By Staten Island Advance Sports Desk
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Hours before the ball dropped on a New Year, Rab’s Country Lanes hosted the New Year’s Eve Battle of the Schools — the fifth consecutive year for the Alumni edition and the 19th year for the High School division.

When all was said and done and the final ball had been rolled, Curtis Team No. 1, consisting of Dennis Sciré, Thomas Hollywood, Jeff Martin, Jay Gomez and Dave Kosinski, won the Alumni crown and the $1,000 top prize which will be donated to the St. George school’s bowling program. It was the team’s second crown in three years after winning in 2020.

Arlington High School, consisting of Ivan Ortega, Braden Cassidy, Keegan Howles and Ryan Lashlee, won the High School division by knocking over 2,020 pins.

“It was a great morning for some fun while raising some funds for our local bowling programs and bragging rights, of course,” said Country proprietor Frank Wilkinson.

A total of $2,000 was awarded in grants and scholarships with funds matched by the Rab Wilkinson Foundation.

The Alumni division featured 83 bowlers across 17 teams, representing 20 schools from throughout the boroughs.

After a 10-game qualifying round (baker format), the top four teams competed for the title in a rolloff where top seed Tottenville bowled fourth-seeded Monsignor Farrell and second seed Susan Wagner bowled third-seeded Curtis.

Tottenville No. 1 led the qualifying round with a 2,426, series with the tournament high game — the first perfect 300 game of the event’s history — besting Susan Wagner (2,361).

In the finals, the teams bowled two games with total wood determining the winners. Round 1: Tottenville No. 1 defeated Farrell No. 1, 432-360, while Curtis No. 1 defeated Susan Wagner No. 1, 512-411.

In the finals, Curtis defeated Tottenville, 483-443.

Alumni division

Champions: Curtis (Dennis Sciré, Thomas Hollywood, Jeff Martin, Jay Gomez and Dave Kosinski) — $1,000

Runner-up: Tottenville (Jason Wichnovitz, Mickey Endress, Vinny D’Ambrosio, III, Chris Riordan, and Tyler Bernstein) — $500

High School Division

13 Teams, representing 13 Schools, 12 Island Schools, and 1 off Island Team.

Champion: Arlington High School – 2,020 series (Ivan Ortega, Braden Cassidy, Keegan Howles and Ryan Lashlee)

Runner-up: Moore Catholic — 1,978 (Robert Werling, Zachary McGinley and Christopher Ferrera)

Full Event Results available: bowlatrabs.com/tournaments/

Some other Event Notes:

• Amongst the field… 29 athletes were recognized as Advance All Stars during their high school bowling career, three of which were four-time recipients (Melissa Kammerer, Erin Schneider, and Daniel Costantino)
• 25 PSAL City Championship Teams were represented.
• Four Staten Island Bowling/Staten Island USBC Hall of Famers competed (Tim McAuliffe Jr., Naz Laursen, Vinny D’Ambrosio III and Joe LaBargo)
  Competitors varied in age… The earliest High School Grad represented the 1967 class and the latest representing the 2022 class.