The Ewing High School boys’ bowling team did not have a senior in a 17-2-1 year last season, so there was plenty optimism with the entire lineup returning.
Sebastian Curtiss’s improvements only raised expectations higher.
The junior has picked up 21 pins on his average to bump it up to 209.90 through 14 games to help the Blue Devils start the season 13-1 and ranked third in Central Jersey Group 3 by power points.
“I’m very happy,” Curtiss said. “We’re doing pretty good this year, like last year. Just hoping to keep on the same pace.”
Curtiss and the Blue Devils were looking to avenge their lone loss of the season to Medford Tech in a key Burlington County Scholastic League match, but the goals are even bigger for the postseason. Ewing would like to be rolling when it hits the BCSL Open on February 5 at Laurel Lanes and then the following week when the Central Jersey Group 3 tournament begins with head-to-head brackets matchups.
“We’ve been going well,” said Ewing coach Dave Angebranndt. “I think we’ve shown some young times, but I think that overall we’ve done a decent job putting together some good scores that luckily enough have been good enough to pick up some victories.”
Matthew Carman has anchored the Blue Devils thus far. The senior has a 214.26 average. Curtiss is just a few pins behind and has a 269 high game this year and team-best 760 high series.
“He’s not very outspoken, but he’s a quiet leader,” Angebranndt said. “He’s does a great job on and off the lanes. He’s a good mentor for some of the newer guys that I have in the program. He really does a lot on his own to improve on his game, but just comes to the bowling alley with a with a goal in mind and just kind of gets to it.”
The improvements in Curtiss come from being more even keel and not mulling his shots too much. Those were issues when he was a younger bowler, but he’s learned from the past two seasons of high school bowling and more offseason work just what it takes.
“Just don’t be so hard on yourself and just don’t think too much about bowling,” said Curtiss.
When Curtiss was less experienced, he would overthink a mistake and it would affect the rest of his game. He’s learned to look past a bad ball or frame and stick to what has made him so reliable.
“He’s just becoming more consistent,” Angebranndt said. “Bowling is all about consistency. It’s about repeating shots, it’s about doing the same thing over and over again, as in all of other sports as well. But he’s done a fantastic job coming in day in and day out and being able to repeat mechanics. He’s been able to repeat timing. He’s been able to repeat his release a lot better. And I think that’s what’s allowing him to have a lot more success this year is because he’s become more consistent. Last year he saw some, inconsistencies with certain things. And I think this year he’s just done a nice job cleaning those things up and realizing the importance of making spares and getting pins and not worrying about making every split that he leaves and understanding that pins are a lot more important in certain situations.”
Curtiss is part of a group that has made strong improvements overall in their averages practically across the board. Sophomore Kristopher Jenkins has picked up more than 24 pins on his average. Another senior, Dylan Garzio, has improved his average almost 24 pins. Junior Antonio Vargas has improved 15 pins. Another senior, Joey Reid, has been consistent at 182.59 and his 662 high series is third-best on the team.
“It’s been going pretty good for us,” Curtiss said. “It’s been feeling nice to have the same people from last year.”
Unfortunately while there haven’t been enough bowlers to form a girls team this year, the Blue Devils have actually added depth this year on the boys’ side.
“Just the core grouping of guys from last year to this year have been a huge bonus,” Angebranndt said. “Not having to replace anybody on the varsity lineup, but also adding in another almost nine bowler across the roster between JV guys and some practice bowlers have really helped kind of solidify a solid, strong boys’ program, obviously with the unfortunate circumstances not having a girls program. We have 14 boys that are solid across the board from top to bottom and could honestly, of the 14, probably have nine of them bowling on varsity. So they’ve all been bowling really well. They’ve shown me some really good things. The makeup itself is very similar to last year’s team, which is another year of experience.”
That raised expectations right from the start, and it brought with it some pressure. And that’s where practice has come into play. Curtiss spent more time in the offseason honing his game. That meant reaching out to receive pointers on developing his game.
“Going to the lanes more and getting help during leagues and asking for help around,” he said. His focus has improved drastically from a year ago. He’s able to lock in more clearly and not just throw the ball.
Curtiss started bowling around the same time as his sister, Amandalynn, a 2023 EHS graduate who was a standout on the girls team. She improved quicker than he did early, but now he’s taken his game to a new level with an average over 200. He’s also bowled a high game of 279 outside of school. He enjoyed bowling from his first introduction, and was hooked on every aspect of it.
“All the different kinds of ways you can throw it, the way the pins go, and the overall fun in it,” Curtiss said.
Curtiss has developed steadily during high school. He still finds time to play basketball for fun, but he’s dedicated more and more time to bowling each year. He started to get serious about bowling in the months ahead of entering high school and he’s seen the hard work paying off.
“I started to focus on like practicing more and more and getting more consistent,” he said.
He’s worked at the mental side as well. He and his teammates brushed off their loss to Medford Tech by returning to win their next six matches to set up the rematch. The Blue Devils have lived up to high hopes all year.
“There’s quite a bit of pressure because we’re doing so good right now,” said Curtiss.
He and the Blue Devils will face pressure again in the BCSL Open and sectionals. Curtiss and Carman also are expected to bowl for a shot at the individual state tournament. Beyond that, he still has another year to work at his game and he’s excited for his plan on how he can develop it.
“Not perfecting, but getting better at making the right choice while being on the lane and having a better mood coming into the game and out of them,” he said.
Next year, though, the Blue Devils will have a new look with some significant seniors graduating and he’s working to make the most of this year. Then next year, he’ll be stepping into the role of anchor for Ewing.
“It’s going to be a lot different since we’re losing the majority of the team because they’re seniors,” he said. “But I think we could do pretty good next year with the upcoming sophomores and guys that we have. I think we’ll be pretty set for next year.”
Curtiss is a good role model for the younger bowlers. He is an example of how much one can develop year by year. He’s made an even bigger step this year from last year than he did after his first season of high school bowling. He has tried to pass along any pointers that helped him.
“I just tell them don’t think about it too much when they’re up there,” Curtiss said. “And I help them when we have practice and get better off of that.”
Curtiss has improved his own game and he’s helping teammates now too. It’s all part of making Ewing the strongest team possible as they gear up for a postseason run. After a promising start, the Blue Devils see a lot of potential to finish on a high. They could even host a first-round sectional match.
“As long as we continue to bowl the way we’ve bowled, I think we’ll put ourselves in a good spot to hopefully get a first round bye and hopefully get ourselves to a sectional final,” Angebranndt said. “But we’re going to bowl against some really tough teams. I mean, we’re in a section that’s extremely challenging. Not just St. Joe’s, but you have Brick in there and you have some other schools like Colts Neck, who we saw last year, who we saw again this year at a tournament, that could give us a challenge.”
The EHS boys’ bowling team is hoping to win a trophy in the Central Jersey Group III tournament this month.,
