By Joe D’Amodio | damodio@siadvance.com
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Andrew Link and Calista Iavarone each rolled into the top spot after the first weekend of qualifying in the Staten Island Singles Classic at Rab’s Country Lanes.
The two each shot a 784 series. Link rolled games of 279, 255 and 232 for a 766 scratch series. His 18-pin handicap gave him a 784 set.
Iavarone, competing with a 27-pin handicap, shot games of 277, 236 and 244 en route to a 757 scratch series.
Victor Maturi (777) sits in third place, followed by Peter Labella (770) and Raychon Brown (769).
Other notable scores for the first round were Bob Suhr’s opening game 300 and Anthony Arias’ 299.
In all, five squads were contested over the weekend. Three qualifying squads are slated for Saturday 1, 3 and 5 p.m. The finals will be contested on April 15.
A sold out squad of bowlers consisting of both new faces and familiar local legends graced the lanes for the tourney’s opening squad, which featured six former champions — Steve Chiarella (1991), Gary Scalesi (1994), Sean McAuliffe (2007), Todd David (2017), Anthony Arias (2021) and Mickey Endress (2022).
Also in attendance this year after being away for health issues was tournament founder Donnie Walters. Walters gave an opening speech to the field of bowlers and acknowledged the tourney’s former champions.
Mike Ruffe, tournament director since 2021, noted the presence of Walters in the building.
“It is great to have Donnie back, conversing with the bowlers, sharing stories of the historic event and kicking off this year’s qualifying rounds,” said Ruffe.
Frank Wilkinson, proprietor of Rab’s, said “it was great to see the bowlers come out year after year with continued support for one of Staten Island’s prestigious bowling tournaments.”
Top 24 after first weekend of qualifying
1 Andrew Link* 766 784
1 Calista Iavarone* / ** 757 784
3 Victor Maturi 768 777
4 Peter Labella 770 770
5 Raychon Brown * 763 769
6 Joe Scianna 751 766
7 Marc Avena* 764 764
8 George Cretella 756 756
9 Anthony Botterio 742 742
10 Sal Fabozzi 701 740
10 Anthony Arias 740 740
12 Joseph Vann 718 739
13 Ross Gottlieb * /** 717 738
14 Joe Bracco 710 737
15 Rob Butler 734 734
16 Aaron Ngoh 620 731
17 Bob Suhr 698 728
18 Joe Keating 688 727
19 Robert Jew 707 725
20 Mike King 706 724
21 Michael Pitkoff 720 723
22 Nick DiTimasso 677 722
23 Pat Bowler 705 717
24 Ronny Ziegler 666 714
24 Steve Soss 714 714
* Denotes Squad Leader
** Denotes Guaranteed Female / Senior