for the tie.
In the tri-match Monday, Gregg Puleio scored a 634 (245 high game) and Shawon Danser recorded a 548 (208). Leatherwood added a 202 in his 528 series.
Against Colonia, Puleio rolled 255 and 268 games in his 694 set. Other strong efforts came from Seyfried (556), Derek Witt (554, 210) and Leatherwood (552, 214).
Packard entered the season looking for a sixth starter to join Puleio, Seyfried, Leatherwood, Nick Zirkel and Witt. It looks like he’s found that guy with Danser, a freshman.
"He’s bowled really well so far," the coach said.
Monroe’s girls team struggled in the Bishop Ahr Holiday Classic, scoring a 1,999 in a 23rd-place finish in the 29-team field.
But the Falcons scored 2,196 against New Brunswick in the season-opening dual match, and registered scores of 2,243 (Monday) and 2,226 (Tuesday) this week. And the 3-1 record is a good start for a team that won seven matches all of last season.
"I think they bounced back a little bit after the tournament and showed more of what they’re capable of," Packard said. "The tournament experience will only help them."
Shannon Weber has looked strong. The junior rolled a 554 (216 high game) in last week’s 4-0 victory over New Brunswick, then followed with a 491 (209) in Monday’s tri-meet and a 501 Tuesday in a 4-0 loss to Colonia. On Monday, Monroe went 2-0 with 4-0 sweeps over Middlesex and Perth Amboy.
Val Michaud fired a 461 and Jen Matikonis a 436 in the tri-match. On Tuesday against Colonia, Nicole Santiago scored a 437 set and Nicole Chasan added a 432.
Next week both Monroe teams will compete in tri-matches on Monday with Bishop Ahr and Edison. On Tuesday the boys play St. Joseph’s while the girls face Mother Seton. On Wednesday both squads bowl against Woodbridge.

