HS Bowling: Hasbrouck Heights’ Munoz Rolls a Perfect Game, Again
A perfect game and 800 series leads the Aviators to a win over Harrison
NORTH ARLINGTON, NJ – It was a birthday like few others. A golden birthday if you wish. (A golden birthday is when age matches the birthdate.)
On his 17th birthday, William Munoz rolled the first 300-game in league play in Hasbrouck Heights High School bowling history on Tuesday as the junior led the Aviators to a 7-0 victory over Harrison in NJIC Meadowlands play.
Earlier in the day, he passed his driver’s test.
Munoz rolled a 300-game last year in non-high school league action.
On Monday evening, Munoz picked up a new bowling ball to use, and he tried it out in practice after researching ways to suit his throwing style. Munoz is right-handed, and has a two-handed, two-finger (no thumb), palm-on-top throwing style.
During pre-match practice he threw well, and “knew if I could place it out to the right, that ball is coming back,” said Munoz. He was right.
Munoz opened the day with a 268-game, finishing with four straight strikes in the opener as Hasbrouck Heights cruised to an 853-414 victory. Samuel Montanez rolled a 220 in that game, as all four Aviators bowled 180 or higher.
Munoz then followed that up with his perfect game as the Aviators beat Harrison 874-452.
“I just wanted to keep it going, I wanted to keep the flow of strikes going for as long as possible,” said Munoz. “Once I got to the fourth shot, I joked around…300 ha, ha. And that’s exactly what I did on my 300 last year. I joked about having 12 strikes in a row.”
Munoz talked about his emotions going into the tenth frame.
“After the ninth frame, I knew I’ve gotta lock this out…I kept level-headed. I just wanted to focus on my hand in the same position, the yo-yo motion. Second throw, I was filled with confidence. That last shot didn’t bother me as much as it did last year. When the seven pin fell, I was so happy I had done it again. Everything from last year flashed back.”
After the excitement of the perfect game, Munoz and the Aviators “slumped” a little, as Munoz bowled a 235, for an 803 series. His string of consecutive strikes ended in the third frame of game three, at 18. The Aviators defeated Harrison 763 to 525 to finish off the sweep.
Munoz seemed just as pleased with the 800 series. (which is a 266.7 average over all three games.)
“I think 800 is a lot harder to accomplish because you have to be more consistent,” Munoz said. “You don’t have a lot of room to mess up.“
Not to be lost in Munoz’s accomplishments was that it was not just the junior who had a great day, as the entire team bowled well, a trend that started Monday.
“We opened the season against some of our division’s top hammers and rolled pretty well,” said Hasbrouck Heights head coach Brian Wenzel. “We lost a couple matches but the opportunity to compete and have some success against such well-coached teams has been a blessing. The focus this week has been on being more consistent each game and to raise our standard of play. “
“Today we challenged each other to be even better than yesterday, and it paid off big time,” said Wenzel. “Our series total against Harrison was a 2,490 series, which is the Meadowlands Division high.”
“Certainly last, but not least, was the outstanding performance of our Junior Captain Will Munoz,” Wenzel continued “The sky is the limit for the young man. He is one to watch in New Jersey as the season progresses. His play has absolutely inspired his teammates Sam Montanez, Matt Haines and the combo of Cyril DeGuzman and Dylan Eldebs to beat their own personal best each and every opportunity they get on the lanes. Today was a great day to be an Aviator.”
“The program has been on the rise for the last several years, and Will is the centerpiece of that program,” said Hasbrouck Heights Athletic Director Michael Scuilla. ”He’s brought us to a new level with his dedication to the sport, and year-round work ethic to the sport. He’s a tremendous talent. Obviously, bowling two 300 games in the past two years shows that he’s the best bowler probably we’ve ever had, definitely putting the team in the right direction.”
