Bowling program enters 4th year

By Mike Zummo
Posted 11/30/22

Things are going to look a little closer to normal on the high school bowling lanes this winter.

After several seasons of virtual bowling coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Newburgh Free …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Bowling program enters 4th year

Posted

Things are going to look a little closer to normal on the high school bowling lanes this winter.

After several seasons of virtual bowling coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Newburgh Free Academy bowling team is looking forward to a full season of in-person matches.

The Goldbacks have enjoyed a lot of success as the program enters its fourth season under coaches Matt Iorlano and Jim Horton.

The boys’ team is coming off a second-place finish in Section 9, which saw them qualify four bowlers to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association team. Three of those bowlers – Kevin Novella, Dylan Hannigan and Jordan DeWitt – will be back for the 2022-23 season. The only graduating state qualifier was Keith Weber. The Goldbacks also have lost Kris Schwarzbeck.

Also returning are Andre Alexander and Gage Szymanowicz. They’ll be joined by new bowlers Stephen Barnes, Donovan Morin and Daniel Decker.

The girls’ team hasn’t enjoyed the same success as the boys’ team early in the program’s development, but last year Katie Bell narrowly missed qualifying for states. She’ll be back and looking to qualify this year.

The team has lost Gurleen Kaur and Bailey Allen, but in addition to Bell, return Tatum Connolly, Gianna Alisandrella, Paige Kubin and Janelle Terry. New to this year’s team is Maymunah Islam and Sarina Delgado.

Iorlano said both teams hope to be very competitive and improve as the season progresses with an eye toward qualifying more bowlers for March’s state championship.

“We’re looking forward to a very exciting season of in-person bowling after a couple of seasons of mostly virtual matches,” Iorlano said. “The boys return 3 state tournament qualifiers, and we hope to improve on that, whereas the girls will be looking to qualify someone to states for the first time.”