What may have been thought of as a “rebuilding season” was certainly nothing like that as this year’s Cinnaminson Boy’s Bowling team captured the post-season BCSL championship and went on to win the school’s first-ever sectional championship.

Each bowling season carries its own uniqueness, but usually undergoes the same pattern. Some years there are student athletes who join the bowling team for strictly the fun of bowling and then there are other years where the team is compiled of a highly competitive set of bowlers. This year was a year of competitive bowlers.

Senior Justin Siddiqi, a first-year bowler joined the team for one reason but as the season went on, it changed, “It started out as a fun thing to do with my family and it transformed into a competition.” Justin and his sophomore brother Dillon have been fueled by this competition as they’ve helped the team this season. “Dillon is a strong varsity member… and so is Justin, I mean Justin’s my only senior he was very valuable and helped put a lot of those wins on our varsity squad,” Head Coach Anthony Faltz explained.

A comparison of last season to this season will show that the team has drastically improved.

“Last year the girls did not win one game, this year they came in third having a positive season. They took third in their conference, and the captain Paige D’Amato pulled third highest series, and this is from the same squad that did not win a game last year [which] now has a winning season,” Faltz pointed out.

The boys enjoyed a solid season that turned into something spectacular.  The boys had a nice season for the first time in a few years and finished third overall in the Freedom Division.  However, at the sectional championships, the boys (11-3-3 overall record) put on quite a show against the 12 other teams they were competing against.  Two of the teams there, Maple Shade and New Egypt, had defeated the Pirates once and tied them three different times this year to account for four of the ties or losses Cinnaminson had.

After one game, the Pirates had a modest pin total of 852, good enough for fourth place in the section at that point.  However, Coach Faltz moved senior Abdul-Raof Zeidieh into the team’s five person lineup and he paid immediate dividends.  Zeidieh’s game high 221 lead the Pirates in the second round to a pin total of 1049 and 1901 total, which was good enough for a first place tie with Bishop Eustace.

Sophomore Ronnie Runquist lead CHS in the final game with a high of 246 and Cinnaminson’s total of 949 pins and a three-game total of 2850 gave it the school’s first-ever South Jersey Group 1 Sectional Championship.

This win enabled the boys to participate in the state championship today at Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick, NJ.  While the boys did not fare well today at the state championships, it was an amazing accomplishment for them.

The state of New Jersey is divided into four regions: south, central, north one, and north two. These regions are each divided into four Conferences. The first and second place winner from each conference advance to the Tournament of Champions giving a total of about 32 to 35 schools.

“We are facing Manasquan, Bishop Eustace, and Keensburg, among other top notch schools that are the first and second seeds,” Justin continued to explained that the biggest threat present would be Keensburg, because “Keensburg is undefeated and will be hard to stop but we will do our best.”

The State Championships of Bowling took the team to the New Brunswick bowling alley, but these are not the first times that the CHS bowlers will see these lanes.

“A group of us took the hour and a half drive on Monday to get accustomed to these lanes, and yesterday a few of us bowled for a few hours to prepare for today,” Justin Sidiqui explained.

This method of preparation is the same one the boys took before the conference (which they won), and this is also the type of dedication from the team that Faltz has really noticed. They have gone above and beyond with the commitment of the bowling team, and as it varies from year to year, this year could bring a win.

Faltz has noticed their dedication of his squad and gives the majority of credit to the student athletes on the team saying that, “They deserve to be there, they have proven to be [able to be] there.”

Hoping to be able to fulfill the underdog story and return with a title is the end goal for most, but as a coach Faltz sees that, “Just being there this Friday is the win, anything else beyond there is just extra credit.”