Rab's Country Lanes

1600 Hylan Boulevard Staten Island, NY 10305   |   Phone: 718-979-1600    

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Youth bowling: 14 Islanders set to compete in Junior Gold Championships in Michigan

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By Staten Island Advance Sports Desk
silive.com | Click Here for the Full Story

Fourteen Staten Island youth bowlers are slated to hit the lanes in the 2022 Junior Gold Championships starting July 18 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

More than 4,000 bowlers have qualified for the 2022 event, which is being held across eight centers.

Watch all the action from the Junior Gold Championships on BowlTV all week long!

Bowlers in four age-based divisions for boys and girls — U12, U15, U18 and U20 — will be competing for a scholarship fund of approximately $500,000, and spots on Junior Team USA and Junior Team USA’s Developmental Team also will be up grabs.

The Island qualifiers are Julieanne Rodrguez competing in U12, Justin Arenas, Philip Patino and Kiara Lombardi in U15 and Paul Cherry, Derek Concepcion, Joseph Guarnieri, Brandon Handog, Frank Koppie, Tyler Sidman, Steven Souffrin, Luciano Spagnuolo, Maya Avilez and Brianna Mester in U18.

[Read more…]

The Gym Bag: Junior Kegler Guarnieri rolls first 300

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By Joe D’Amodio | damodio@siadvance.com
silive.com | Click Here for the Full Story

Joe Joe Guarnieri fires 300 game

Sixteen-year-old Joe Joe Guarnieri fired his first perfect game in the Rab’s Youth Summer Scholarship Triples League last Friday at Rab’s Country Lanes.

The perfecto came in the middle game of a 701 set. He started the night with a 173, and finished with a 228.

If you remember, Guarnieri, who has been bowling since the age of 2, and his mom, Cathy, set up a makeshift lane in front of their Midland Beach home during the pandemic while the alleys were shut down.

“Bowling my first 300 feels great!” said Guarnieri, a two-handed bowler. “I have been working hard to achieve my goal. I’m so glad my mom was there to watch me throw my first 300. It’s a great feeling to bowl the 300 right before Junior Gold Nationals.”

Guarnieri, whose previous high game was a 296 rolled two weeks ago, is averaging 215 in the loop.

The 701 series was well below his career-high 771.

“I want to thank my dad, Nick Bellomo, (Country Lanes proprietor) Frank Wilkinson and Melissa Kammerer, my coach, for all that they’ve done for me,” said the St. Peter’s High Schooler. “Also my grandmother and grandfather, Judy and Anthony (Guarnieri), for coming to all my tournaments.”

15 Island bowlers compete in USBC Junior Gold Championships

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Brianna Mester and Brandon Handog advanced the furthest among the 15 Island competitors in the Junior Gold Championships. (Photos courtesy of the Mester and Handog families)

By Staten Island Advance Sports Desk
silive.com | Click here for the full story

INDIANAPOLIS — Youth bowling’s version of the Little League World Series was contested last week when the USBC Junior Gold Championships were rolled in Indiana.

Staten Island was well represented as 15 Islanders, most hailing from Rab’s Country Lanes, were among the more than 2,900 youth bowlers who competed for titles, spots on the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Junior Team USA 2022 and the largest scholarship prize fund in the event’s history ($502,100).

The 23rd installment of the USBC Junior Gold Championships took place across six bowling centers in the Indianapolis area. The event features top USBC Youth bowlers ages 7 to 18 from around the United States as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and U.S. military zones. Each participant qualified to enter by advancing through local USBC Junior Gold qualifying leagues and tournaments.

Competition officially started Monday July 12, with bowlers rolling a total of 16 games in the qualifying rounds before advancing to the Advancer Rounds and Finals which were live-streamed on BowlTV.

While competition came to an end after the Qualifying Round for most, Islanders Brianna Mester and Brandon Handog continued on to the Advancers Round in their respective divisions.

Mester, competing in the U15 Girls division, finished 34th in a field size of 298 girls with a 21-game, 3,743 pinfall, averaging 178.24 for the week. Mester fell shy 57 pins from the Final Advancers Round earning a $250 scholarship prize for her finish.

Handog finished the week in 90th place amongst a field of 868 in the U18 Boys division. He finished with a 4,146, 21-game series, averaging 197.43 for the competition. Handog finished 47 pins shy of the top 64 cutline. Brandon received a $300 scholarship for his performance.

The 2022 event should be stronger and will take place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Some Staten Island youth bowlers have already started qualifying for the event.

Complete Results below:

Qualifying Round:

U12 Division – Field Size: 93 Girls

GIRLS – 14 Advance to Final Advancers Round (cut: 2451)

74 – Kiara Lombardi 1948

U15 Division – Field Size: 631 Boys / 298 Girls

BOYS – 90 Advance to Advancers Round (cut: 2937)

478 – Joseph Guarnieri 2492

583 – Jeremy Vasquenz 2243

589 – Paul Cherry 2219

GIRLS – 43 Advance to the Final Advancers Round (cut: 2831)

13 – Brianna Mester 2987

U18 Division – Field Size: 868 Boys / 560 Girls

BOYS – 167 Advance to the Advancers Round (cut: 3097)

101 – Brandon Handog 3170 | 198.13 average

784 – Frank Koppie 2686

887 – Steven Souffrin 2632

1009 – Luciano Spagnuolo 2531

1083 – Victor Guastella 2450

1087 – Zachary Lababneh 2441

1124 – Patrick Taverner 2337

1131 – Enrique Rodriguez 2308

GIRLS – 80 Advance to the Advancers Round (cut: 2909)

298 – Maya Avilez 2634

530 – Su Denizer 2212

Advancers Round

U15 Division – Field Size: 298 Girls

28 Advance to the Final Advancers Round (cut: 3800)

34 – Brianna Mester 3743

U18 Division – Field Size: 868 Boys

BOYS – 64 Advance to the Final Advancers Round (cut: 4193)

90 – Brandon Handog 4146

College Signings: Maya Avilez is ready for the next level

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New Dorp senior Maya Avilez is flanked by PBA Hall of Famer and former Staten Island resident Johnny Peraglia and New Jersey State Bowling Hall of Famer Leslie Bohn after signing a National Letter of Intent to attend North Carolina A&T. (Courtesy of New Dorp HS)

By Charlie De Biase Jr. | debiase@siadvance.com
Staten Island Advance | Click here for the full story

It’s July, which means the 2020-21 school year is finally in the rearview mirror.

And some local student-athletes are not only planning to play on the collegiate level beginning in the fall, but will be leaving for their new homes pretty soon.

In the meantime, the Advance/SILive.com will once again share the good news with our readers.

And to boot, College Signings 19 includes various sports. In fact, we’ve got four different sports in this edition, including one on the Division 1 level.

We also have a number of past commitments in recent months at the bottom, including the previous 18 College Signings.

Give another look at them as well, if you wish.

Maya Avilez signed a National Letter of Intent to attend North Carolina A&T on a full women’s bowling scholarship.

The 17-year-old Avilez picked up the game after hitting Rab’s Country Lanes with her grandfather (Dr. Robert Taglianetti, DDS) as a youngster and she’s compiled a pretty impressive resume that led to earning the scholarship to the Division 1 school from Greensboro, N.C.

In fact, she competed on New Dorp’s team for two seasons before missing her senior campaign because of the pandemic. However, she currently competes in two different leagues, including the Parker Bohn III/Johnny Petraglia Scholarship League on Friday nights at Howell (N.J.) Lanes and Rab’s Junior Classic on Saturday mornings. She owns averages of 208 and 214.13, respectively, in the leagues.

Avilez is also the owner of four career 300 games.

Her connection to N.C. A&T came through Leslie Bohn, her personal coach and the wife of Parker Bohn. Leslie Bohn is best friends with the Aggies’ bowling coach and USBC Hall of Famer Kim Terrell-Kearney and that relationship helped get the ball rolling for Avilez.

“(Terrell-Kearney and I) initially exchanged emails and did a Zoom chat and last February, I visited the school,’’ said Avilez. “It took me a few months to make a decision, but ultimately I loved the school when I made the visit and decided it was the best place for me.’’

The right-handed Avilez said Terrell-Kearney was impressed with her power game.

“She definitely likes the way I throw it hard,’’ said the Concord resident. “I have more revs than most girls and it gives me more versatility than other styles of bowling.

“I also think (Terrell-Kearney and her husband, Eric), who is an assistant coach, are the nicest people. I believe they can build my game and support me to become the best bowler I can be.’’

Avilez, who plans to study Secondary Education History, also received interest from Louisiana Tech.

9th Annual Dom LaBargo Memorial Bowl-a-Thon

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Join the LaBargo Family in an annual tradition honoring a Staten Island Legendary Bowler, Dom LaBargo.

Help us give back to the sport he loved!

All proceeds will be donated to the Rab’s Country Lanes Youth Scholarship Program to be awarded to Staten Island Youth Bowlers.

Price: $25.00
Includes: 2 hours of bowling, shoe rental, pizza and soda
Check-in at 1:00pm

50/50 and Raffles will be available as well.

Pre-Registration Preferred.  Jeanie Callan: jcall581@aol.com

Bowling notebook: What’s Country Lanes’ pandemic status? A perfect game, New Year Singles Classic is off and more

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By Joe D’Amodio | damodio@siadvance.com
Staten Island Advance | Click here for the full story on silive.com

Rab’s Country Lanes’ proprietor Frank Wilkinson says it’s business as usual — for now — even with the threat of new pandemic restrictions being talked about by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“We’re getting a lot of inquiries about the status of our opening,” said Wilkinson. “It’s amazing, many consumers have assumed we, along with restaurants, are already closed and there is no indoor dining due to the zone change, which as we know has not happened yet.”

That, of course, may change over the coming days or weeks. Most of Staten Island is currently classified as a yellow zone, although some South Shore communities were elevated to orange by the state earlier today. If the Island’s pandemic infection rate worsens, other Island communities could be elevated to orange status and then red.

“IF, we are to move into the Orange Zone, and IF all the requirements remain, bowling centers remain open without indoor dining (just as we started the season.),” explained Wilkinson. “When we got the go to open back in August, bowling centers were moved to the low-risk business category. However, anything can change when the governor makes an announcement, which seems to be anticipated after the holiday. In the meantime, we are now closing at 10 p.m., which has altered our schedules in many ways.”

Victor Guastella, 17, rolled his first perfect game last month at Rab’s Country Lanes.

Youth bowler Victor Guastella rolls first perfect game

Seventeen-year-old Victor Guastella rolled a perfect game in the Country Pro Shop Juniors on Friday, Oct. 23. The perfecto came in the final game of a three-game set. He finished with a 678 series. His first two games were 197 and 181, propelling.

Avilez, Brod advance to Junior Gold Championships as Rab’s Gold Shootout champs

Youth bowlers took to the lanes on Sunday, Nov. 22 to compete for titles in the Rab’s Gold Shootout and their shot at advancing to the 2021 Junior Gold Championships to be held in Indianapolis, next summer.

When all was said and done, Maya Avilez and Gavin Brod were the big winners and punched their tickets to Indy.

Avilez rolled a 903 five-game series to claim the U18 division. Her games were 178, 155, 205, 164, and 201.

Meanwhile, Brod paced the 15U division with games of 159, 184, 184, 171, and 203, good enough for a 901 series.

Complete results can be found at bowlatrabs.com/tournaments.

The next opportunity for youth bowlers to compete and earn spots for the Junior Gold Championships will be the Rab’s Gold Challenge on Jan. 5, 2021.

Staten Island USBC Masters Championship set

The 12th Annual Staten Island USBC Masters Championship will take place on Saturday, Dec. 5 at Rab’s Country Lanes, where the Island’s top bowlers will compete for the elusive title. $100 entry fee, register online, siusbc.org to reserve your spot.

The reigning champion is Tony Everts.

46th Annual New Year Singles Classic Postponed

For the first time in the tournament’s history, tournament director Jim Elliott has decided to postpone the 46th Annual New Year Singles Classic due to the pandemic. Contact Jim for details. The event will return in 2022.

Catholic School bowling loop forging ahead

Wilkinson reports that the Catholic High School Bowling League will start on Dec.15 at Country Lanes.

This has been pushed from a projected start of the Nov. 24.

“A sign of normalcy in youth sports after a non-existent PSAL season,” said Wilkinson.

Avilez & Brod advance to Junior Gold Championships as Rab’s Gold Shootout Champions

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Youth bowlers took to the lanes on Sunday November 22 to compete for titles in Rab’s Gold Shootout and their shot at advancing to the 2021 Junior Gold Championships to be held in Indy, next summer.

Maya Avilez rolled a 903 5-game series to take the win in the U18 Division, complete with the games of 178, 155, 205, 164, & 201!

Gavin Brod lead the U15 Division with games of 159, 184, 184, 171, & 203, 901 series.

Click here for complete results!

The next opportunity for youth bowlers to compete and earn their spots to the Junior Gold Championships will be Rab’s Gold Challenge on January 5, 2021!