Dayton Bowler Mark Masucci Qualifies for Individual Championship

It's been a season to remember for Jonathan Dayton High School bowler Mark Masucci. His  team not only qualified for the Tournament of Champions, but he also qualified for the individual championships held Wednesday at Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick.

The Bulldogs senior qualified for the top 51 when he bowled an impressive 698 series last Friday in the state sectionals, although he wasn't quite up to his own expectations in the finals. 

"Honestly, I wasn't up to what I should have been," said Masucci. "I bowled a 560, it should have been a 650. I wasn't hitting, I wasn't carrying. It was a little intimidating seeing everyone up here, bowling high numbers".

"Just being here was already being a winner," said Dayton coach Felix Fabiano. "It was not one of his best days. He's still one of the best bowlers here, one of the best 51 bowlers in the state. It has to be your day, you have to have a little luck and unfortunately he didn't have either".

He can thank his Mom, at least in part, for him being on the big stage, since she's the one who signed him up for a Saturday bowling league six years ago. And this year, he also was able to share the success with his brother Chris, who was a freshman on the varsity team.

"Me and my brother are a big part of the team right now," said Masucci. "I'm a senior, so we're trying to get it set up for him. We're going to try and prove ourselves on Saturday".

For much of this season, Masucci has been on top of his game, averaging a very respectable 210 all winter to lead his team in match after match.

"It was different," said Mark. "We didn't have a team for so long. We made it to the states. We'll see what we can do. Honestly, I didn't think we'd be able to make it this far. We stepped it up and really proved to everyone else and ourselves that we could do it".

Dayton has literally come out of nowhere to jump into bowling's elite.

"It' the first year we have had a bowling team," added Fabiano. "He (Masucci) got a medal in the section for second highest game and third highest series, so he's been doing great".

The team championships will be held at Carolier Lanes on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

What are the goals?

"We already exceeded the expectation, because we did upset a lot of teams that had beaten us previously," Fabiano said. "We'll see what happens. In the ladder, I know we can't beat some of the teams like Roselle Catholic, but we will try."