A new season of Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys’ and girls’ bowling is now underway with a new leader in charge.
The resuming of classes after Thanksgiving break officially marked the debut of new head coach Michele Kussmaul, who took over following the retirement of Kathie DeBonis .
“I’m very excited to have this opportunity,” Kussmaul shared of being Bridgewater-Raritan’s new coach. “But I definitely cannot fill Ms. DeBonis’ shoes.”
An understandable statement given DeBonis’ impact on the entire New Jersey high school sports landscape throughout her successful 36-year career that spanned four schools: Long Branch High School, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, and Bridgewater-Raritan High School. DeBonis was inducted into the NJICA/NJSCA Hall of Fame in 2008.
At the conclusion of DeBonis’ final bowling season last year, which saw the boys’ squad reach the state sectional semifinals, Bridgewater-Raritan graduated five seniors: four of them on the boys’ side. The girls’ squad also saw a big surge in enrollment in 2023-24 and, as a result, returned to sanctioned NJSIAA play after a hiatus the previous year. The girls’ squad also qualified for the state sectional tournament last season, and while it was defeated it the opening round of the playoffs, it will also look to return to the postseason again in 2024-25.
But heading into December, the keys to this Bridgewater-Raritan bowling program blended with young and experienced players now belong to Kussmaul.
According to the rosters, the boys’ squad consists of five underclassmen and seven upperclassmen. Of the six current members of the girls’ bowling team, four are freshmen, while the remaining two are seniors. Even more, eight of the 18 total members across both teams are freshman members of Bridgewater-Raritan's up-and-coming Class of 2028.
The Bridgewater-Raritan boys’ and girls’ squads launched their 2024-25 bowling seasons with finishes of ninth place (2,012 pins) and fourth place (1,405 pins), respectively, at the seventh annual Greg Rottengen Memorial Tournament on Monday, December 2, at Oakwood Lanes in Washington Township. This will also not be the last time Bridgewater-Raritan sees either of the two state-ranked tournament winners: No. 12 Warren Hills Regional High School on the boys’ side (2,928 pins), and No. 13 Phillipsburg High School on the girls’ side (2,109 pins), as both are Skyland Conference rivals.
“Our short-term goals are to make sure we’re working together hitting the pins,” Kussmaul said. “Our long term goals are to be competitive with our opponents.”
Bridgewater-Raritan then had its first regular-season match at home on Tuesday, December 3, at Bowlero Bowl in Green Brook against Franklin High School, which saw its boys’ and girls’ teams collect finishes of sixth-place (2,517 pins) and third-place (1,548 pins), at the Greg Rottengen Memorial Tournament: 505 pins and 143 pins above the Panthers.
In high school dual bowling matches, both teams consisting of exactly six players each play three total games. After each game, two points are awarded to the team with the highest pin total among its top five scorers, while each team’s lowest score is dropped. As a maximum of six points can be earned in this fashion, the seventh and final point is awarded to the team with the highest cumulative pin total amongst the five scoring players after each game.
Franklin swept its way to a pair of victories: 7-0 (878-778, 859-779, 976-722) and 7-0(524-364, 658-331, 613-321), over the Bridgewater-Raritan boys’ and girls’ teams, respectively on Tuesday afternoon.
“They learned that they need to count on each other, help each other, and not depend on one person to carry the team,” concluded Kussmaul of her team’s key takeaways in defeat against Franklin. “They need to work together to make it through.”
Scoring for Franklin and Bridgewater-Raritan (boys’) Tuesday, December 3, was as follows:
---Game 1 (Franklin over B-R, 878-778):
------Franklin (878): Shayne Rooney (193); Jonathan Sherman (188); Jonathan Walker (179);
Kyle Gregorio (162); Myles Elliott (156)
------B-R (778): Joe Barron (197); Dom D’Amato (180); Caden Lane (150); Nate Stroger (137);
Nate Bender (114)
---Game 2 (Franklin over B-R, 859-779):
------Franklin (859): Tim Attanasio (197); Jonathan Walker (183); Kyle Gregorio (171); Myles
Elliott (162); Jonathan Sherman (146)
------B-R (779): Dom D’Amato (192); Joe Barron (180); Nate Stroger (159); Nate Bender (143);
Michael Reeves (105)
---Game 3 (Franklin over B-R, 976-722):
------Franklin (976): Jacob Gordon (246); Jonathan Walker (222); Tim Attanasio (213); Kyle
Gregorio (169); Myles Elliott (126)
------B-R (722): Joe Barron (190); Dom D’Amato (148); Nate Stroger (145); Caden Lane (125);
Ray Hansen (114)
Scoring for Franklin and Bridgewater-Raritan (girls’) Tuesday, December 3, was as follows
below
---Game 1 (Franklin over B-R, 524-364):
------Franklin (524): Claudia Martinez (141); Coral Lowrie (126); Kyleigh Krause (93); Isabella
Mollinea (82); Olivia Swillinger (82)
------B-R (364): Lily Korsun (119); Adalyn Bodden (102); Mikayla Jean-Baptiste (82); Filza
Ahmed (61)
---Game 2 (Franklin over B-R, 658-331):
------Franklin (658): Claudia Martinez (169); Coral Lowrie (145); Isabella Mollinea (142);
Kyleigh Krause (104); Victoria Gabryswezski (98)
------B-R (331): Lily Korsun (134); Mikayla Jean-Baptiste (82); Adalyn Bodden (58); Filza
Ahmed (57)
---Game 3 (Franklin over B-R, 613-321):
------Franklin (613): Coral Lowrie (183); Claudia Martinez (167); Isabella Mollinea (110);
Sydney Luck (87); Emmanuella Nnadozie (66)
------B-R (321): Lily Korsun (104); Adalyn Bodden (86); Mikayla Jean-Baptiste (72); Filza
Ahmed (59)
Next up for Bridgewater-Raritan will be a regular-season match against Watchung Hills Regional High School at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, December 5, at Bowlero Bowl in Green Brook.
The Panthers will also travel to Bowler City Lanes in Hackensack on Friday, December 6, for the13th Annual Tom Irwin Memorial Classic .