NorthJersey.com

The first 300 game that William Muñoz bowled was a birthday present.

The second will help provide a gift for Hasbrouck Heights High School.

By becoming the Aviators’ first North Jersey Athlete of the Week selection for bowling – fitting, since he rolled the program’s first perfect games – the junior is in line to have his AOW drawing placed in the gym hallway.

“We would be honored to hang his Athlete of the Week sketch on our Wall of Fame, alongside the decades of former Athletes of the Week honored at Heights,” coach Brian Wenzel said.

Muñoz is the fifth known bowler in North Jersey history to shoot multiple 300s in the same season. It began on Dec. 17, when he also completed the ninth 800 series by a Bergen/Passaic varsity competitor – and turned 17 the same day.

“I had gotten my driver’s license, and I had just gotten a brand-new Attention Star [ball],” he recalled. “It was still in the box that it came in, so I had it taken to the pro shop and had Anthony Simonsen’s [finger] layout drilled into the ball.”

Being a two-hander like the 16-time PBA champion, Muñoz releases the ball with what he calls a “yo-yo motion.” That gives it a higher rate of revolution, ergo wreaking more havoc on the pins.

His three-game series that day: 268, 300 and 235 for an 803.

“He lit up the score sheet that week,” Wenzel said.

As with the first, Muñoz’s second perfect game came in NJIC Meadowlands Division competition at North Arlington Bowl. However, he began the Jan. 16 match against North Arlington with a 177.

“I need to analyze what my ball is doing… if it doesn’t do what I want it to do near the end of the first game, then I will most likely switch balls for the second,” he said. “So, I switched to an IQ Tour 78/U. That ball, I didn’t get it drilled with a pro layout, but it was turning perfectly that day.”

Muñoz has become a serious student of the game. After he averaged in the 170s as a freshman, former North Jersey Coach of the Year Bob Tschinkel joined the Aviators for his sophomore year.

Although Tschinkel could only coach one season due to his ongoing battle with leukemia, Muñoz learned all he could and raised his average to 200.

“I remember the first time I walked in to meet Coach Bob, he gave us a test to see what we knew,” the junior said. “He was very knowledgeable about the sport. He was able to truly coach us on what was wrong with our form and what we could fix.”

Through the first month-plus of this winter, Muñoz is averaging 212. That puts him among the top 30 in Bergen County and top 100 in the state, which would qualify him for the individual championship tournaments in both.

And he knows who to keep an eye on, as far as the top competitors go.

“I would think that two 300s in one season would be something completed by maybe one of the higher average bowlers, such as Will Cunningham or Kai Strothers,” Muñoz said, referencing the duo from reigning Group 2 state champ St. Joseph (Metuchen). “Or maybe Donaven Klein [from Wall].”

The trio he mentioned have averaged better than 230 this season. Although Muñoz isn’t there yet, he plans to keep working to improve.

“Bowling never really took off for me until around six years ago,” he said. “I think that if I did start when I was getting a lot younger, I would be a lot better. But God always has always has a door to open – I might have just opened that door late, but it’s all good. I’m here now.”