CENTRAL NEW YORK – Despite plenty of early winter weather which affected schedules, area high school bowling teams would get underway and, in the case of East Syracuse Minoa and Fayetteville-Manlius, square off against one another. In the boys match last Monday at Strike-N-Spare Lanes the Spartans dominated the Hornets 7-0 nearly getting all six of its top bowlers to shoot series of 600 or better. Kyle Nissen led the way, his 708 series including games of 258, 245 and 205, while Joe Gardner improved from 209 to 222 to 244 in his 675 series and Zach Kassel closed with a 256 in his 651 series. Alex Locke opened with 233 and 225 on his way to a 628 total, Kevin Herlihy adding a 601 series with a 216 high game and Anthony Messina tailing off after a first-game 238 but still shooting a 592 set. By contrast, only two F-M bowlers competed in all three games. Jacob Vaccaro started with a 221, adding 198 and 168 for a three-game total of 587, while Troy Stiles’ steady 193, 182 and 186 brought a 561 series. Cole Cox added a single-game 229. F-M was able to get a split of the matches thanks to the girls Hornets’ 5-2 victory with Samantha Geiss at the forefront, Geiss shooting 175 and 170 games in her 486 series as Lillian Squiare had a three-game total of 403. The Spartans’ 2,296 pinfall was just behind F-M’s 2,329, with Alana Tuberville shooting a 454 series. Averie Lynch had a 408 series just beating out a 406 set from Nicole Baker and 400 set from Samantha Sherwood. ESM’s boys team made a big statement Friday when it went to Flamigo Bowl and had each of its top bowlers contribute to a 5-2 victory over previously unbeaten Liverpool. Kassel earned 10 strikes in his second-game 279 which was part of a 699 series just ahead of Anthony Messina, whose 692 series included games of 244, 236 and 212. Locke surged from a 152 to games of 268 and 252 for a 674 series as Gardner’s 658 set included 244 and 236 games. Kyle Nissen shot a second-game 267 during his 618 set as Mykey Hatherill (674 series) and Ray Rucker (628 series) paced the Legends. A more lopsided girls match had ESM blank Liverpool 7-0. Lynch shot a 225 and 191 to propel her to a 546 series, while Baker opened with 235 on her way to a 501 set and Jazmine Horton had a 414 total. ...read more read less