Division Ave. bowling team rolls to county championship win

The Division Avenue HS Boys Bowling team.

BY GARY SIMEONE

It was a dramatic turn of events at the Garden City Lanes bowling alley last month as the Division Avenue boys bowling team was down big at the break at the Nassau County League Championships. The team, which topped its conference this season, was down by multiple pins before staging a comeback for the ages.

“We were down a lot during the break after the initial three-game set,” said coach Brian Maloney. “We were down two hundred pins, but I knew our guys had the composure and confidence to make a comeback and save their season.”

The team, including seniors Ryan Klass (All County) and Mitchell Tear (All League), made a strong push in the final three frames, bowling over a-thousand pins to earn the victory.

Klass said keeping a strong belief in himself and the team as a whole helped them will out a win over eleven of the other top teams in the county.

“We had such a strong season that even after three games of not our best bowling, we still believed in ourselves,” said Klass. “We just told each other to bowl our best during the next three games, and we were able to earn the victory.”

Klass had a stellar season, averaging a score of 203. He put his best foot forward at the tournament, bowling an

1148 series after six games.

Tear, who earned All-League honors and averaged a score of 175 for the season, said that the team had high expectations coming into the tournament.

“We were the number one seed coming in, so that definitely helped our confidence, even after we were down the first three games,” said Tear. “Ryan and I have been on the team since 7th grade, so we knew if we kept our composure and brought extra energy into those final three games, we’d emerge victorious.”

Tear definitely brought the energy scoring a high-game of 237 and 1137 in the six game series.

Maloney said the team was disappointed last season after not living up to expectations and was determined to walk away with the county championship this year.

“It’s something the boys had been talking about in the off-season, not fulfilling their expectations, and their passion to win was strong all season long,” said Maloney. “They rose to the occasion and won the conference, and made the necessary adjustments at the championship after being down two-hundred pins to come out with a victory.”

By winning the county championship, the team qualified for the state championship, which will take place in Syracuse on March 9–10.