Long Island Summer Bowling Tour!

Farmingdale, New York - that "one" shot we always want to take back. we go home with it. we play it over and over. we want a "do-over". Bowling: it's the game of redeeming features.

the long island summer bowling tour visited county line bowl in farmingdale on friday july 13, 2001, joe zullo jr, floral park, was simply flawless.....well almost.

the young left handed bowler was clean for the entire 4 game qualifier in the junior handicap division and dominated the field of jr bowlers. zullo jr, rolled games of 228, 216, 225 and 245 (914 scratch) that powered his way to a +218 w/hdcp that was 103 pins better over 2nd place (+115) john hurtnole, northport. chris keiser, northport, was 3rd at (+107) just edging out cindy zagorski, east patchogue (+99).

in the semi final game, the two northport residents, hurtnole and keiser faced each other. neither bowler established any rhythm and the match turned into a survival contest. both bowlers seemed to gain momentum only to see it come to a halt via an open frame. in the end, it was hurtnole who was able to push himself to the extra mark, and he defeated keiser 231-216 w/hdcp. 

the tone of the championship match however, was different from the semi-final game.

zullo jr and hurtnole came out swinging. matching strikes and spares. the match was virtually deadlocked through the 8th frame. then disaster struck. The only open zullo jr would have the entire night, would be the difference maker.  zullo jr "just didn't get the ball where i wanted it. i knew it was trouble the moment it left my hand". he went flush through the 2-pin and left the 1-3-6-7 washout. he failed to convert the spare and left the door wide open for hurtnole, who was to finish first in the 10th. hurtnole wasted no time and threw the first strike in the 10th, giving him a double with a strike in the 9 box that shut zullo Jr out 252-226 w/hdcp. however, being the competitor zullo jr is, he showed class and style as he threw 3 strikes in the 10th to finish off a fantastic night.

fine scores turned in by our future leaders include Zullo jr, 245,686,914, hurtnole, 233,600, zagorski, 247,621, kevin o'Keefe, brentwood, 217, bryan lemanski, East Northport, 212 and jessica figueroa, east islip, 222.

the adult handicap division saw some fine bowling as well. 7 spots cashed and the top 5 advanced to the finals. fabrizio cerutti, levitown, engineered his way to a (+246) w/hdcp guided by games of 254, 232, 217 and 235 that lead the pack of bowlers for the 4-game qualifier. just 9 pins back, (+237) was william taveras, central islip. rounding out the top 5 were joe nuzzi, north massapequa, (+212), jason alexander, mastic beach, (+209) and  benny wong, port jeff station, (+175). Earning a paycheck for 6th and 7th were richard disilva, coram, (+172) and vinnie Zambito, shirley, (+164).

the first bracket elimination game featured wong and taveras. taveras, very impressive in the qualifying round with a 221.25 scratch average, couldn't get it going in the Bracket elimination #1. wong on the other hand, steamrolled. wong took the hammer out and defeated tavares 307-235 w/hdcp to advance to the semis'

The Bracket elimination #2, perhaps the most exciting match of the night, saw alexander and nuzzi slug it out. however, once again, the untimely open proved to be disastrous. the two bowlers were simply outstanding. throwing strikes from frame 1, these two gladiators fought till the end. it wasn't until alexander opened in the 9th, did the momentum swing. nuzzi, finishing first, put the heat on alexander by doubling up in the 10th. alexander however, had 1 last chance. needing to double in the 10th, alexander came up 1 shot short and went down in defeat to nuzzi, 268-261 w/hdcp.

the semi-final game saw nuzzi and wong go at it.

just as william taveras lost the hot hand in the prior game, nuzzi and wong looked as though they both were wearing down. both bowlers were ugly, early and often. opens, splits and bad luck were the norm. when it was all said and done, wong survived 214-196 w/hdcp to advance to the final game vs waiting in the wings, cerutti. 

this was the 2nd consecutive finals for wong. last week, at centereach vs steve kelly, islip, kelly threw 7 straight strikes vs wong, that put the match away early. perhaps wong has a knack for these type of things.

Cerutti, unlike some of the finalists, resumed where he left off. throwing  strikes, early and often, cerutti wasn't about to wait on his opponent to get going. the quiet and intense young man from levittown basically left wong at the starting gate. wong never got untracked as cerutti won the title game, 251-194 w/hdcp.

congratulations to fabrizio cerutti.

great scores were turned in by cerutti, 254,703,938, taveras, 265,690,885, nuzzi, 234,659,868, alexander, 248,700,901, wong, 219, zambito, 225,619, Pete Bohleber, Miller Place, 249,644,847, rich wagner, east islip, 255,709,904, jose cerutti, levittown, 225,615, Steve Evans, Blue Point, 279,702,864, Ryan Neary, Dix Hills, 244,653,831, Omar Cerutti, Levittown, 248,644,835,  eryn cully, medford, 222, scott teitler, patchogue, 233,649,875, steve kelly, islip, 225, willie lemanski, east northport, 236,611, mike fagan, greenlawn, 257,682,871, joe zullo sr, floral park, 216,609, charlie lombardo, greenlawn, 232,656,819, matt romano, holbrook, 227, scott solomon, Ronkonkoma,  241,601, and lenny ovaitte, deer park, 222

great job by all bowlers who competed!   

A total of 38 entries participated in the event. Next on tap? PORT JEFF BOWL, July 20, 2001 8:45 pM.

Thanx for all the support. 

Final Standings

Payout