FHS Bowlers Score Big Win Over Bethpage

The scene was Westbury Lanes on Thursday, Dec. 9. Although it was still early in the bowling season, the two squads from Bethpage and Farmingdale felt the tension as they arrived for their match. Perennial rivals, the two teams are contending for first place in their high school bowling conference. Bethpage, returning three out of their four varsity bowlers, stood out as the preseason favorite after a second place finish last year. With the graduation of Bryant Patterson and Ed Norton and injuries to Chris Norton and Kyle Flapan, Kenny Seibert remained the only varsity bowler returning to this year's lineup.

Going into Thursday's match, Bethpage had won its first six games and garnered all 22 points to sit atop the Conference 3 standings. Farmingdale had dropped their first game and then won the next five to trail Bethpage with 17 points in the conference. With the goal of repeating as conference champs the Farmingdale bowlers knew how key victories over Bethpage would be.

Each match consists of three games. The first game began and found Bethpage in the lead by about 30 pins halfway through the game. The last five frames, however, belonged to Farmingdale, as the pins fell and the strikes appeared on the scoreboard. The first game went to Farmingdale, due to their strong finish, led by Kenny Seibert with a 245. The second game was all Farmingdale as the boys bowled their way to an outstanding 871 team score as Kenny Seibert again rolled a 245 and Nick Caravello bowled a very impressive 256, It was a team effort as Brad Freiss and Charlie Liotta chipped in with great games. The third game looked as if Bethpage was going to fight back and take one. Once again, after being behind for the first half of the game the Dalers fought back, behind Kenny Seibert's third 245 game to blank Bethpage. With these crucial wins, the Farmingdale bowlers let the rest of the conference know that despite losing three starters, they remain a strong contender to repeat as conference champs.

The girls' varsity bowlers are off to their best start ever. They came within 12 pins of blanking the Bethpage girls, winning two out of the three games. While only two weeks into the season, the girls have more wins than in any prior season and have also shown themselves to be contenders in the conference. The girls are led by junior Donna Polina, who bowled an outstanding 235 in Thursday's competition.

Farmingdale has upcoming matches with a much improved Westbury team and a tough squad from Plainview. They will meet Bethpage again in the second half of the season and possibly again in the critical position rounds. As well as competing for first place in their conference, the boys hope to return to the Nassau County playoffs. Only the top 16 teams in the county qualify for this competition to be held the beginning of February at Garden City Bowl. Good luck to all the Daler bowlers!